Mark Dyrholm's last stab at attention, before he goes back into obscurity...

 How Embarrassing. 

 I caught wind on Twitter about Mark ( The Media is unfair and out to get me) Dyrholm and his whining about the media's bias towards Danielle Smith.  This is is just absurd.  I do not care who Danielle Smith used to work with or what station her husband works for now,  as it just does not matter in this case.  Does the Dyrholm team seriously think that that the Alberta/National media is really out to get him and his 'conservative" ways.  Mark is truly "jumping the shark" here and realizes that he cannot win the Wildrose Alliance Leadership, so is trying to create a last minute issue for his poorly run campaign.  Either that, or it is a poor, poor attempt at mimicking Wayne Gretzky's famous "nobody wants us to win" speech in the 2002 Olympics.


 To be honest, this blogger has also been accused of being biased against Mark.  Many times in fact.  The truth is, I do not believe for a minute that the "Media" is out to get him.  In my opinion, I would not want to put a live camera in his face on the 6pm News.  I have seen Bingo Callers that have more charisma and a better cadence to their voice.  Remember last month when Charles Adler called him Mark "DRY-Holm"....he was dead on my friends.  Adler also stated that he was accused of not giving him equal time, but declared that the man did not make a good enough phone in caller, let alone "radio guest"....yikes.

  Before you blame the media for you lack of attention, perhaps he would consider getting some sleep before going on TV...or at the very least, borrow he could some of his wife's eye cream.  At least then, he would look a little more presentable and perhaps get some more interviews. 

Also, I wonder how many "interviews" Mark has been told to turn down, because the source was not "friendly enough" to his campaign. 

Good Luck to you.  After Saturday, you will be back to manipulation.  Manipulating backs that is...and not the Alberta Voter.  I guess running was not such a good idea?

The video can be found at the Calgary SE News blog.

Do Endorsements Matter in the Wildrose Alliance Leadership Race?

  With the Wildrose Alliance Leadership race now in the final stretch, I found myself wondering if political endorsements really matter?  Does anyone switch their vote based on who has more ( or better) public endorsements?  Is it all for show?  Lets look at some of the public endorsements for each candidate...

Mark Dyrholm's endorsements ( taken from his twitter posts over the past few months & official website) include the following:

•  Ken Mazzeroll, former candidate for Calgary Currie in 2004. 
• Tim Bloedow, ECP Centre
• Randy Hillier
• Ontario MPP's Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington.
• Myron Thompson
• Dianna Brooks, Candidate 2004, Calgary Elbow
• Justin Wong, Calgary Shaw Constituency Assoc & Business Owner
• Don Leonardo, Veteran, Former VP, Calgary Egmont Alberta PC Party Association  
• Jim Blake, National Charman, Concerned Christians Canada Inc.
• Craig B. Chandler, Executive Director, Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB)

Danielle Smith's endorsements ( taken from an email I had received recently) include:

•  Betty Unger, Alberta senator-elect, Edmonton
• Link Byfield, Alberta senator-elect and Joanne Byfield, pro-life organizer and activist.
• Candis McLean, Calgary, investigative journalist and documentary producer.
• Tom Flanagan, former federal Conservative campaign manager and author.
• Rainer Knopff, U of C professor and author.
• Gordon Butler, Past President of the Western Stock Growers’ Association and Property Rights Advocate.
• Ezra Levant, Western Standard Publisher.
• Barry Cooper, Professor of Political Science, U of C.
• David Chatters Reform Party/Conservative MP for Athabasca and Westlock-St. Paul, 1993 -2006
• Phil Klein, Edmonton, (Ralph’s father)

The scope (and arguably, the quality) of these endorsement varies quite a bit.  I know the conventional wisdom says..." the only endorsements that matter are the votes on leadership day", but I thought it was worth reviewing.  Either camp cannot say they do not care about these endorsements or they would not publicly flaunt them every time the were received. 

Does it make a difference to anyone?  Will it change anyones vote? Does anyone care?  If not, why do people make such a big deal about the endorsments?  What are your thoughts?

Wildrose Alliance Leadership Race...Who is the best (looking) candidate?

Now I know that some of my WAP friends will have a fit over this one, so lets keep in mind that this is for fun!

Remember these sayings?... "Don't judge a book by its cover....", or "Its whats on the inside that counts"? Well according to a recent Princeton University study, none of this matters when we are deciding on who to vote for! This study claims that people make their decisions on who to they will vote for based on their looks! It also determined that "most people judge a political candidates competency within seconds of seeing their face. Period. Issues did not matter. Stance did not matter". Interesting... If you think about it, the study is probably not that far off base.


So using this theory, I thought it would be fun to see who will win the upcoming WAP leadership race based on this? Based on science ( lol), I think that Danielle Smith runs away with this race easily! ( Between Dyrholm and Willerton...Jeff gets my vote for second place!) I guess it is not fair to base someones competency on their looks, but unfortunately, this is likely how our society works. I just want to see if there is any discussion on this?


What do you think?










Danielle Smith





Mark Dyrholm





Jeff Willerton ( On the left...)













Lets see if the science will hold up on election day...

Friday Fun: New Political Theme Song...you choose who should use it!

Another Friday and another lighthearted post! Sticking to the theme of catchy songs from my youth, I found this gem on youtube. Any child in Calgary during the 1970's and '80's will fondly remember The Buckshot Show. Personally, I would rush home at lunch to watch this show everyday as a kid. Ron "Buckshot" Barge is truly a legend in Calgary TV and I wish I could come across some more video of the show.

