Fiscal Four, Thrifty Three, Tightwad Two...

Fascinating development coming out of the PC ranks; the Fiscal Four or is it Five.

If they add more are they still being fiscally responsible?

On Twitter the predictions are that it goes the other direction. @justin_archer quipped

“When Fawcett loses his seat to Danielle Smith, the Fiscal 4 can be the Thrifty 3! Nice!”

To which I responded

“and when the third falls, they will be down to the Tightwad Two.”

Kidding aside, Daveberta has an interesting perspective and speculates this might be a staged undertaking.
This brings two questions to mind.

1) Is the PC party even intelligent enough to pull something like that off without having it completely backfire? And really what benefit is there from creating, for what, by all intents and purposes, looks like a mini internal revolt? Some Albertans may even say it just four youngsters having a tantrum.

2) Are these four truly spineless? I mean if you believe that this is a staged operation; then you must also believe that they are completely operating under the direction of Stelmach and company.

It is that second one that leads me to believe that this is not a PC staged maneuver. I don’t know Rob Anderson or Doug Griffiths; but I have never heard anyone who does know them, speak ill of them. Jonathon Denis and I have crossed virtual paths and spoken on the phone; I believe him to be principled, I think we have more in common than different.

That leaves Kyle Fawcett. He and I first faced off in the 2008 General Election. Those who have seen that exchange would likely be surprise to learn how things have changed. Since then we have shared late night banter; we have had lunch a couple of times and as a resident of Calgary – North Hill, I am a member of the Community Advisory Panel.

One of the things I have learned about Kyle is that he does care; he takes the time to listen and understand the local issues. In fact he spoke out about what he had been hearing. Unfortunately, this type of vocalizing is not tolerated.

This brings us to why (in my opinion) the Fiscal Four exists. They have seen what happens when “one” speaks out. Perhaps they feel there is safety in numbers. Perhaps they feel by being a group, it will give others the strength to join them.
Sadly though, I think they might also believe they can make a difference.

We have seen over the years that change from within the PC’s is not possible. This past weekend’s leadership result also demonstrates they are quite happy with the course of they are on. Since March ‘08 Stelmach has been saying “we have the overwhelming support of Albertans”; now he can change that to “we have the support of our members.” And he will use that to down play any MLA(s) who are not singing from his song sheet.

Stelmach and his band of merry men have not figured out that the role of an MLA is to represent their constituents; with the overall wellbeing of the province and nation in mind. They cannot get past the narrow minded mentality that if you are not with them you are against them.

It will be intriguing to see how this plays out. Will the four (or 5) be strong enough to speak their minds? And at what cost? Will it even make a difference? Will they bend under pressure from the more senior members and end up silenced?

I will close with this.

Don't worry if you don't get it, it's a lame reference that only some of my friends will get.

Too darn early for this

Stewie decided today that 4:44 would be a good time to get up.  Grrrr. I get up, let him out and reply to a couple of emails. Let him in and go back to bed. Not good enough; he starts bringing toys, one by one, into bed and pestering me. So am awake enough to post a few words.

As I eluded to in a previous post I have gone from having two blogs to just this one. I have received emails, direct Tweets and a few phone calls from viewers and friends asking what happened to my Executive Director blog. Well it is being replaced by another blog; one much better and with a bit of a different angle.

Beyond that I can't say too much, so stay tuned. I would like to thank everyone who had been following it and I hope some of you continue to follow me on this blog.

Meanwhile you still have a day or so to throw a vote my way. I  have pulled ahead, into second place and the only one ahead of me is PC'er Jonathon Denis. Click here to vote.

Leftover random thoughts on the Calgary Glenmore by-election.

A collection of random thoughts that never quite made it to full blog commentary.


On the NDP:

Not sure why they bothered. An appointed candidate, with no visibility or support. Perhaps Travis pegged it best.



On the SC & Independent (also ran SC):

Both very comical. Toni might actually have a slim chance of coming out ahead of Len.




On Avalon Roberts;

Impressed that Avalon recognized me and approached me at debate to introduce herself.

Campaign manager is top notch fellow.

Too bad they couldn’t decide what to call us; neo-con, right wing, too conservative.

They realized too late in game they had two opponents.

David Swan overheard saying to a Hinman volunteer; “Paul is a good guy. He deserves to win and looks like he might take Glenmore.” I am still pondering this one. Does he not support another Dr. in the Leg? Have they done some polling to show this? Or is he just blowing sunshine up you know where?



On Diane Colley-Urquhart:

Premier Ed Stelmach didn’t go door knocking with the PC candidate. Likely best thing he could have done for Diane Colley-Urquhart. Rick Bell seems to agree.

From everything I have been able to gather DCU door knocked an average of four hours a day. If this map is any indication she couldn’t have covered more than 50% of the constituency.
 
Speaking of pictures; this one makes you go WTF???   Rule #1 of a campaign; “Don’t let the candidate touch the money.” That’s why Elections Alberta mandates candidates have CFO’s. It leads to speculation. The next picture is worthy of captions.  Gentleman contributor; “Really, for $600.00 you will do that for me?”

I wonder if she still is feeling the sting from one of her key volunteers jumping ship midway through the campaign to join a Wildrose Alliance Leadership candidate’s team.

Will Diane’s supportive hugging sessions continue on Election night?

Her number one supporter Jonathan Denis has been eerily quiet since the debate.

There are more, but I've likely said too much already.
As the saying goes; keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.



On Paul Hinman;

I make no bones about my admiration of Paul’s dedication and his ability to lead or serve as an MLA. I could point to many examples of this, but perhaps the most defining moment during the campaign came on Friday, August 28th. That was the day Paul learned of the sudden passing of his brother-in-law. It was the day CTV called him for an on camera interview - - and he agreed. I think that speaks volumes and adds more insight to the man than I can ever attempt to accomplish.

Sadly, it was also the same day our campaign manager learned of the passing of his father. I cannot begin to describe the strength they have each demonstrated to the team. Two of the finest men I am privledged to call friends.


Good luck to all candidates on Monday.