After all the media hullabaloo about the “massive” undecided vote, and the potential for a minority government arising in Alberta, we get what - another PC landslide.
After all the media talking about how Albertans think Ed Stelmach is a maroon, we have what - the most uniform PC support across the province that I have ever seen.
So much for the media. One more case, I suppose, of how much the media wants to manipulate public opinion these days. We know what the chattering class wanted - the death of conservatism in its heartland.
Sorry, boys. Didn’t happen.
Now, I’ll admit that the position of the current Alberta PC party is very much contaminated (some might say awash) with red tories, and as such doesn’t really represent conservatism in a pure form. However, if one thing is clear from this vote, Albertans may have some doubt that the PC’s are what they used to be (though they haven’t been truly conservative but intermittently for decades - the Klein era began conservatively but faded, and itself was a reaction against the tax-and-spend Don Getty, which was a moderation of Lougheed’s more conservative approach… and so on and so on). The alternatives - the Liberals, NDP and Wildrose Alliance failed to convince the many conservative doubters that their vision was categorically better than the status quo.
Looking more carefully, the Liberals and NDP were reduced, and look to have lost whatever fortresses they were attempting to construct in the two big cities. They should consider this reality a chastisement for failing to articulate a true alternative platform.
The Wildrose Alliance lost their one seat, but did put in strong showings in a number of ridings. They weren’t ready for this election. I scanned the returns of all the ridings, and I noticed that outside of Calgary and the south, candidates were spotty at best. And I am not talking just about quality, but availability. Many, many ridings simply didn’t even have a candidate, so there was not even another conservative option for many Albertans to vote for, besides the PC’s. It is hard to make gains in popular vote when you didn’t even field candidates. I expect if the PC’s continue on this road to liberalism, and the Wild Rose Alliance continue to support a strong right wing platform, then they may do much better in the next election.
Addendum: Good insight from Noise From the Right. I disagree with him that Stelmach resonated with voters - I still think that the results reflect a failure of the opposition to present a coherent alternative, as opposed to the result of “Honest Ed”’s personal charisma.
Charles Anthony wrote:
I do not think it is prudent to draw that conclusion.
You ask “What election?” and I ask: What electorate?
What I find highly interesting is that voter turnout in Alberta followed the previous trend: it is dropping.
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 10:38 am | Permalink
Shane Edwards wrote:
You can think that. I only have a memory that spans back politically in Alberta to the mid-80’s. It may have been more uniform before. I may even be wrong. But it is an expression of my perception, so forgive me if it is imperfect.
The raw numbers in the electorate are an important consideration. However, the results still speak for themselves. Why were NDP and Liberal voters staying away in droves when the media were all presenting this as “their opportunity” for change?
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 10:42 am | Permalink
Reid wrote:
It’s a mistake to assume the 60% of eligible Alberta voters that stayed home where just NDP or Liberal supporters.
If that was the case with 52% of the 41% of the voters, the PCs would only have 21% popular support.
The 60% that stayed home were probably comprised mostly of conservative minded people who found nothing compelling to vote for in any of the parties. Anyone who was Liberal or NDP most certainly went out and voted.
So Stelmach and the PCs need to ask themselves, “how do we win back our traditional support so that if a compelling party or party leader faces us in the next election we don’t lose?”
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 10:50 am | Permalink
Charles Anthony wrote:
I would like to supply one more question:
“How do they keep red tories out of their party?”
That is a more difficult challenge.
Any way you cut it, Alberta is practically a single-party democracy.
—-
Recently, a friend of mine said that not all communist party members are bad. Some of them join the party because it is the only way in which they can make positive changes in a single-party regime.
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 11:16 am | Permalink
Shane Edwards wrote:
It will end one day. Like I was saying, I think the only reason we didn’t see the Wildrose Alliance do better was that they were not sufficiently organized yet. Candidates in only 2/3 of the ridings (if that) are not good enough, and they only formed as a united party a couple of months ago.
Give them a little more time to organize, and perhaps throw in a couple more left-wing moves out of Ottawa (especially if by some miracle, Bob Rae or Stephane Dion manage to get themselves into 24 Sussex) and we will see real, substantive change in Alberta. No other party really gives Albertans a coherent vision of anything different (that doesn’t collapse the province’s economy).
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 11:29 am | Permalink
Jack: Alberta voted with their feet! | Jack's Newswatch wrote:
[…] Edwards looks at the matter from his perspective: What […]
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 11:52 am | Permalink
anonymous wrote:
What is a maroon Shane?
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 1:43 pm | Permalink
Jeff wrote:
Anonymous: A maroon is what Bugs Bunny calls someone of less than stellar intellectual gifts…a moron if you will.
Why is it that we decry low voter turnout? Anyone who doesn’t have the time/inclination to vote, and chooses to waive their right to participate in an election, is entirely within their rights to do so.
Honestly, people who vote without taking any time or effort to learn about the issues involved concern me more. An uninformed vote is more damaging than an abstention in my opinion.
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
Charles Anthony wrote:
Jeff,
I see low voter turnout to be a good thing: fewer people seem to demand government.
Posted on 04-Mar-08 at 3:19 pm | Permalink
Ryan wrote:
Morton who?
Posted on 05-Mar-08 at 2:32 pm | Permalink
Charles Anthony wrote:
This is comedy.
We see an Albertan teacher herding students off to the polls — under the pretense that they are teaching civic duty? [I wonder if those kids learned any arithmetic: each of their votes makes a 0.000001% difference in the final result. In a practical sense, that means ZERO difference.]
We have Albertans condemning students who run for civic office.
What do you guys want??
—
At least there is one person who is leering of a red tory infection amongst all of this hullabaloo.
Posted on 06-Mar-08 at 7:06 am | Permalink
Charles Anthony wrote:
TYPO: I meant “leery” up above.
Posted on 06-Mar-08 at 7:08 am | Permalink