add some ukulele to your all hallows' eve.

Care of the Edmonton-based Ukulele rock stars, The Be Arthurs, here's Ghostbusters...

guest post: how i became a former john mcain fan.

I began 2007 excited by the Presidential contest to come. The field for both parties was deep and varied. For the first time, I was rooting for a Republican. After watching the 2000 contest, I believed John McCain to be an individual with a history of personal sacrifice and unbending integrity: ingredients to be one of the great presidents. In the period following 9/11, I could not help but think that the war-hero senator would have been ideal to steer the western world into the New World Order. My impression of rookie Senator Barack Obama was less charitable. I found him to be all flash and no substance, as if he were giving clinics on stirring oration less than engaging in substantive policy debate.

However, in the course of my fascination/obsession with this presidential contest, my sentiments on both men have transformed immensely. As Senator Obama showed himself to be a visionary leader, speaking to my logical and emotional capacities, Senator McCain disturbed me with his seemingly insatiable desire to win-at-all-costs, blindly pandering to those whom he had so courageously held fast against in the past.

Throughout the course of the election, Sen. McCain has failed to articulate a cohesive, consistent message. Surveying the varied message themes of the campaign, a common thread begins to emerge: A promise to take care of current problems, which should get America back on track. The difficulty with this message is that it assumes that fixing the current state of things is all that is required to move forward; that a reversion to the Reagan Revolution will ensure the prosperity of America as if that period was its cultural, economic and social zenith. Indeed, in 2000, Sen. McCain tended to rely more on his compelling personal narrative than a political one, but even then his platform seemed more of his own devising than a pastiche of focus-group-tested planks designed to appease sections of the Republican base.

Conversely, Sen. Obama has developed a bold new paradigm for American progress. Rather than merely correcting the mistakes of the current administration, Sen. Obama seems genuinely intent on ushering in a New American Age. He has outlined a vision for an America that transcends petty dichotomies and has developed a heightened sense of purpose, focused on fulfilling the extraordinary promises ignored for the past 16 years in favor of political posturing and rigid ideological adherence. Sen. Obama reminds us that America’s greatest moments are not those when it reacted appropriately in the face of devastation, but when it forged a new way forward.

Irrespective of the fact that this decision is always made in the most animated of political climates, Vice-Presidential selection should never be a heavily political decision. While campaign promises are reiterated over and over, they can be discarded on the floor of the White House when they become inconvenient or untenable. A Vice-President is a decision that, except in very extreme circumstances, you are stuck with. In Senator Biden, Sen. Obama chose someone to provide much needed foreign policy muscle, both on the campaign trail and in the White House. VP picks don’t get much more straightforward than Sen. Biden.

Sen. McCain, however, made an inappropriate and, by most accounts, impulsive selection in Governor Sarah Palin. Setting aside any debate about her individual abilities, Gov. Palin was a cynical and purely political choice, designed to assure a drifting Republican base and scoop up any discontented Clinton voters making their choice on exclusively superficial grounds. Far and away the most myopic decision for any campaign in either party, the impulsive nature of this choice has backfired in spectacular fashion, locking in the base of the party while repelling independent voters that Sen. McCain was once uniquely positioned to deliver. To boot, the McCain team has spent most of the campaign treating Gov. Palin more like a decorative feature of the campaign rather than a genuine candidate for the second-highest office in the land.

The juxtaposition of temperament between these two candidates, especially in the last two months, has been stark.

While at his best when passionately sermonizing, Sen. Obama has displayed a capacity to be calm and measured when challenged, his confidence shining through in either case. Sen. Obama makes every effort to display his extraordinary leadership qualities and communicates with a conviction and sincerity that is difficult to come across in US politics. Since his convention address, his policies and priorities have been clear and consistent, yielding significant dividends.

In his speeches, Sen. McCain attempts to be reassuring and empathetic, but the open-ended nature of his attacks on Sen. Obama are the only component that manage to attract attention. By engaging in a series of Hail Mary campaign plays, bizarre debate behavior and a seemingly intentional effort to completely change, rather than hone, his campaign narratives, Sen. McCain has managed to undermine his previously well-earned reputation as an experienced, straight-talking candidate with the judgment to lead. His conduct during the initial days of the economic crisis could be charitably described as erratic. Like a desperate car salesman haggling at you rather than with you, his campaign has imploded into an embarrassing spectacle that betrays the ethos of the John McCain I came to admire in 2000.

As the election enters its final five days, Sen. McCain is faced with an unfavorable electoral map suggesting that this election will not be the nail-biting experience of 2000 or 2004. On the long road down, Sen. McCain’s campaign has devolved into a parody of itself. Attacks on Sen. Obama have become more outlandish, his policy communications have been reduced to gimmicks and infighting within his campaign is beginning to take its toll as staff turn their back on their central mission.

