[Newsbot]

<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="/link.php?id=29887" target="_blank">Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach calls election</a> (click to view)

<strong>Category:</strong> <a href="/news/topic/23-provincial-politics" target="_blank">Provincial Politics</a>
<strong>Posted By: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=westmanguy" target="_blank">westmanguy</a>
<strong>Date: </strong> 2008-02-04 16:15:32
<strong>Canadian</strong>

[westmanguy]

Hmm, I think this will be a *very* interesting election to watch.

Never before have the PCs had such crippled support and has their been so much disillusion/undecided voters. Stelmach has alienated the right wing faction of the PC party with his policies of late.

Overall I predict a decreased PC Majority, or what would be most shocking would be a PC Minority.

I think the rural ridings will swing to the new Wildrose Alliance. I believe this new party will make a big arrival to Albertan Politics, and could take over by the next provincial election.

Preston Manning is being courted by this party, and has denied he want to lead it because it doesn't have enough money/resources. If Paul Hinman can get it off the ground into a reasonable rightwing alternative, and if Manning took the leap to lead it, we would see a new revolution in Alberta politics.

It seems this province changes conservative forces every 30 years or so. The PCs took over from the Social Credit in the late 70s, and now possibly the Wildrose Alliance will take over in the coming 5 years. Although I doubt anything but a 10-15 seat count for them this time around.

But I believe the disillusioned/undecided voters are conservatives who feel they have no home. I belive they'll either go Wildrose Alliance or stay home (like we saw in the Calgary Elbow by-election the Alberta Liberals picked up...Klein's former riding).

The Alberta Liberals (so sad that Taft is like a child telling the media to make it clear they are not affiliated federally...I think Liberals in Alberta who believe it could go left wing are smoking something) will not form government.

Edmonton will continue to the be the left wing city it has been holding the core of the Liberal seats and the small NDP precense.

[westmanguy]

Oh and unless the PCs got someone like Ted Morton and kicked out Stelmach their future is screwed.

[xerxes]

It'd be nice to see another party finally get a chance in Alberta.

[westmanguy]

xerxes xerxes:

It'd be nice to see another party finally get a chance in Alberta.

Alberta seems to have 20-30 year conservative dynasties.

[ryan29]

well it will be interesting to see how it turns out .

i'm not predicting any results yet . could see that new party having an impact but don't see alot of seats for them .

the liberals are only winning in cities there and anything outside of those cities will not likely go to them .

also with the economy doing so good there , i'd be surprised if voters were willing to risk it on another party to be honest, since its based around oil and gas .

[westmanguy]

Liberals are pretty much restricted to Edmonton.

Edmonton is the liberal city in Alberta (as far as "liberal" goes in that province...but federally Edmonton is Conservative)

[sasquatch2]

More importantly, this election unavoidably will be a test of the popularity of the KYOTO agenda.

For all the hoopla in the US, it AGW is a non-subject.......no candidate has hitched his wagon to that farce and the Gorical has stayed away..........

[bootlegga]

I'm hoping the PCs and Wildrose split the right vote and we wind up with a minority government. Then maybe the PCs change things up a bit.

[mtbr]

PC will win again but loose seats

Kevin Taft will soon be replaced as Liberal leader, once again he will be second with a couple more seats.

The Wild Rose Party will make a presence but finish third

The NDP will be sitting in the hallway as they loose the seats they have

[ryan29]

westmanguy westmanguy:

Liberals are pretty much restricted to Edmonton.

Edmonton is the liberal city in Alberta (as far as "liberal" goes in that province...but federally Edmonton is Conservative)

its odd how provincial politics can be so different from federal politics is some places . but that seems to be the case in edmonton , is even a few ndp mla's from there . federally it would be rare for them to win a seat there , only happened once recently back in 80"s.

part of these differences could be fact provincial ridings are smaller and maybe easier for parties to win or have more urban polls . or provincial liberals focus more time and money than federal ones did in these areas .

[ryan29]

sasquatch2 sasquatch2:

More importantly, this election unavoidably will be a test of the popularity of the KYOTO agenda.

For all the hoopla in the US, it AGW is a non-subject.......no candidate has hitched his wagon to that farce and the Gorical has stayed away..........

guess the alberta ndp and alberta liberals have most kyoto friendly agenda , with pc's and wildrose having most anti .

but in a province dominated by oil and gas , have to wonder if a party supporting kyoto would have much chance . or if they would try and distract voters away from the issue by focusing on other things ?

[hurley_108]

bootlegga bootlegga:

I'm hoping the PCs and Wildrose split the right vote and we wind up with a minority government. Then maybe the PCs change things up a bit.

The worst plausible situation would be a PC minority with the WRA holding the balance of power. The worst possible would be a WRA majority.

[sasquatch2]

ryan29

$1:

but in a province dominated by oil and gas , have to wonder if a party supporting kyoto would have much chance . or if they would try and distract voters away from the issue by focusing on other things ?

Predictably they are as desperate as the federal LIBRANOs and NDP to discover an issue.....and the Afghanistan mission is irrelevant in Alberta politics.......

[DrCaleb]

westmanguy westmanguy:

Oh and unless the PCs got someone like Ted Morton and kicked out Stelmach their future is screwed.

Morton? That guy is the worst thing that could happen to Alberta. He should run for the Wildrose Alliance losers.