"Our members have now seen that some of our policies were rejected by Albertans, quite frankly. We will be revisiting some of those. You can’t run a government if you don’t get sanction from the people...There may also be a stronger statement to make about climate change and our policy around greenhouse gas emissions."
h/t Davenport
The "story" of this election - that Wildrose failed, and that the PCs' leftward-drifting policies have been validated and vindicated -- is based entirely on false and inflated expectations created by a few highly anomalous and transitory poll results. It's disappointing, and a bit disheartening, that Danielle Smith would overreact to the mistaken perception that Wildrose's historic breakthrough is a rejection by wrenching the bone from the mouth of her supporters and tossing it to her detractors who have absolutely no interest in it.It had to have been a stressful campaign; maybe she should get off the hamster wheel for a week or two and look at the larger picture, and try to re-understand what side her bread is buttered on. The lions share of the 2008 Liberal vote, which went from 26 percent to less than 10 percent, obviously went to the PCs, yet the PCs still received the lowest percentage of the popular vote since 1967. In other words, the PCs *clearly* lost a huge number of conservative-minded voters to Wildrose (who went from 7 percent four years ago to 35 percent), and made their gains on the prog-left. The Wildrose party is now the de facto conservative option in a traditionally conservative province, and they didn't achieve his breakthrough by courting progressives and public sector unions and warmists, or by being too conservative by the standards of the prog media like the Edmonton Journal's Graham Thompson, who wrote: "And then there was Smith's own bozo eruption when she insisted the jury was still out on the science of human-induced climate change. That got her loudly booed from the audience at a leaders’ debate hosted by CBC and no doubt had Albertans imagining with some alarm the prospect of a Wildrose premier embarrassing the province on the world stage by denying global warming.", or the Journal's editorialists: "We can look forward to a government less prone to circling the wagons against outsiders with talk of firewalls, and one much better able to defend our resource industry by being willing to speak the same scientific language as the rest of the world."
If Danielle Smith thinks that such twee, left-leaning urbanite media are the spokespeople for her swelling constituency she's making a serious mistake. I was talking to some of my neighbours yesterday (I live in a traditionally very conservative, rural area), all of whom voted PC. Small sample, obviously, and anecdotal, but in each case their choice had absolutely *nothing* -- nada, zip - to do with global warming, or conscience rights, or scary, homophobic Christians, or anything else the media's post-mortem, which Smith seems to have taken to heart, has focused on. Instead, they were simply unsure about Wildrose - not unsure in the active sense of being distrustful for any particular reason, they just didn't know a single thing about the local candidate.
It's good to have a likeable and smart party leader, but in a province chock full of multi-term incumbents from the dynastic juggernaut party, the upstart party HAS to give people a reason to vote for the local candidate; a brief website bio saying that he's a husband and father who has bought and sold five businesses just doesn't cut it.
In Alberta, the center is right wing by progressive standards. Wildrose needs to stay the course by chipping away at -- courting -- this right-leaning center rather than trying to curry favour with the prog/warmist left.
One of the commentors at the NP said it for me: if they're going to emulate or copy PC policy, why bother having a party at all? I'd say stick to their guns, promoting policies of prosperity and individual liberty.
And for heaven's sake, it was refreshing to hear a politician promote the unpopular (and correct) view that the science about AGW is far from settled. Just because the media touted it as her being skeptical that the climate is changing at all, as opposed to her actual skepticism as to the cause of said climate change, is no reason to go bowing down at the altar of useless policy for the sake of getting elected.
Well Danielle, if you are going to throw out all those policies, you might as well hand over the reins of the Wildrose Party to the lefty Justin Trudeau and his ideological soul mate Redford and forget it.
After all, the left does not believe anyone should have a conscience, AGW is real, citizens have no property rights.
Saskatchewan's pension plan is one of the best policies ever instituted and the RCMP are so busy visiting certain areas in Alberta's neighbour to the east that it is almost impossible to get them out.
A bunch of us that donated time and $$$ last time around will certainly NOT do so next time around if Danielle goes squishy on AGW, and that's a fact. Sorry, but the 'boob bus' didn't run on unicorn farts during the previous election and it won't during the next one, either. You need cold, hard $$$ to fill that sucker with diesel, and I'm not ponying up $$$ to support BS policies.
"If we want to lead the wishy-washy, we must become wishy-washy."
Good luck with that WR. I will not support leadership that will not stand for something with conviction. You don't change your position on 'feelings', you change it based on evidence.
So, in order to have "credibility" the WRP needs to embrace the scam of "Climate Change;" the biggest fraud ever promoted.
What's the point of having a WRP then?