Even Joe the Plumber has left his side.

-----

Chris Henderson is a political director based in Western Canada, where he spends his time holding democracy together. He is a former Chief-of-Staff to the President of Daveberta. He can be reached through his agent, the President of Daveberta.

articulate eddie's quote of the week.

I'm not sure if this October 29 answer from Ed Stelmach says more about the PC government or the opposition, actually, I really don't have a clue what it says because I don't think it actually makes any sense.

Mr. MacDonald: ... The Canada Health Act is based on a set of five principles. My first question is to the Premier. Why are four principles of the Canada Health Act – comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and public administration – ignored by the board that this government created to run health in this province?

Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, you know, we can debate about these principles back and forth for the next 10 years. Our main goal here as a government is to make sure that this publicly funded health system is sustainable for the next generation. The way this opposition is going, we’re going to lose it over the next year not only in this province but right across this country.

Any guesses as to what he could have meant? Anybody have a Rosetta Stone handy?

More here.

"we’ve lost touch with just what the heck we’re all about in the first place."

I almost completely missed this post until someone of a more articulate nature pointed me in its direction (ht IP). With all the talk of renewal and reform of the somewhat directionless Liberal Party of Canada, Jeff Jedras hit the nail on the head in a recent post:

The question we, as Liberals, should be asking ourselves is not do we need to be centre or left, but what do we stand for? What does being a Liberal mean? What are Liberal values?

We’ve become, or rather, had become, so good at the strategic game, at morphing to suit political changing winds, that we’ve lost touch with just what the heck we’re all about in the first place.

federal election results in alberta (1984-2008)

I'm in the midst of doing a bit of analysis into the Alberta results of the October 14, 2008 federal election, but in the meantime, here's a look at the popular vote results over the past 24 years (partially to show off my excel skills and partly to impress my statistician friend).

*Imaged edited since posted.

edmonton: budget town hall meetings.

I posted this on Twitter, but in case you missed it, Edmonton City Council is in the midst of hosting a number of open Town Hall Meetings on the 2009 City Budget.

The meetings in Ward 5 and Ward 4 will be held tonight and Thursday for people in those areas wanting to have a say about anything from taxes to bike transportation plans. My understanding is that the Mayor and Ward Councillors will be attending these meetings, so take advantage of it!

WARD 5 - Tuesday October 28, 7:30-9:30pm, Pleasantview Community Hall, 10860 - 57 Avenue.

WARD 4 - Thursday October 30, 7:30-9:30pm, Riverdale Community Hall, 9231 - 100 Avenue.

live on air, it's radio free daveberta... actually... it's cjsr's fundrive 2008!

I'm excited to announce that on Friday October 31 from 12pm-1pm, I will be making my radio debut by joining Miss Samantha Power in co-hosting that day's Newsroom on CJSR FM 88. Over the course of the hour, Samantha and I are planning to discuss the role of independent media, citizen journalism, and corporate ownership over the mainstream media in Canada.

It's going to be fun, so you can listen to the show by tuning your radio to 88.5FM or live over the internet.

The show is part of CJSRs week-long annual FunDrive -- which takes place all this week. Running a radio station is expensive, so along with collecting a dedicated student fee through the University of Alberta Students' Union, CJSR depends on listener support to stay on air, so I encourage you to make a donation. You can donate, donate, donate online (securely) or phone (780) 492-2577 ext 1.

arthur kent and sportsmanship.

Former PC star candidate Arthur Kent doesn't like how the media treated him in the March 2008 Alberta provincial election. Kent, who was unable to unseat Calgary-Currie Liberal MLA Dave Taylor, has filed a defamation suit against CanWest Publishing for a column written by Don Martin on February 13, 2008 (in which Martin stuck Kent with the moniker "Dud" as opposed to the more macho "Scud Stud").

Kent has started a blog to chronicle his cause and has also used it to criticize his former leader and party:

Worse, the promise of a new, revitalized, results-oriented Progressive Conservative government has not been realized. The legislative session immediately after the March 3rd election will go down in history chiefly for one measure: the government’s enacting of pay raises for the Premier, his cabinet and the members of the assembly. With Progressive Conservative MLA’s occupying 72 of 83 seats in the legislature, it was an unseemly display of me-first politics, the opposite of public service-minded government.

neil wilkinson and ethics.

The appointment of Neil Wilkinson as Alberta's Ethics Commissioner has spurned some legitimate debate surrounding his known partisan connections to the governing PCs (which includes publicly listed donations to Ed Stelmach's and Jim Dinning's PC leadership campaigns as well as publicly endorsing a PC MLAs re-election campaign).

