Alberta 2012

[tpfkaw]

I think it can be tacky and decidedly unfunny repeating jokes, but as I said in the other thread, Wildrose has a fantastic campaign bust!

I wonder if it was a dleiberate campaign move. Smith certainly is quite pretty.

It would be a rather Machiavellian ploy - get the immature misogynist vote and the anti-immature-misogynist vote (by claiming one's opponents are immature misogynists).

[tpfkaw]

If Wildrose does well, any chance they'll try to expand to other provinces and/or run candidates federally?

[tpfkaw]

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta-politics/6404846/story.html

NDP Balanced Budget platform... could be(probably is) an attempt to lure Liberals over to their camp espcially in Edmonton.
Last election the PCs were stronger in Edmonton b/c Stelmach had the local boy effect, if you look at 2004 the Lib/NDP held all but three edmonton seats. This year the PC/WR leaders are both Calgary gals so Edmonton is going to be a battle between for who in the opposition can win over more voters.
If WR sweeps, it will be interesting to see which seats stay PC and weather its based more on local political leanings of the MLA themselves

It might also due to strategic voting too.  Many not on the right will vote for whomever is most likely to stop the most right wing party and considering the PCs are doing much better than the Liberals or NDP, so might vote PCs for that reason never mind Alison Redford is pretty centrist anyways.  I know many on the centre-left who despised Klein, Harper, and Manning but would have no problem supporting Redford.  In fact that is partly why the WRA is doing so well is many Conservatives don't see her as a real conservative.  

Given the dynamics of three-way FPTP races, if the WRP lead keeps expanding, you'll eventually start having two competing trends:

1. Liberal and NDP voters voting PC to keep out WRP.

2. PC voters voting WRP to keep out Liberals and NDP.

The PCs have to hope that 1 is a stronger trend than 2, or they'll be wiped off the map.

[tpfkaw]

Wtf.... (is he just being snarky?)

http://www.albertaliberal.com/news.php?n=87

[tpfkaw]

Yeah, Alberta would pretty clearly be about R+10 or so, maybe a little more, if it were a state.

This election's sort of interesting in that you've kinda got a competition between soft-communitarians and soft-libertarians.

[tpfkaw]

Were the PCs this left-wing before the election?  They're starting to sound like Elizabeth Warren or something.

[tpfkaw]

oh btw, I heard on CBC that Smith is pro-choice and pro gay marriage, so...

She's also apparently been attacked by the PCs for advocating legalized prostitution.

[tpfkaw]

There was that Venezuelan "election" in which the opposition won the popular vote but Chavez's party won 2/3rds of the seats...