C'mon all, Danielle may have to be somewhat pragmatic in her policies. The sheeple have had decades worth of government sponsored propoganada on whatever the eco's scare of the day is.
She could just pay lip service to the topic somewhat like Harper. It's not what you say, it's what you do...once you have power.
Alberta conservatives are hurting right now, but the ball game is far from over.
Signed: An Ontario conservative and leafs fan.(Highly experienced in the ways of the constantly dissapointed)
Someone please tell Danielle that Kate's words of wisdom, "Pleasing your enemies does not turn them into friends" can also be applied to politics.
Wild Rose has to keep educating Albertains that the WR policies are sound. Sound doesn't mean handing out "entitlements" at the expense of fiscal practice.
...a stronger statement to make about climate change and our policy around greenhouse gas emissions."
Vague enough to give me hope, but I am worried.
'Stronger' can also mean more severe, as in, a hardline stance against, ie the lack of any empirical evidence to back up billion dollar, throw away money decisions. I wrote the WRP a lengthy letter last night discussing this. I indicated a policy review must not include softening her stance on this, but strengthening their position on it. It could pay big dividends if played correctly, with sound and logical talking points over the next 4 years. I warned them that a large segment of her current voting base is in agreement with WRP's current view of AGW and if that were to 180, they would lose many, myself included.
she's clearly not the Iron Lady I thought she was. If she's bending and twisting already, that's clearly not a good sign.
Well this is certainly going to be hard to explain to my wife which progressive party to put an "X" on in the next election. I can hear her now. "Should I have picked PC1 or PC2?"
So which Albertans exactly are "your enemies"? Are you planning to make war on certain segments of outsiders residing in your Alberta?
If you want to take over the Province, do you intend to do it by force?
Or do you plan on "persuading" people to see things your way, the way a democracy is supposed to work? Better learn how to package the odure that Smith et. al. were peddling, because it seems that the voting public failed to buy it.
Maybe next time, if you put more lipstick on the pig, it will sell better. However, how exactly you package this odure so it will sell better I'm not entirely sure. Maybe follow Harper's recipebook. He at least managed a majority, but I see that abortion rights and gay marriage aren't on the table for discussion. It doesn't matter what the science says on a variety of issues because economic necessity and ideology will decide those matter, regardless if the moon is made of rock rather than green cheese. Anyone who understands politics knew this was going to be the case anyways.
But keep on calling your supposed fellow citizens "enemies" and see how far you get. It would help your cause out to realize that it's not only fellow political travellers who come to SDA. Some of use are sufficiently broad minded to see what others have to say and are thinking. Being neighbourly at all times doesn't hurt at all in these times of transparency and openness.
BTW, does Kate ever actually post her own views? I almost wonder if she didn't create this site for the purpose of exposure of a certain point of view...
Anyways, peace be with you and may you be blessed this day by the Noodly Appendage of His Holiness the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
Wet One out...
Was that the sound of Wildrose support dropping another 10%? :P
I detest personality politics. When politicans are forced to 'tidy' up their image to increase electability it trivializes the process by which a platform is built. Preston Manning, Stock Day and Stephan Harper were all faced with that reality. How do you measure the effectiveness of a leadership group or whether they are staying the philosophical course if changing the platform becomes the expedicous method of achieving power. In the case of the CPC I have faith that Harper knows what has to be done but time does change how situations are perceived.
The AB election once again speaks to the detachment of a sizeable portion of the electorate from the process. If people couldn't bother to vote in this possible change of government then what will motivate them? No 'woe is me' at the CBC when the fight goes to the left is there. At the federal level the imediate refrain was the % of population who either didn't vote CPC or didn't vote it all. They immediately question his authority to govern.
Our society has abandoned our children to be raised and educated by a leftwing education system. That system teaches that the government is the answer to all concerns. We will reap what we sow.
C'mon all, Danielle may have to be somewhat pragmatic in her policies. The sheeple have had decades worth of government sponsored propoganada on whatever the eco's scare of the day is.
She could just pay lip service to the topic somewhat like Harper. It's not what you say, it's what you do...once you have power.
Alberta conservatives are hurting right now, but the ball game is far from over.
Exactly. Strict ideological purity and $2 will get you a damn fine cup of joe. Although I highly doubt the WRP's position on climate change mattered much one way or the other in this election - from this transplanted Albertan's position out East, it probably had to do with voter inertia given WRP's lack of a record in the legislature, coupled with the last minute bozo eruptions pushing the undecided urban vote to the PC's. The party's climate change position got little play out here next to the violations against PC (not the PC's).
