A lot of people are wondering if the upstart Wildrose party can win the upcoming Alberta election.
I think it can.
But to win the Wildrosers will need to do three things.
First, they absolutely must stick to their conservative principles. It's the party's ideological orientation, after all, which distinguishes it from the Progressive Conservative party's "Big Tent" more wishy-washy approach.
And just as important, it's the party's conservatism which mobilizes and energizes its base. The equation is simple: If you can't keep your base onside, you can't win elections.
Yet, running simply as ideological conservatives isn't enough. To win, the Wildrose party must also vigorously promote as part of its platform an issue that's popular both with its base and with mainstream Alberta ...
fabo - 1 month agoBill 7 accepts 92 recommendations
The Stelmach government's new electoral reforms reject key recommendations from Elections Alberta - including adopting fixed voting dates and leadership finance rules - but allow for testing of online voting and help remove political influence over the process.
Bill 7, the Election Statutes Amendment Act, was introduced Thursday and responds to 182 recommendations made by former elections boss Lorne Gibson following a 2008 election that was plagued by long lineups, record-low 41 per cent turnout, and a voters list missing about a quarter of eligible electors.
Gibson was turfed last year by a Tory-dominated committee, but his long list of recommendations were consolidated down to 144, of which the government accepted or revised 92 and rejected ...
bibi - 26 months agoThe Alberta government introduced some long overdue electoral reforms last week. But in doing so it drew attention to the yawning gap that still exists between Alberta and most other provinces when it comes to creating a more level playing field for all parties during election campaigns.
It's well known that elections in Alberta are usually predictable affairs. The Conservatives win big leaving the opposition parties to lick their wounds and limp along as best they can. What is not so well known is that the rules here are quite different from other provinces.
Take campaign financing: Alberta is the only province that does not limit spending by either a party or a candidate. In Ontario, for example, there is a formula that limits campaign spending by a political party in each constituency ...
martina - 26 months ago
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