Here’s the thing about the road to history — in its final stretch, it gets bumpy, rutted, and in the case of Danielle Smith, laden with land mines.
As the Wildrose leader marched confidently to that date with history, blowing up more than 40 years of Progressive Conservative rule of Canada’s economic engine, she had to be the party for Albertans.
Not just the face of the party, mind you.
Wildrose had to be embodied in the telegenic, calm, decidedly unscary visage of the 41-year-old former journalist. She had to shelter and protect her candidates.
But in the final days of the provincial campaign, the mask has been ripped from the team of right-wing insurgents she wants to take to Edmonton with her.
She’s been hit with the inevitable bimbo eruptions from candidates who views on homosexuality and race have offended.
She was ambushed by a slick third-party video http://www.ineverthoughtidvotepc.com/ suggesting Smith doesn’t believe in gravity, has a party of homophobes, believes the Flintstones is historically accurate (a rip-off from a previous Liberal attack on Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day) and is Stephen Harper’s BFF.
The mayors of the province’s two largest cities, including Naheed Nenshi of Calgary, the man who single-handedly changed his province’s reputation across the country, have turned on her for her seeming indifference to intolerant comments by her candidates.
Thursday, at a debate in Edmonton, she was mocked by PC leader Alison Redford as a climate change denier, Liberal leader Raj Sherman told her she harboured a “bunch of bigots,’’ and NDP leader Brian Mason said she was trying to take the province back to the 1950s.
If all this sounds familiar, it should.
These attacks were all leveled at Preston Manning and his band of Reformers who shook the Canadian political firmament almost 20 years ago.
So Thursday, Manning rode to Smith’s rescue, challenging the attacks and historical inaccuracies being used by her opponents.
In an op-ed article, he spoke of the ethical missteps, the sense of entitlement, the misuse of taxpayers dollars by the PCs.
He reminded his readers that the Alberta electoral broom is rarely used, but when it comes out, it sweeps clean.
Manning’s father was the longest-serving premier in Canadian history, presiding over Alberta for 25 years of the 36-year Social Credit reign.
“Over 40 years, governing parties, like old houses, age in ways that no amount of new paint or hasty renovation can hide,’’ he wrote.
“Our generation cannot but have some affection for the old horse that has inhabited the Alberta provincial corral for so long.
“He has, by and large, been a good old horse, and we have ridden many trails together. But if, in fact, he is well past his prime and it’s time to let him go, think of this election not as a cruel send off to the packing plant, but as simply a time to let that old horse out to pasture and allow him to graze his way peacefully into the sunset.’’
But there is a huge difference from 1993 to 2012.
Manning dodged artillery fired from the east, usually attributed to white wine-sipping Toronto Liberals tut-tutting from Yorkville.
These shots are coming from within.
“The rest of the country is watching us now and they want to know what type of community we are,’’ Redford said Thursday.
That scratching and clawing you hear from the west is a dynasty scraping at the dirt as the new gang is filling in their political grave.
But, still, this is a different Alberta.
Look at Nenshi. Look at the actors in the video.
Redford says Alberta’s future is on the world stage.
With four days until election day, the ballot question may come down to this – has Redford tapped into the new Alberta or is she merely flailing away as the leader who frittered away the throne?
Will Albertans shrug at the Wildrose comments?
Edmonton political analyst Chaldeans Mensah may have put it best: “In this province, the freedom of speech is more important than the content of that speech.’’
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tim Harper
As the Wildrose leader marched confidently to that date with history, blowing up more than 40 years of Progressive Conservative rule of Canada’s economic engine, she had to be the party for Albertans.
Not just the face of the party, mind you.
Wildrose had to be embodied in the telegenic, calm, decidedly unscary visage of the 41-year-old former journalist. She had to shelter and protect her candidates.
But in the final days of the provincial campaign, the mask has been ripped from the team of right-wing insurgents she wants to take to Edmonton with her.
She’s been hit with the inevitable bimbo eruptions from candidates who views on homosexuality and race have offended.
She was ambushed by a slick third-party video http://www.ineverthoughtidvotepc.com/ suggesting Smith doesn’t believe in gravity, has a party of homophobes, believes the Flintstones is historically accurate (a rip-off from a previous Liberal attack on Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day) and is Stephen Harper’s BFF.
The mayors of the province’s two largest cities, including Naheed Nenshi of Calgary, the man who single-handedly changed his province’s reputation across the country, have turned on her for her seeming indifference to intolerant comments by her candidates.
Thursday, at a debate in Edmonton, she was mocked by PC leader Alison Redford as a climate change denier, Liberal leader Raj Sherman told her she harboured a “bunch of bigots,’’ and NDP leader Brian Mason said she was trying to take the province back to the 1950s.
If all this sounds familiar, it should.
These attacks were all leveled at Preston Manning and his band of Reformers who shook the Canadian political firmament almost 20 years ago.
So Thursday, Manning rode to Smith’s rescue, challenging the attacks and historical inaccuracies being used by her opponents.
In an op-ed article, he spoke of the ethical missteps, the sense of entitlement, the misuse of taxpayers dollars by the PCs.
He reminded his readers that the Alberta electoral broom is rarely used, but when it comes out, it sweeps clean.
Manning’s father was the longest-serving premier in Canadian history, presiding over Alberta for 25 years of the 36-year Social Credit reign.
“Over 40 years, governing parties, like old houses, age in ways that no amount of new paint or hasty renovation can hide,’’ he wrote.
“Our generation cannot but have some affection for the old horse that has inhabited the Alberta provincial corral for so long.
“He has, by and large, been a good old horse, and we have ridden many trails together. But if, in fact, he is well past his prime and it’s time to let him go, think of this election not as a cruel send off to the packing plant, but as simply a time to let that old horse out to pasture and allow him to graze his way peacefully into the sunset.’’
But there is a huge difference from 1993 to 2012.
Manning dodged artillery fired from the east, usually attributed to white wine-sipping Toronto Liberals tut-tutting from Yorkville.
These shots are coming from within.
“The rest of the country is watching us now and they want to know what type of community we are,’’ Redford said Thursday.
That scratching and clawing you hear from the west is a dynasty scraping at the dirt as the new gang is filling in their political grave.
But, still, this is a different Alberta.
Look at Nenshi. Look at the actors in the video.
Redford says Alberta’s future is on the world stage.
With four days until election day, the ballot question may come down to this – has Redford tapped into the new Alberta or is she merely flailing away as the leader who frittered away the throne?
Will Albertans shrug at the Wildrose comments?
Edmonton political analyst Chaldeans Mensah may have put it best: “In this province, the freedom of speech is more important than the content of that speech.’’
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tim Harper
No comments:
Post a Comment