They need to repair their "brand" in marketing terms. Their focus should be on small government and individual liberty. Every issue should be framed around that.
That is how you differentiate yourself from the PCs.
So standing up for conscience rights, as defined by the charter, is against the wishes of the electorate? I don't think that was the issue. everywhere else in the world, the old order is collapsing. The Voters thought that voting PC would keep Alberta the smae. It won't. It will just be less prepared.
From: http://lifesite.net/news/alienating-social-conservatives-the-real-reason-danielle-smith-lost-alberta
"Danielle Smith should have learned a lesson from Rob Ford’s campaign for Mayor of Toronto. [...]
Here’s the point that Smith didn’t get. In order to lead a small-c conservative movement to victory, you need the social conservative branch of that movement to show up at the ballot box (even if you don’t agree with them). By alienating ‘values voters’, demoralizing them, and causing them to stay home on Election Day, it’s very difficult to win.
In conclusion, if Wildrose hopes to achieve victory in four years, they must learn to ignore the mainstream media, establishment political advisors, and to respect the values of all Albertans, including the millions who are pro-life and pro-family."
As the case for man-made climate change continues to slowly collapse, the political classes will be the last to acknowledge this, inasmuch as they were the last to jump on the bandwagon originally. That's generally the way politics works. Climate change alarmism only generates a fraction of the hype that it did even one or two years ago. By the time the next election rolls around in Alberta, this is unlikely to be much of an issue for any party save the NDP.
SDA gets results!
“I think we have to revisit our position on climate change and whether or not Albertans want to see a more comprehensive policy to deal with greenhouse gases,” she said. During the election, Ms. Smith said the science around climate change is not settled.
Jeeze you guys, she just got beat by the Lefty media yesterday, so today what does she have to do? Throw them a bone, duh.
Two gaffes made the whole election turn around. Two. One of which was made last year in a frickin' blog post, the other was out of context. Flipped the whole thing from what I'm reading here.
When are you people going to get this? We conservatives are behind enemy lines. The media is actively working for the opposing team. If you want to win you have to be as smooth as glass and slippery like mercury so they can't get a grip on anything. Being a "Climate Denier" is a lightning rod just as much as saying "lake of fire".
Can't win by bulldozing the media.
What 'Whildrose Country'?
I was *stunned* by that statement of Smith's. Talk about being weak before you have even begun.
It is pretty clear at this point that Wildrose was just a good daydream and nothing much more than that. It's almost surreal.
The WRP needs to be somewhat politically astute.
If many Albertan's won't accept that the science is not settled and want to believe the earth is flat because Al Gore tells them it's fact, what can the WRP do if they want a government?
They are doing the right thing by recognizing that their stand of proving the science first is unpopular with many Albertan’s who have been manipulated for a generation by a massive global propaganda machine. That doesn’t mean selling out their core belief that Science needs to be proven to be called science, but it does mean that they need to recognize their current political situation.
Maybe another e-mail scandal by the pseudo scientific community will wake people up before 2016. Who knows but education of the issue is key, bucking popular belief does not win an upstart political party a government.
In four years time AGW will not be an election issue. The argument for is already underwater and they can't change the results anymore than they already have. What are they going to do, put out "An Inconvenient Truth 2" with all new lies. Danielle is right to just pay lip service and let the issue go away on its own.
And where am I gonna go? I can't go back to the PC's, the wildrose is my future and its better than where I came from.
As a BC resident I took flak for supporting the pipeline for tar sands oil.
Now I oppose it. Screw Alberta. Too many morons.
There was nothing wrong with Wild Rose policy – it was the policy of ethical service oriented governance. The change has come in that people now require ether A) entitlements (Lib-Dips) or Handouts (Librano PCs) – as long as they think they are getting some material benefit from government, ethics, likerty and accountability be damned – you could run a fascist regime as long as the goody taps are open for public sector unions, NGOs, insider patronage networks and the corrupted what’s-in-it-for-me values of the average urban voter hopelessly absorbed with staying ahead of the inflation curve. Integrity, small unintrusive government, accountable transparent responsive representation and civil liberty are poor sells in a social morass that exists in largely urban populations.
Gary Mason had an article in the G&M "Resource Rich Alberta will have to learn to make compromises after the election."
After reading the article it was very obvious to me what he was getting at with regards to resource rich Alberta and his definition of compromises.
So I left a comment, one of the first 5 comments posted.
"Yeah, what Gary really means is better get ready to bend over and take it Alberta. In other words hand over some of that riches."
This was Monday morning.
I checked my profile this morning and saw the hyperlink from my comment and clicked to see if anyone commented and was redirected to another article "Albertans voted for change not upheaval"
I scrolled thru the 3 pages of comments until I found my comment
Name withheld
11:15 PM on April 23, 2012
This comment has been removed from our system.
