Shows & Blogs
Insiders
Featured Pages
Related Links


Drink Your Kool-Aid
Posted 4/24/2012 4:15:00 AM

While we were voting yesterday, I got an email from a woman who was a little down-hearted.  She was taking this election seriously and had studied all the party platforms.  Determined to vote for the one that most closely mirrored her values, she chose the NDP.  The problem was every poll she encountered, assured her this was, as her license plate said, Wild Rose Country.  At that point she was sure her vote meant nothing.  New Democrat supporters know otherwise.  So, what happened to the pollsters?  When they’re wrong they like to say it was just a snapshot in time, except, just before the vote they had subscribers drinking the Wildrose Kool-Aid.  Danielle set to become Alberta’s first female premier.  Did you hear anyone say PC majority?  Do people lie to pollsters?  Was there, as Professor Jim Lightbody said, “A polling station conversion”?  Or, is there some kind of polling problem?  I never really like it when a politician downplays a negative prediction by saying, “The only poll that matters is the one on election day,” but this time, the politician was right. Let me know what you think.

Note: If you wish to leave a comment, please keep it no longer than my editorial, unless you wish us to edit it. Your comment will not appear on the blog until it has been cleared by Bob.

 You have until 1 o’clock tomorrow morning to collect 630 CHED Insider Trading points by following the URL below & entering the code word: 251

 Click here to enter the code!

 
Posted By: Bob Layton  

Leave a comment:

showing all comments · Subscribe to comments
Comment Like
  • 24
  1. Sad posted on 04/24/2012 06:24 AM
    Resistance is futile, we have been assimilated.
  2. Frank posted on 04/24/2012 06:51 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 07:33 AM on 04/24/2012
    Bob, I have lived in the same place for over 15 years. I have always voted at the same rural polling station. I went to vote yesterday and was shocked to find out that neither myself nor my husband was on the list. I showed my id and was sworn in and able to vote. I told them my husband would be in after he was done work and he went through the same procedure, no problem.
    However, there was a long line up when he went to vote and there were five more people who were not on the list, just in the fifteen minutes that my husband was there. The two returning officers were working really hard to keep up but there were people walking out without voting because of the long wait, while people who were not on the list were processed.
    My concern is why were there so many people not on the list and why don't they have someone just to process those on the list so it doesn't hold everyone up.

    Bob replies: There are lots of complaints - get yours to Elections Alberta so it gets dealt with.
    1. Frank posted on 04/24/2012 01:58 PM
      @Frank Good Idea Bob! I called Chief Electoral Office at 780-427-7191 and talked to a lady and explained what had happened at our polling station. Her reply was that they had had a difficult time hiring staff to do the enumerations last fall, they were trying to be careful and responsible with taxpayers money and the cost of hiring and paying enumerators for rural locations could be very high - lots of time and mileage and things like that.
      So I asked why there wasn't someone at the polling station to swear people in so the returning officer wasn't trying to do it all. Again her reply was that they were being careful and responsible with taxpayers money so they didn't want to overstaff polling stations. I suggested that spending money on a fair and democratic process was preferable to paying MLA's on "do nothing" committees. She replied that she just answered the phone, she wasn't responsible for those decisions. I asked why, after 15 years in the same location we weren't already on the list. She told me the IT person would have a better answer and she would put me through. I was put through to a dead end.

      I have since talked to more people who had similar experiences at their polling stations, they had lived in the same place for decades, always voted at the same place but somehow they weren't on the list this time.l
      Something stinks Bob!
  3. Jen posted on 04/24/2012 06:52 AM
    Polls are only accurate at the moment they are taken (presuming they're accurate at all, which some would probably debate in Alberta at present ;-) ) - so, it's quite possible that there was a big shift in the last week. There was in fact a poll by Forum released on Sunday that almost no media seemed to mention, and if you looked at the trend it showed, the trend was for big gains for the PC's and losses for the Wildrose.
  4. Drew posted on 04/24/2012 08:14 AM
    Once again Albertans proved to be as dumb as it gets !!!!!!,
    wow what disappointment with the choice they made to run this province !!!!

