I was originally going to wait until later this week to post this, but after having being confronted this past weekend by a supporter of the local Liberal candidate, who aggressively and awkwardly accused me of volunteering for the NDP, I have decided that today would be best.
After some long and difficult thinking, I have decided that I will be voting for Edmonton-Strathcona NDP candidate Linda Duncan.
Edmonton-Strathcona is a two-way race and Linda Duncan is the only candidate in a position to defeat the Conservative incumbent. Strategic voting may not be easy for some Liberal, Green, and independent voters, but if you want to change who speaks for you in Ottawa, it is critically important. Recent polls have flagged Edmonton-Strathcona as a tight race and the tracking website DemocraticSPACE has Duncan in a statistical tie with the Conservative incumbent.
I strongly urge all Edmonton-Strathcona voters who want to stop Stephen Harper's Conservatives from taking Alberta for granted to vote for Linda Duncan on October 14.
Monday, October 06, 2008
i'm voting for linda duncan in edmonton-strathcona.
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20 comments:
We at Linda's campaign only wish you were willing to volunteer for the NDP!
*taking off my partisan Linda Duncan supporter hat and donning my electoral reformer hat*
I know you like Jane Thrall, too, and I appreciate how hard this decision was for you. I hope you toss a donation her way--she's doing a great job.
Awesome.
Edmonton-Strathcona is a real opportunity for the NDP to get seats in Alberta, and would be wonderful if they can do it during this election.
Good to hear. :)
Good choice Dave. I wish I had your dilemma of whether to vote strategically or not. Sadly I, like many of your readers, live in one of the 26 federal AB ridings that have absolutely no chance of change.
I'd love to see the NDP win in Strathcona and the Libs win in Centre. A one-two orange & red punch right to Harper's breadbasket.
Go Linda, Go Jim!
While I do have a strong party preference myself, Stephen Harper is a game changer and I will also be voting for the progressive in my riding who can take down a Harper drone candidate and I really believe that voters have the supreme right to cast their ballot as they see fit for any reason they choose. A lot of people I've talked to recently can't even give me a single intelligent reason why they vote the way they do. So you've already put more thought into your choice than the average voter. Well done!
That didn't take long. You're already on the endorsements list on her website!
And idealistic pragmatist: you teach applied linguistics? I didn't know anyone that smart read my blog. :)
I'm glad to hear your throwing your support behind Linda, because she would make a fantastic representative for Edmonton-Strathcona. I'm not glad to hear you're also endorsing the idea of strategic voting. Haven't you read Pundit's Guide lately?
http://www.punditsguide.ca/2008/09/think-twice-about-voting-strategically.php#links
This says it all for me:
"If all a politician has to do to get your vote is convince you they're more likely to win, just think what kind of Parliament you're going to get: an even scrappier place filled with people who've learned the only way to survive is to win at all costs."
I must say though, in Linda's case, there's reasons she's more likely to win and those reasons are what should be determining your vote.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy Daveberta!
Liberals 4 Linda can make this happen - and still make the NDs crap their pants next provincial election!
That's too bad Dave. I think Jane really offers something different, and is worth the votes here in Edmonton Strathcona. Linda Duncan should be able to win this on the merits of her and Jack Layton's leadership. If that is not enough on it's own to win the riding, then I really don't understand why people would vote for her if their first choice is another candidate.
I strongly encourage people to vote for the candidate who represents what they believe; the leadership and policies that they want to see on Parliament Hill.
If I was in Edmonton Strathcona I would be voting for Linda Duncan...not the NDP Party - or Jack Layton...BUT Linda Duncan for sure.
IN Edmonton Centre I AM voting for Jim Wachowich AND the LIBERAL Party.
All politics are local I hear.
I also live in Edmonton-Strathcona. I think you are wrong on this Dave. You are failing to see the bigger picture. Jack Layton has done the environmental cause an enormous disservice by dissing the Green Shift, by trying to present carbon taxes as less fair and effective than carbon trading when they are no such thing. As Dion has pointed out, Layton ignores the length of time it would take to set up a carbon trading scheme, and the difficulty Europe is having making their scheme effective.
In my view it would be better to see the Conservatives with a slim majority, but a bigger vote for the Liberals and Greens than the NDP, than the Conservatives with another minority government, but a vote that shows Canada has decisively rejected carbon tax and elected to remain an environmental basket-case.
People who care about the environment should vote Liberal or Green, but not for the NDP
Jane, please. That Kool-Aid is waay too sugary. Why on earth would you want to endorse a carbon tax, to bring in government revenues from the big polluters, so that Government can then turn around and become addicted to the very revenue it says it wants to erradicate?
Saying that a carbon tax will reduce Co2 is like saying the GST will reduce Government spending. Cap and Trade is the best we got - and with both potential US Presidents advocating it, Canada needs to ally itself with this policy...
It may not be perfect, but it's better than a tax on people who are already overburdened with the cost of living. Give your head a shake.
I'm not against carbon trading, and from what I've read neither is Dion. It is Layton who has been putting taxes versus trading as if they are mutually exclusive.
In fact, I'm involved in carbon trading myself. I'm part of a UK scheme to buy up EU pollution permits so they can't be used by the polluters. Koool or what?
The NDP are disappointingly weak on the environment, but I too would be voting for Linda in Strathcona. Fact is an NDP seat is one less Conservative seat, and thus one more seat the Liberals don't have to win to form government.
You have to be realistic--strategic voting is the only way Alberta is going to be something other than Tory blue. And every Liberal in Edmonton should be volunteering in Centre and every New Democrat should be campaigning in Strathcona.
Q: "How does an anarchist strategically vote?"
A: "First, he or she makes the difficult decision to vote..."
Jane, anyone who takes a look at Linda's website will see she's got great environmental credentials. Anyone who's met her will see she's not the type of person to be bullied into abandoning that life-long cause.
You are a bigger person than I suspect I would be if placed in your shoes. I appreciate that you are viewing the larger picture and not the world through partisan glasses. Lucky for me, in Ottawa Centre my choices are between Paul Dewar - NDP and Penny Collenette - Liberal.
I suspect progressives across Canada are rooting for Linda - a progressive in the Conservative heartland.
With your profuse dislike for Brian Mason; I am surprised you can stomach this one Dave. They are after all joined in the NDP. Also...this means you're voting for Jack Layton and that's shocking.
Then again, despite your profuse dislike of the provincial NDP, you did not vote for the candidate with the best chance to knock off Rachel Notley.
Interesting considering the margin in terms of votes will likely be more than the provincial race.
T.J. Keil shows once again that, for the PC Party of Alberta, democracy is 83 MLAs from one party.
I know Dave; I'm bugging him.
This has nothing that requires a lament for democracy.
Dave, you've reached the same conclusion as I have. I salute you.
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