This comment has violated our Terms and Conditions, and has been removed.
Haha
timestamp on his column
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Apr. 23, 2012 10:25PM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Apr. 24, 2012 10:59AM EDT
Below is the slice and dice part from the original article with updated election results included in his deep thoughts on compensation.
This is why it needs to find alternative markets, why Ms. Redford's government will find itself at the centre of a noisy pipeline debate. There doesn't seem to be an avenue for resolving these issues that doesn't involve some compromise on the province's part – something to which Ms. Redford seems amenable. (hehe, amenable, get use to hearing that word)
There is growing opposition in B.C. to two current pipeline proposals – Enbridge's Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan's expansion of its line to Vancouver. If either project is to be a go, it seems inevitable that Alberta will have to offer B.C. more than just thanks for assuming most of the environmental risk while seeing little economic benefit. What that compensation might be is anyone's guess. *(mine)
Here is a link to his home page, over on right hand side is most discussed articles and the original article is listed as the top most discussed. When you click on it you are redirected to the second slice and dice article.
http://tinyurl.com/d4zp5ts
Gary Mason is based out of Vancouver, but he sure had a lot to say about the Alberta election.
1. Democratic elections have been reduced to that silly marketing slogan "customers know what they want" as customer know everything. If that would be the case in early 80s , IBM would still rule the world, few would knew Microsoft and Apple would be an interesting prototype in a museum.
2. If politics is not about leading , just pleasing the presumed voters preferences, perhaps Canada should import few Greek politicians - they are the best in the business.
3. The false assumption: policies of today will be popular in four , eight or forty eight years.
(digression: "we" all thought the young generation will embrace linux and they bought stupidphones and dumb tablets - although some running android)
The Wet One,
No we’re not enemies, we just need to shut up and have people like you tell us that we are stupid ignorant “rednecks” that don’t know how to handle our abundant prosperity and wealth properly.
We need you to manage our lives for us, because we are simply incapable.
Just like Mr. Not an Albertan “cgh” commented on another thread, we need to pack our bags in Alberta and head to Russia to live. “get the f*ck off our property, that belongs to socialist Ontarians”. You guys should slide on in and make it work instead with a little eastern communism and lots of imported Chinese sweatshop labor.
Then we’ll definitely be friends, we just need to prove ourselves to you more :)
She's talking to a province largely doesn't care about policy. Pre-election there are record breaking protests at the leg. over human rights commission and Bill 2, anger over property rights and....05 blood alcohol outrage.
And then...
None of that matters any more at vote time.
Albertans endorsed all of those policies I listed with their vote. So let's all turn around and attack a new party who wants to fix that for a province with a huge block of clueless voters that can't figure out how the system works...and a huge block of regular people nurses and teachers who have let their own unions get way too strong and draconian.
Small government types can't win by making sensible policies in a world of relativism.
And if we attack them we all deserve what we get.
Big difference between claiming you believe in climate change and doing something about it. If people want to hear politicians say they believe in climate change and do nothing about it in order to vote for them then do it. What's the big deal?
Darling Danielle is making the same stupid mistake that the AGW crowd makes in sole sourcing the cause. The AGW crowd believes that CO2 is the sole source of climate change. Darling Danielle thinks that only her AGW stance caused her to lose the election. Others have spoken to the AGW mistake but for Darling Danielle this may come as news. The AGW stance of the WRA was a wash. As many were turned off by your stance as were turned on. The reason you lost the election is that you failed to present a reason to be a WRA supporter as a proud Albertan. I supported the WRA because I knew the PCs are dangerous to the Alberta I grew up in and love with true patriot love. I did not support the WRA because of their brilliant ideas and ideals. Of course it would help to know if the WRA has any brilliant ideas and ideals and ideas but its a little late in the day to find out now. To be perfectly blunt the only thing I can remember about Darling Danielle is that she has a wonderful set of tires.
Because it falls under politicians who chose to say and do anything to get elected.Telling lies and then not following through.
Sound familiar?
Unrelated stories:
Coincidentally, after Alberta elections crude oil prices are collapsing.
2015:
Migrant workers wander the Prairies in search for work on a farm.
She was just on with Rutherford, ain't exactly liking what i'm hearing.....oh well.
The entitlement mind set is here, Alberta is dead.
Being a "Climate Denier" is a lightning rod just as much as saying "lake of fire".
You know what else is a lightning rod? Opposing the left. If you're afraid of a fight, then don't bother. Further, there is no evidence the policies Smith is looking at jettisoning led to this loss. It should be noted that this 'loss' involved getting 35% of the vote. I will have to write her spine-letter.
