Calgary Centre-North Recommendation: Stephen Randall (LIB)

As much as I'd like to see a Green candidate win, there's just no way it's happening in this election. Heck, even the NDP are considered far too radical in almost all of Alberta. This leaves us with only the Liberal candidate, who luckily is articulate and intelligent (ie: a good choice regardless). And mainstream enough to have a shot at winning.

Please spread the word. We can't keep splitting our votes and handing the HarperCons easy wins.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Roger L. Gagne on April 26, 2011 at 9:10am

Hi Andrew,

I agree that vote splitting is a dangerous game, and I DO NOT want Michelle Rempel to win.

And that is one reason why I'm voting Green; the party with momentum, both nationally and in Calgary Centre North.

Stephen Randall, while a fine candidate, is running for the Liberal party... with all the baggage of the NEP. No Liberal has won in Alberta since 1968.

Permalink Reply by Andrew on April 27, 2011 at 12:03am

Hi Roger,

I respect your choice, and sincerely hope that it works... Does the Green campaign in Calgary Centre North have an organized plan for getting the vote out on May 2? It's going to require an incredible effort to stop Harper's trained seal from winning...

My generation (fortunately) has no idea what the NEP was :)

Permalink Reply by Roger L. Gagne on April 27, 2011 at 3:42am

Funny you should mention that; I've been working on the database for several hours, and I just replied to an email from our volunteer coordinator.

So yes, we have a plan.

Permalink Reply by Bob Morgan on April 26, 2011 at 9:48am

Andrew,

I understand there was a forum last night (Monday) for Calgary North Centre candidates. If you attended, what did you think?

Permalink Reply by Andrew on April 26, 2011 at 11:54pm

Hi Bob,

I wasn't there, because I'm overseas at the moment... but judging from the online stream, I felt that Randall did the best job of all the candidates there. Not to say that the Green candidate was bad in any way, shape or form; just that I can't see the mainstream in Calgary going Green...

That said, if anyone out there *is* voting Green and truly thinks they have a shot, then please round up every single person you know in your riding and drag them out to the polling stations. It's going to require an *incredibly* concerted (and ORGANIZED) effort to strategically vote the Greens in!

Permalink Reply by Bob Morgan on April 27, 2011 at 9:57am

Interesting discussion here between Roger and Andrew. I have to interject here Roger that i think the strategy of Catch 22 is the best strategy for the good of the country and that goes for the other campaigns that are using strategic voting (SV). Some groups are using strategic voting but only based on one issue such as Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. They are using SV to try to protect the CBC. SV means that partisan politics comes second to ensuring that the best positioned candidate beats the Con candidate. I have followed some of the identified ridings and am very interested to see if the Catch 22 campaign is going to be enough to make the difference. It does not mean always supporting the Green because that is the party with the momentum.

Permalink Reply by Roger L. Gagne on April 27, 2011 at 4:03pm

Hi Bob,

I'm rooting for the Liberals and NDP in other ridings across the country, but Calgary Centre North is a strong one for the Greens. Given the results of the last election as well as the fact that Heather is doing tons more campaign work than our 2008 candidate did, and has a bigger team of volunteers, I think she has a VERY good chance of winning. If the Greens finish behind the Liberals in CCN, I'd be shocked. And if the Liberal supporters swung in to vote for Heather, she would certainly win over Ms. Remple.

Have you seen the Mac vs PC videos I did with Heather? Here's my favorite of the four:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgjm7_o3vUE

Permalink Reply by Vincent St. Pierre on April 27, 2011 at 8:44pm

The Liberals are the ones to win, Andrew. You made a good choice in picking Randall as your choice in 2011.

Elections Prediction Project agrees with you: http://www.electionprediction.org/2009_fed/riding/48003.php Only one NDP supporter on there, and no Greens. It might be mostly Conservatives, but the minority Liberal presence there

In the last week Randall has doubled his twitter followers. I would like to say he has momentum but I would prefer not to jinx him. Also, there isn't anything more fake than seeing web posters or twitter users declaring that their candidate has momentum or such-and-such doesn't have momentum. It reeks of fakeness and desperation.

The Liberal candidate has also received many times more media attention that either of the other opposition candidates. He is running a better campaign and getting more attention than the other candidiates. He is also the best candidate, to be totally honest, and should receive your vote irregardless of strategic voting.

Permalink Reply by Andrew on April 27, 2011 at 9:39pm

Interesting take on things, Vincent... Though as Bob Morgan points out above, the critical issue is *stopping Harper*, not stumping for any one particular party over another. It's great to hear that Randall may have a shot (?), and honestly the only reason I gave him my vote was that I felt that without any recommendation, he seemed like the best option (ie: most mainstream candidate).

From what I'm seeing though, I'm very worried that the left is going to split between the Green and Liberal...

We need to consolidate our votes behind the candidate with the best chance to stop Rempel. That's all.

Green volunteers: Do you have enough committed voters on your lists to make this happen? Coming "close, but not quite" is basically going to be a disaster for Canada as a whole. :(

Permalink Reply by Andrew on April 27, 2011 at 9:55pm

Ah, the fella over at threehundredeight nicely summarized what I'm trying to convey (emphasis mine, for our particular riding just change "NDP" to "Green"):

And that is the difference between voting intentions and actual votes. Voting Conservative or Liberal or Bloc is nothing new for a lot of voters, so saying they intend to vote for those parties is not a stretch. Saying they will vote for the NDP, a party that they have likely never voted for in the past, is far less likely to hold true when they reach the ballot box.

So, again... if you think Green has the best chance to upset Rempel, you have to be going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that you get the vote out.

Permalink Reply by Roger L. Gagne on April 30, 2011 at 8:34pm

Hi Andrew,

"no way it's happening in Alberta..."

Well, I was one of over 80 people waving Green Party signs and green scarves on the Centre St. Bridge for two hours on Thursday as the rush hour traffic was coming north into Calgary Centre North; Heather MacIntosh was there, as always. I saw 4 thumbs down, and one upraised finger, but I heard HUNDREDS of honks and saw many, many thumbs up and supportive waves.

Permalink Reply by Laura Burton-Scheer on April 30, 2011 at 9:33pm

After repairing vandalized GREEN signage since serving 300? organic breakfasts (LOL- just got in NOW) , It would appear that the big 'C' conservatives here in CCN are far more frightened of the GREENS than the GRITS. I don't believe the liberals will make many inroads in this riding. During door-knocking and our events, those who are looking for change express more interest in 'innovative and forward-thinking change', rather than trusting the guy who's buddies did all the damage 20 years ago. The trust just isn't there. Also, we're getting lots of the NDPers coming on board now, too - so Liberal CCN ? hmmm - doubtful . . .