Much like the returning officer fiasco during the 2008 provincial election, the issue isn't whether Wilkinson is a competent manager (which I don't believe is in doubt), but whether his partisan affiliations give him the credibility to serve Albertans as Ethics Commissioner without bias.

Created in 1992, as an effort to restore public confidence in government, the Office of the Ethics Commissioner is mandated to be a watchdog of the Legislative branch, with the power to initiate investigations when appropriate. The very suggestion that the person holding this office could be biased de-legitimizes the credibility of the Office of the Ethics Commissioner, and will undoubtedly contribute to the already prevalent public cynicism towards government and those holding elected office.

If the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta are truly concerned with restoring public confidence in government, they should appoint an Ethics Commissioner whose credentials are unbiased beyond repute.

hillary clinton v. sarah palin via twitter.

A couple of minutes ago, it appears that an online prankster had a little bit of fun with U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's twitter account. Though the pranksters mark was quickly removed only seconds ago, I was still able get a screen shot of the prank while it was still up.

As a friend said of an earlier prank involving Jack Layton's twitter account, it's "another great moment from the intersection of Eager and Careless."

carl benito: to the "simple people" of edmonton-mill woods.

Edmonton-Mill Woods PC MLA Carl Benito addressing Public Accounts Committee Chairman Hugh MacDonald on October 8:

Mr. Benito: Yes, sir. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. When I go back to my constituency, the people who live there are mostly simple people. When they ask a question, you know, they want me to answer either yes or no or some simple answer.

blogging blackout until the end of the week. that's a full lid. thank you very much.

In order to catch up with life, school, and work, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from blogging this week. Here are some links to satisfy your fetishes:

- Litfest 2008 was excellent. I hope to post more on this later.

- When 33% of Newfoundlanders vote Conservative and 25% of Saskatchewan voters cast a ballot for the NDP, but neither of these groups are represented in the House of Commons, it's pretty clear that something isn't working. Political hacks can have rhetoric-filled debates for or against electoral reform until they're red in the face, but the reality is that Canadians' votes aren't being reflected in the results and citizens are opting out of the system in droves. The status-quo isn't working.

- Stephane Dion is moving on, but the Liberal Party of Canada will need a lot more than a new leader to become a national party again.

- Alberta's Oil Sands will pollute Great Lakes, report warns. As if Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio need our help polluting the Great Lakes... (h/t Solve Climate)

- The bizarre story of how Edmonton Oilers organization doesn't tolerate bloggers in their press box. More here and here.

- Latte-sipping Conservatives? (h/t AGRDT)

- You can be forgiven if you didn't notice that the Fall session of the Alberta Legislature is underway, most of the important decisions get made in closed door cabinet meetings anyway...

And for anyone who's ever been part of a leader's tour...

the james bond villains have failed.

"However, he said there's no need to fear the world will be destroyed."

Phew.

a closer look at some numbers from alberta.

Here's a closer look at how the Alberta results of this week's federal election compare to the two most recent federal elections over the past four years.

2008 Federal Election - Alberta

Party Conservative	Seats 27 seats	Votes 820,855	Percentage 64.6%%
NDP	1 seat	161,409	12.7%
Liberal	0 seats	144,364	11.4%
Green	0 seats	111,505	8.8%
Independent	0 seats	19,995	1.6%

2006 Federal Election - Alberta

Party Conservative	Seats 28 seats	Votes 930,817	Percentage 65%
Liberal	0 seats	219,431	15.3%
NDP	0 seats	167,566	11.7%
Green	0 seats	93,919	6.6%
Independent	0 seats	14,261	1%

2004 Federal Election - Alberta

Party Conservative	Seats 26 seats	Votes 783,379	Percentage 61.6%
Liberal	2 seats	279,219	22.0%
NDP	0 seats	121,249	9.5%
Green	0 seats	78,095	5.7%
Independent	0 seats	599	0.1%

creative happenings in edmonton.

I'm excited to be attending the 2008 Edmonton International Literary Festival this week.

Being Canada's only Creative Non-fiction Festival, Litfest 'brings together some of the world’s best selling, award winning and emerging authors, writers, filmmakers and artists with audiences at readings, panel discussions and presentations.' I'm especially looking forward to tonight's Writers Cabaret and Sunday's Politics of Hope talk, but there is no shortage of other great sessions this weekend.

The Western Canadian Music Awards are also being held in Edmonton this week. There are some great shows at venues across the city, so make sure to check out the festival schedule.

rahim jaffer gets hitched and then concedes in edmonton-strathcona.

via Edmonton Sun:

Edmonton — Two days after the election, incumbent Tory MP Rahim Jaffer has finally conceded to his NDP challenger Linda Duncan.

