Alberta’s dismal voter turnout

 

I wanted to reproduce this editorial from today’s Edmonton Journal: 

‘Won’t vote’ wins majority

In the next three-plus years, each time you hear an Albertan complain about the provincial government, remember this

Chances will be almost three out of five that the grumbler cared so little about the future direction and management of public affairs he now bewails that he or she couldn’t be bothered to vote on March 3, 2008.

Alberta Election 2008 - Conclusions

 

I don’t even want to talk about it, I’ll just give you two sets of data to compare.

Popular Vote - by %

Conservatives - 53%

Liberal - 25%

NDP - 9%

Alliance - 7%

Green - 5%

Actual Seats in Legislature - Out of 83

Conservatives - 73

Liberal - 8

NDP - 2

Alliance - 0

Green - 0

Does this seem disproportionate to anyone else?

In any case, good riddance Alberta, you can have your 4 decade long dynasty of incompetence and shortsightedness.  Enjoy.

Alberta Election 2008

Well, all you Albertans should be wiping the sleep from your eyes and heading off to the polling station now. I, like many others, am not hopeful that any meaningful change will occur when polls close tonight.

As the Globe and Mail reports, this election has done little to capitalize on voter discontent around rampant growth, massive increases in the cost of living, and the environmental degradation that has occurred under the Alberta Tories (37 years and counting…).

Janice Brown predicts that the Tories will pick up 70 to 72 seats. I can hope for less, but in the end it appears that most Albertans are still either too dumb, lazy, or conservative to vote for any party other than the Conservatives.

While I had some faint hope that the influx of new Albertans might make a difference it appears that most people are more concerned with milking the hot economy for all it’s worth rather than making a political statement.

Good riddance, I say. Time to head somewhere where there is some semblance of a democratic process.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote, though, so find your polling station. At the very least Alberta can avoid having a record-low voter turnout. Maybe.

And keep your eye on Ben Co. for my Top 10 best and worst of Alberta.

Uncommitted! Uncommitted!

So the Michigan Primary was last night. Hardly any democrats participated because of a spat of controversy when Michigan tried to move up its primary to compete with Iowa and New Hampshire. (A completely idiotic post I’m too lazy to write about)

So basically only five names were on the ballot. One you know, one you should know, and three scrubs.

The Results were

• Person A: 55%
• Person B: 40%
• Person C: 4%
• Person D: 1%
• Person E: 0%

Now, match the following names to the results: Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel, Denis Kucinich and Uncommitted.

Any guesses?

• Clinton: 55%
• Uncommitted: 40%
• Kucinich: 4%
• Dodd: 1%
• Gravel: 0%

That’s right, Hillary really laid a whooping on an imaginary person. I don’t know if this says more for Hillary, less for Kucinich, or boatloads about the Michigan Voter. You decide!

Alberta Conservatives spend $225,000 of public money on “campaign ads”?

Okay, combine this with Ed’s Wednesday night 20-minute campaign ad and the Conservatives have managed to spend $350,000 of taxpayer dollars on thinly veiled attempts to boost Stelmach’s visibility and credibility in a lead up to an election call.

So what did we get for $225,000? Well, a headshot of Stemalch with “tough face #1″ who remind us that he made a commitment and delivered. I’ll tell you what, Ed: After seeing this I’ve made a commitment of my own for the upcoming election, and I’ll deliver, too.

But don’t just listen to me, judge for yourselves if this looks like a campaign ad to you:

 

Vote, Edmonton!

Don’t forget to vote today, all you Edmontonians!

Here’s all the information you need.

Now you have no excuse except apathy.

Hillary Clinton: Human or Cyborg?

Now I know there has a been a lot of speculation about just how personable Hillary Clinton really is.  The Daily Show examines her recent attempt at appearing…umm…softer?