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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

can't buy me love.

Yesterday: Polls released showing Ed Stelmach's Tories dropping 22-percent in support over the past 7 months from 54% in January to 32% in August. A stunningly large 36% of Albertans polled fell into the 'undecided' pool.

Today: Stelmach's Tories announce $350 million in government building upgrades. Can you smell a desperate reaction?

To the 22-point plunge, Stelmach's spokesperson, the lovey Tom Olsen responded...

The reason the dramatic plunge is "believable," according to Olsen, is that "hundreds of thousands of new Albertans don't know the history of Progressive Conservative governments in this province and are spending their time assessing what they see."
Well, I'm not going to spend much time pointing out the hilariousness of Tom Olsen's response. I'll defer to Dan for that.

(Also, click here to see CTV's news report on the story - click on "Kirk Heuser reports")

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The whole funding announcement reeks of old-style politics. The money is needed, but it would have cost Alberta taxpayers more than $350 MILLION (because there is alot more hundereds of millions of dollars needed) if the Tories hadn't sat around and watched Alberta's roads, schools, hospitals, and public infrastruture fall apart for the past 15 years.

The sick part of all of this is that Ed Stelmach was the Infrastructure Minister for a large part of this time. For a decade he sat around Ralph Klein's cabinet table and didn't say a peep while Alberta's roads, schools, hospitals, and public infrastruture were crumbling. And now he tries to boast an inventment like this as a thinly-veiled plot to buy back the 34% of undecided voters? OLD STYLE POLITICS.

Eddie, if you really meant it, you would have spoke up 13 years ago, but instead you baaahed with the rest of Klein's sheep.

Anonymous said...

"Eddie, if you really meant it, you would have spoke up 13 years ago, but instead you baaahed with the rest of Klein's sheep."

It sounds like you don't know the history of Progressive Conservative governments in this province and are spending his time assessing what you see. Must be a newcomer.

Anonymous said...

"hundreds of thousands of new Albertans don't know the history of Progressive Conservative governments in this province and are spending their time assessing what they see."

Thank you, Professor Olsen. Tell Dean Stelmach that I'm withdrawing from the course.

Anonymous said...

Ed Stelmach is Stephane Dion in light blue.

Unsteady Eddie is not a leader.

Anonymous said...

Good thing all you socialist clowns live in one place: Strathcona. That way we only get one clown-elect in the legislature.

This anti-Alberta rhetoric is beneath contempt.

Anonymous said...

"This anti-Alberta rhetoric is beneath contempt."

I agree. Ed Stelmach should quit acting like Harry Strom and throw in a little Bible Bill Aberhart.

It's time to clamp down on those latte drinking, educated, urban folk from the big cities. Thinking they can trot out all those fancy 'ideas' and 'public diologue' and provide some form of 'opposition.'

Never understood 'em before. Don't understood 'em today.

Anonymous said...

"That way we only get one clown-elect in the legislature."

And what do you call the Calgary Tory Caucus?

Anonymous said...

Dave:

As the self-appointed spokesperson for the Alberta Liberals, what spin do you put on your parties numbers in the poll.

Liberals: 16%, unchanged from January 2007 and a 6% drop from May 2007

Taft approval: 30%, 8% drop from January 2007, and a 4% drop from 4%.

Looks like people are rushing to adopt the Liberal brand either.

daveberta said...

I'm not really a self-appointed spokesperson for anyone but myself, but here is what my thoughts were in my original post on the polls:

"Though these numbers clearly don't benifit any specific political party, the growing undecided pool of voters leaking from the Tory support hints that a fall 2007 election may start to look more likely (before the S.S. Stelmach sinks any further).

It also means that the Liberals and Tories are going to have to put in extra effort to woo the growing undecided vote in the run up to the next election."

calgarygrit said...

Someone needs to put out a graph showing the inverse relationship between Tory poll numbers and spending announcements.

The best way to get something done - tell a pollster you won't vote Stelmach!


As for the Taft/Lib numbers, people will judge the Libs during the election campaign.

Anonymous said...

Umm Dave, aren't you the communications guy for the Liberal Party? How are you not the spokesperson/spinner?

Anonymous said...

Tom Olsen is anonymously posting again...

Anonymous said...

Good point, Calgary Grit.

By the time Stelmach hits 20% in the polls, all of Alberta's infrastructure problems will have been fixed.

Anonymous said...

So: anti-PC = "anti-Alberta rhetoric"?

McROTFL. You Tory nuts are hee-laryus

Anonymous said...

This funding hardly begins to even address the neglect of the past 15 years that the PC government has had dealt Alberta's public infrastructure.

There is over a BILLION DOLLARS in backlogged maintainence in the postsecondary sector alone. The $111 million given to advanced education won't even make a noticable dent.

Anonymous said...

In one of the richest times this province has ever seen, all you here is "We want more money! We need more money!" from every special interest group imaginable.

Why can't you people be more like the voting public in the USA? Their bridges are collapsing into their rivers but you don't see them asking for more public dollars. They know that there is a bigger issue, there is a war to fight.