We have yet another reason to be disappointed in the federal election debate: the date. Because we allow a media consortium dominated by private media interests to determine the date of the debate, the debate is scheduled for a day that has the least impact on said media interests’ bottom lines.
What’s the Matter with Canada?
What is the matter with Canada, eh? According to Slate magazine (http://www.slate.com/id/2199929/), and albeit left-leaning American publication, our inability to deal with minority governments, the collapse of the juggernaut of a political machine known as the Liberal Party of Canada, and several of Harper’s Conservative policies are all problematic.
Voter tracking and identification: The Conservative advantage
Michael Valpy has a great article in the Globe and Mail that details the Conservatives’ sopgisticated voter database. It’s something that Harper and the Conservatives have been building for years, as detailed in Tom Flanagan’s interesting book, Harper’s Team. It allows the Conservatives to identify and get out the vote, but also allows them to fundraise between elections. It’s part of the secret why the Conservatives are swimming in cash while the Liberals have to borrow to finance their campaign. It’s a big advantage and something that to my knowledge the other parties are well beyond them in developing.
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Fearless prediction for Alberta: 28 Conservatives will win
I’ve been enjoying reading the profiles of contests from other parts of Canada that my colleagues have posted here on the re:politics (formerly, Maple Leaf Web) election blog. It must be interesting to live in places where elections are actually close contests. So, I’ll chime in from Alberta and fearlessly predict that the Conservatives will win all 28 seats here. Crazy, I know, but that’s just how I see it. Perhaps what I will lack in writing about interesting local contests will be offset by having the best accuracy in predicting election results in my province.
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Why we should be skeptical of how the media reports polls.
Many things irritate me about mainstream media, and their inaccurate reporting of public opinion polls is rather close to the top of the list. While this article by the CBC’s online team is not bad (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/12/elxn-poll.html), there is crucial information that should be included but isn’t.
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The View from the Centre: Manitoba ’08
While most observers are ignoring ridings between the Rockies and the Canadian Shield, a few in Manitoba may be worth watching over the next few weeks.