Jaffer conceded late this afternoon at a press conference at his campaign headquarters

Jaffer said he also got married Wednesday to his fiance Ontrio MP Helena Guergis.

Guergis told Jaffer when he picked her up at the airport: "It's a minority government. I can't wait, let's get married."

stéphane dion to resign soon?

via CBC:

Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is planning to step down, possibly as early as Thursday, the Toronto Star reported.

The paper cites Liberal party insiders who say Dion will make an announcement then stay on as leader until a successor is chosen.

(h/t Mike Watkins)

37 days, $290 million, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt...

Some initial thoughts on the results of the 2008 federal election...

Edmonton-Strathcona: Linda Duncan's 442 vote win is a boost for progressive Albertans who were demoralized in the March 2008 provincial election. Duncan's team ran a strong campaign while focusing their message on the importance of voting strategically to defeat the Conservative incumbent, and it's clear that their message resonated with a large group of voters in this riding. Defeated Tory MP Rahim Jaffer isn't giving up and is hoping a recount will crown him as "Landslide Rahim" (his words). If he is interested in becoming MP again, my advice to Jaffer would be to put the lawyers away, be a good sport and congratulate Duncan on her victory, because your campaign for the next election starts today. Losing sucks, but no one ever said politics was fair.

Edmonton-Centre: I expected this to be a closer race, but in the end Jim Wachowich received just more than half the votes of Conservative incumbent Laurie Hawn. Though this result probably says a lot more about the weak Liberal campaign in Alberta, it's fair to recognize how hard Hawn had campaigned in this election. After fighting two tight campaigns against former Liberal MP Anne McLellan, Hawn proved that you can win by focusing on the doors in Edmonton-Centre. Congrats to Laurie Hawn and his team.

Edmonton-Sherwood Park: Independent Conservative James Ford's near upset of Tory Tim Uppal was a bit of a surprise. I predicted that Ford would do well, but I didn't expect him to nearly defeat Uppal. Expect Uppal to be doing a lot of fence mending with conservative voters in this riding before the next election.

ABC: Premier Danny Williams wins this round as the Conservatives lose their 3 Newfoundland seats to the Liberals (Scott Andrews and Siobhan Coady) and NDP (Jack Harris).

"Wins" for Stephen Harper, Gilles Duceppe, and Jack Layton: They boosted their party's popular votes and seat totals. Stephen Harper was able to increase his party's minority hold on the House of Commons, but the inability of his party to gain a majority could cause him trouble in the future. Rising from his political grave in force, Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Quebecois pushed back the expected Conservative sweep in that province. Jack Layton's NDP may not have surpassed the Liberals to become the Official Opposition, but they increased their party's seat total by 7 seats from the last election, including new seats in Quebec and Newfoundland (NDP buzz words I will not miss: kitchen table, ordinary Canadians, working families).

"Loses" for Stephane Dion and Elizabeth May: After losing both seats and votes in this election, it's time for Stephane Dion to put up a vacancy sign in front of Stornoway. He is an intelligent man, but has failed to prove that he has the leadership qualities to lead his party to form government. Time for the Liberals to look to new blood (Michael Ignatieff or Gerard Kennedy, perhaps...). The Liberals also now have more seats in Nova Scotia than they do in the Prairie provinces. The Greens increased their popular vote to nearly 7% nationally, but Elizabeth May was unfortunately unable to defeat Peter Mackay in Central Nova. Interestingly, Green candidate Dick Hibma placed a strong second with 27% in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound.

Leaders Overall: Canadians lose. It is apparently too much to ask that Canada have a political leader who will inspire Canadians to be better citizens, rather than just pander for their votes.

Voter Turnout: Predictably low, low, low. See alternatives here.

Taking Alberta for granted: I see this as being caused by a two-pronged problem. First, the Conservatives take it for granted that they will win all (or nearly all) of Alberta's 28 seats, therefor it's not surprising to see Conservative MPs (like Rona Ambrose and Jason Kenny) spending most of the election campaigning in battlegrounds like Ontario, rather than knocking on doors in their own ridings.

Second, with the exception of two or three ridings, the Liberals and NDP have given up on Alberta. If either of these parties were to look at the successful 50-State Strategy implemented by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, they would appreciate the strategic value of fighting your opponent on all fronts and not conceding ground that may not look fertile in the present election cycle. Though it is unlikely to produce short-term results, spending time and resources in Alberta's urban ridings could produce positive electoral results for the Liberals and NDP in the long-term -- and if anything, it could keep some of those Conservative MPs from spending so much time in Ontario, rather than connecting with voters in their ridings.

behold the eye of layton...

(h/t GH)

alberta's ndp mp: linda duncan.

I'm very pleased that my vote made a difference.

Edmonton-Strathcona's new MP is Linda Duncan.

Good work.