Anyways, this song got me thinking...

I am wondering what politician this song fits best? Close your eyes and imagine this song as a political theme song...who comes to mind?

• I know my friend Werner Patels will probably say Premier Stelmach. (With his constant"Pig Farmer" references, lol.)
• I think that Danielle Smith is too classy for this song?
• I hear that Jeff Willerton ( is he still in the leadership race?) prefers gospel music, but this hillbilly tune may fall in line with most of his extreme beliefs?
• Chandler's Chap? Maybe...( that is, if he is allowed to listen to music during the campaign!)

Interesting.... What are your thoughts? Come on now...don't be shy!

Happy Weekend!

Shane

IF I was a Wildrose Alliance supporter...who would I vote for?

No that Stampede is over and the early morning functions have ceased, I finally have a moment to post something before I head off to work!



I had the opportunity to meet both of the WRAP leadership candidates at two different Stampede events last week, and thought I would put a quick post together about my thoughts on each of them.





Mark Dyrholm:





I met Mr.Dyrholm briefly at the Calgary SW/Prime Minister Stephen Harper annual BBQ at Heritage Park. He was flanked by his campaign manager ( handler?) Craig Chandler and never seemed to waver more than 3 feet from him. It was kind of uncomfortable to watch this pair working the room and reminded me of the old movie "Twins" with Arnold and Danny Devito.





Now, I did not get a chance to have a lengthy discussion with Mark, because I had not yet eaten and did not think I could stomach it. My first impressions are usually right and I just could not picture this gentleman as the Premier of Alberta. While I am sure he is an honest, hardworking individual, in my opinion "he is just not for me....".








Danielle Smith:









While I saw Ms. Smith at the Heritage Park event, I did not get the chance to meet her that night. I did get to meet her shorty thereafter at a Private Stampede BBQ and had the opportunity to chat briefly. I found Ms. Smith charming and she did not have the stereotypical "fakeness" that some politicians carry. I was honest with her that I do not support her party ( I am a PC supporter) and gave her my thoughts on what this average Albertan was feeling about the current issues. She was respectful in her responses and I found her very intelligent and articulate.


Now, IF I were a WRAP supporter, It is clear who I would support here. Personally, (and from quick straw polls at some events over this past week) I think that Ms. Smith will win the leadership race handily with some more hard work. I know that Mr.Dyrholm's team is quite organized and It would not surprise me if Mr.Chandler already has already booked the charter buses to transport the voters to Edmonton in October, so he is definitely a contender.

The winner of this race determines the fate of the WRAP's future. Extreme/Fringe?... or Moderate/Contender?

Again, who cares what this PC supporter thinks right? These are just my thoughts.

Still Just for fun...Mark Dyrholm team closes the "interweb" gap!

In what was supposed to be a lighthearted post on June 14, I jokingly compared the social media following of the two declared WRAP candidates. It set off a funny set of comments, including some from Mr.Dyrholms team.



I thought it would be interesting to see how the numbers stand up now, almost 10 days later....



June 14:

Danielle Smith:

Facebook: 140 Followers.
Twitter: 696 Followers

Mark Dyrholm:

Facebook: 58 followers
Twitter: 90 Followers


June 24:

Danielle Smith:

Facebook: 235 Followers.

Twitter: 911 Followers

Mark Dyrholm:

Facebook: 212 followers

Twitter: 727 Followers

Looks like a big jump for Mr. Dyrholm. I know I have received 3-4 requests to add Dyrholm as a "friend" on facebook from a certain well known member of his campaign team, so they are obviously pushing the social media well.

What does this mean? Absolutely Nothing!

Young Liberal candidate ( Calgary Glenmore) Cory Hogan had 222 friends on facebook....yet he could not sell enough memberships ( 100 people total voted at the glenmore nomination meeting) to win the nomination. Pretty sad.

Moral of the story? Social Media is important in getting your message out...but unless you actually sell memberships and gather supporters, you will find out who your "friends" really are.

Just for Fun...WAP Leadership Race via Social Network Stats!

Just for fun on a lazy Sunday morning...

While two candidates have come forward in the Wildrose Alliance Party leadership race, I am going to save commentary on each until all of the candidates have come forward. That said, I have been following both Danielle Smith's and Mark Dyrholm's web presence with interest. Here are my thoughts...

Websites:

• Danielle's website is clean, bright, crisp and visually appealing. It is easy to navigate and simple but highly effective.
• Mark's website is good, but it has the PGIB/Chandler NASCAR advertising style, which may turn some people off. It is not as easy to read and forces you to read long winded letters of endorsement, with a few website links from those endorsing him. Hmmm...
  

Now, just for fun...( don't read too much into it) lets look at the Social Media following of each leadership hopeful....

Danielle Smith

• Facebook: 140 Followers.
• Twitter: 696 Followers

Mark Dyrholm

• Facebook: 58 followers
• Twitter: 90 Followers

Edge: Danielle Smith by a mile.

Now, It looks like Craig Chandler and his PGIB crew were a little slow getting the Dyrholm website up and twitter account up and running, so this may be the reason for the "gap" here. Perhaps it may also be a demographic issue, as older people generally do not use Facebook or Twitter?

Anyways...I just figured this would add some mindless banter! Time to grab another coffee...