    Here I will bend over please kick me in my rear end, ohh thank you , can I get another one , please ohhh please ....., what is wrong with the people of Alberta!!!!

    What will it take to make us see what worked what works and what DOES NOT WORK !!!! bbaaahhhhh , bahhhh there goes the sheep....

    Have a great day all and stop complaining about gas prices, epcor energy bills and going down the hill health care system, hey I am waiting with anticipation for an ALBERTA PST !!!!! bring it on we are ready to embrace it .. LOL

    Good Day BOB.

    Drew
    1. Redd Neck posted on 04/24/2012 08:07 PM
      @Drew Hey Drew, you don't sound like a native Albertan.
      Alberta... Love it or leave it... !!!
      P.S. Don't worry about the door catching your backside on the way out.
  5. The Infidel - Mr.John posted on 04/24/2012 08:27 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 10:16 AM on 04/24/2012
    **ONE IMPORTANT QUESTION**
    I only have one question since the election on Monday.

    How many of the PC candidates have or have not paid back the $40,000.00 they each received for the NO MEET - NON PERFORMANCE committee???

    If they haven't paid this back, it just proves, you can still be a thief and get elected to public office in Alberta. And if el Primo Premier doesn't do what she said she would do, then she is a liar and supporter of thieves.

    Bob, Print this,...don't print this....but whatever you do, don't insult me for being some sort of sore loser. You'll just piss me off, even more!!!

    Bob replies: Just call the WR people you voted for and have them ask in the next Question Period.
    1. The Infidel - Mr. John posted on 04/24/2012 10:22 AM
      @The Infidel - Mr.John In my riding, the candidate for the Wild Rose won. I am ecstatic about that. This is a rural community and he has been a rep in various levels in rural communities. You can bet your butt I will be talking to him.
  6. Rob posted on 04/24/2012 08:52 AM
    Well I must say the results of the election was a surprise,I was one who believed the Wildrose would have done better. But for a new party they did well, the people of Alberta wants to get to know them better.and the Wildrose will prove themselves over the next four years. I was also surprised that I wasn't on the voters list also, I found out why, when you do your taxes there's a little box on the tax form that must be checked off, which is for sharing the information with elections Canada.
  7. Gary posted on 04/24/2012 08:54 AM
    I am not sure how any of the polls could be accurate. Especially since it seems most of those polls were robo calls, where you had no clue who was calling or even if they said who the poll was for... was it really them? Maybe I have been callus in this election, but I treated every robo call, polling or otherwise, with the same respect shown by the people making the call.

    I hung up, providing no answers because I could not be bothered to listen to the questions from... who did you say you were again?
  8. Wayne Lotnick posted on 04/24/2012 09:00 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 10:13 AM on 04/24/2012
    Let's start a new web site. Call it " Lies, Damn Lies & Broken Promises!"
    List all the campaign promises, and then document the excuses as they come..
    The PCs shot their mouth off- now lets hold them to them!
    Of course,we, as a province won't be able to afford them...