'Collapsing'.....right....maybe you need to revisit the definition of the word.
"Anselm" @ 11:01. That is a perfect recipe for failure in the political realm.
There ARE lots of social conservatives out there, but they're divided along racial,religious,and ethnic lines, so don't vote as a block.
The few that seem to, conservative evangelical Christians, only succeed in losing the urban vote for the Party they allegedly support.
Watch the BC election next year to see the truth of this.
With Smith's remarks today on AGW etc., it makes one wonder if Albertans weren't being sold a bill of goods by a politician who was simply trying to "fool all the people some of the time".
Hopefully,she can form an effective Opposition,at least.
I'm not too excited by the comments being made right now. The WRP should look at it's bid to become government and try to determine what went right or wrong. They did get 34% of the popular vote.
They now have 4 years to prepare themselves as a government in waiting and if they equit themselves well.....
The arrogance of the PC's will not go away with this premier. She might be the worst we have seen in AB.
I was WRONG when I recently opined that when they gained power they'd soon reveal their inner progressivism. They didn't need to gain power!
Having come to the conclusion that all the parties are progressive I didn't follow the election closely.
BUT, I did see a clip of Smith timidly suggesting that the science of "global warming" wasn't settled (to boos all round!) but that this was no reason not to act (?!).
Andy.....time frame....not the definition.
Yes.....the crude oil prices will go to the moon, and not only Alberta government will balance its budget , but the federal government will and all other provinces. Holly......all public debt will be paid, The road from Yellowknife to Goose Bay will be paved with gold.
Right. Let's just throw her under the bus and be done with it, yes? She's showing some pragmatism, so let's burn her at the stake. What are the point of policies if you can't get elected to implement them? Have you guys learned NOTHING in the past 6-7 years? Are you saying we/Canada would have been better off continuing with the wafflemaster PMPM? or Dion? or Iggy? REALLY?
If you're going to pick up your toys and go home, knock yourself out. Otherwise, buy a damn membership and show up at the convention when policies are reviewed, and have your say.
Put your $10 where your mouth is, or go home & pout. Your choice.
I understand everyone wants to try and put on a brave face and a positive spin on Smith's comments. But facts are facts, and if she is willing to capitulate that easily it does not bode well for the future.
If I look at my kids (we live in BC), the school system constantly, on a daily basis, tries to brainwash them. It never ends. And that brainwashing includes a daily does of global warming indoctrination. Stalin would be proud.
So given what Smith has just done, I am now more sure than ever that the battle is not at the polling station, but in the classroom where kids are being indoctrinated daily. It will get worse and worse unless that battle is won.
Smith's comments are a huge disappointment.
Have you guys learned NOTHING in the past 6-7 years?
I've learned that defeating the enemy by becoming him is no victory at the federal level (Harper) and doubly so at the provincial level (Hudak, Tory).
Whenever conservatives concede the legitimacy of the roles of government to be all things to all people (Status Quo), they are competing in the political process for management rights of bureaucracies that all border on dysfunction.
Danielle Smith was quoted as saying that she will press the Premier on waiting times for medical treatment. IOW, she will pressure the big spending PCs to spend more in futility, on crony-appointed management and unionized sloth.
When government is not involved in the health care business, it is not involved in the conscience rights business and politicians no longer have to compete in the realms of moral relativism vs traditional morality. Similarly, a cultural debate brought on by the sloth of public education is another self-reinforcing monstrosity.
Populism, sprinkled with conservative sentiment is no substitute for reason, limited government, private ownership (of resources too) and a cultural mindset of thrift. Danielle Smith has often been associated with libertarianism. If true, I see little evidence.
TJ, you nailed it right there.
Enjoy losing then. If you refuse to play the game by the rules, then you lose by default. It's called democracy, not "My way!" Believe it or not, there are other people who don't think the same way you do. Sadly for you (I suppose), they get a vote too.
Convince them to do otherwise, and you may just find yourself in power and capable of doing what you want. However, remember, voters have a bit (not much) of a memory and have their own interests.
As for Knight99's comment, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm an Albertan. I try hard not to sound like you (angry, bitter, and speaking of fellow Albertans and Canadians as "enemies) because it gives us all a bad name. As a matter of a fact knight99, you give me as an Albertan a bad name. Please stop.
Cheers!
@ ct at April 25, 2012 10:41 AM
Our society has abandoned our children to be raised and educated by a leftwing education system. That system teaches that the government is the answer to all concerns. We will reap what we sow.
Can't agree with you more.