    Bob replies: You don't think the new and improved opposition will be able to hold their feet to the fire?
    1. Bob $ posted on 04/24/2012 10:29 AM
      @Wayne Lotnick Just let me know when you want to get started Wayne. I'll pay for the website, the hosting, and help you design and build the web site. It's time we dropped their shorts and exposed these,...these....people for what they truly are. I am incredibly disappointed and disillusioned, as I was when the PCs in Kissassalottawa won (well maybe won) that election in spite of all the lies and corruption that went on there, as well.
      You can reach me through Bob,...he can supply you with my e-mail!
    2. Garry Chubb posted on 04/24/2012 02:15 PM
      @Wayne Lotnick I've seen that line someplace before???
      Oh, yeah,...it was a chapter in one of the PCs Operations and Procedures manuals!
      But, you had to be in the club to get one....I found mine in a dumpster in Edmonton!
  9. Eugene posted on 04/24/2012 09:53 AM
    In truth, this result is no surprise. Voting Albertans vote PC. That is what they have been taught and brainwashed to do for 40 years. And the media supports it. Anything other than conservative (in this case PC or WR) is voting for communism.
    The rest of Albertans, who don't vote, are too busy counting their money and their toys to care.
  10. Newshawker posted on 04/24/2012 10:43 AM
    Does anyone know where there is a published list of the PC candidates who were elected and in what ridings.
    I want to cross reference it to the list of the candidates who were on the 21 NO MEET Committee members, so I can contact them directly to see it they have paid the money back to the taxpayers or have prepared their resignations.
    1. Redd Neck posted on 04/25/2012 07:13 PM
      @Newshawker Tuesday's Journal has a complete listing of all candidates...
  11. gordb_7117 posted on 04/24/2012 12:35 PM
    i agree 100% with drew and eugene ! a sad day for alberta indeed!
  12. peter posted on 04/24/2012 02:32 PM
    with all the robo polling calls coming in. I got fed up and when asked the question: who would you vote for: wild rose, PC, etc. to screw up their poll, sometimes I said I was undecided; the other I said Wild rose. In fact, I have lived in the same riding for 18 years, Edm Whitemud, and I knew I was going to vote for PC's Dave H, like I have for the past years.... and to say there was a shift: Hell yes; Three reasons why DS and Wild rose lost: 1). No action on the comments made by Huntsberger and Leech! those two Losers;2). Climate change not believing in it! 3). Conscious rights.
    1. Redd Neck posted on 04/25/2012 07:16 PM
      @peter >>. I got fed up and when asked the question: who would you vote for: wild rose, PC, etc. to screw up their poll, sometimes I said I was undecided; the other I said Wild rose.<<

      Me too... !!!
  13. dIANE Chalmers posted on 04/24/2012 02:36 PM This comment was edited by a moderator at 06:37 AM on 04/25/2012
    We have a match for Ontario's Premier McGuinty - Premier Dad as he is referred to in Ontario and now we have Premier "eat your peas and don't run with sharp objects in your hand" Mom. Remind me to call the Premier's office and check with her to see whether I should wear a raincoat tomorrow for the forcasted rain. After all, I couldn't possibly make a decison so important wkithout having the Government in my life. The voters that put an X beside a PC candidate on their ballot deserve everything that they are going to get - the rest of us that voted for the Wildrose Party are forced to have this corrupt regime governing our life.
  14. Richard posted on 04/24/2012 03:31 PM This comment was edited by a moderator at 06:32 AM on 04/25/2012
    I am very happy with the result. The Conservatives have a good leader, but more importantly they are not crazy wack jobs.
    As for Danielle Smith, she smiles so much it is creepy.
    The PC's are not my party, but I think they are stable,and sane.
  15. randy johnston posted on 04/24/2012 04:13 PM
    Here we have it again. Another election decided by hyper inflated fear and bleeding emotion of the heart, but no brains. REAL Conservatives like myself have been stabbed in the back !
  16. Nicholas posted on 04/24/2012 07:26 PM This comment was edited by a moderator at 06:29 AM on 04/25/2012
    So,...where would one get some of this Kool-aid,...for a family of 24?

    Bob replies: That sounds ominous.
  17. Redd Neck posted on 04/24/2012 07:53 PM
    In response to your question, "Do people lie to pollsters?".... Absolutely!!! And here's my reasoning. I believe the polls influence the people who are undecide and the apathetic. Why bother to vote if the out come appears already decided?
    The 'Media' share the blame, as the poll results feed the hysteria that can sometime invade the quiet moments of an election news team.
    This past four weeks I had no less than 11 pollsters call. I was able to determine the origin of some of the calls, and 'fibbed' accordingly. If WRP was on the phone....I was a PC supporter, etc. It was great fun... !!!
    Sadly, like my MLA, I won't hear from them after the election.
showing all comments

Recent Blog Entries

BLOG ARCHIVE
<<May 2013>>
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
2829301234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930311
2345678