When I first wrote the post about George (Who) Dadamo earlier this week, I figured it would be a "one-and-done" piece ( like most of my rants on here). However, I have been totally surprised by the amount comments and emails I have received about this mysterious mayor in waiting.
I was also surprised to see that the Windsor Star had a nice plug for my blog in their paper this morning. Check out the story here.
Its a good example of how the main stream media uses the blogs for information and quotes.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Way to kick off your campaign George Dadamo!
Oh my...you cannot make this stuff up! In a previous post this week, I talked about a fellow named George Damado, who has confirmed yesterday that he plans to run for Calgary Mayor in 2010.
In a strange twist, Dadamo was forced to fire a key campaign organizer just hours before the official news conference to announce his candidacy for mayor! It would appear that his campaign organizer, Joshua Bredo has quite the controversial background. George Dadamo confirmed that he never did a background check on this chap. I find this odd as George's early campaign marketing strategy has been to flood the Internet with marketing ideas and capitalize on social media. This tells me that George or his team is actually computer literate, so why not run say....a quick Google search?
Well a quick Google search under Joshua Bredo comes up with an easy result as noted on the link.
What is the lesson we can learn here from George? Perhaps it is that you cannot just throw your hat into the political ring on a "whim". His rush to get organized and to make a name for himself has backfired. While we all make mistakes, this lack of judgement and planning has destroyed a lot of his credibility and diminished any goodwill media that he would have encountered following his official announcement.
Looks like he got "Dadamo-ed".
In a strange twist, Dadamo was forced to fire a key campaign organizer just hours before the official news conference to announce his candidacy for mayor! It would appear that his campaign organizer, Joshua Bredo has quite the controversial background. George Dadamo confirmed that he never did a background check on this chap. I find this odd as George's early campaign marketing strategy has been to flood the Internet with marketing ideas and capitalize on social media. This tells me that George or his team is actually computer literate, so why not run say....a quick Google search?
Well a quick Google search under Joshua Bredo comes up with an easy result as noted on the link.
What is the lesson we can learn here from George? Perhaps it is that you cannot just throw your hat into the political ring on a "whim". His rush to get organized and to make a name for himself has backfired. While we all make mistakes, this lack of judgement and planning has destroyed a lot of his credibility and diminished any goodwill media that he would have encountered following his official announcement.
Looks like he got "Dadamo-ed".
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Calgary Hays PC Association/MLA Art Johnston Golf Tournament
We still have a few spots available for the Calgary Hays PC Association/MLA Art Johnston Golf Tournament on Friday June 26, 2009. This year, we are partnering with the Parkinson Society of Southern Alberta and our special guest will be the Honourable Ron Liepert, Minister of Health and Wellness.
If you are interested, send me an email or check the link on the PC Alberta website. Spots are filling quickly, but I thought I would share this in case there was any interest.
I attended this event last year and it was a blast. I can't wait to hit McKenzie Meadows Golf course again this year. Hopefully, my game will be better than last year!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
George Dadamo...One Ambitious Fellow.
Although I am new to Twitter, I was surprised to see that George Damado started following me there. Like most Calgarians, I had never heard of the man until a post by daveberta few weeks ago. With the surprise twitter notification, I thought I better find out a bit more about this fellow. Well, I can confirm that I am pleasantly surprised by Mr. Dadamo's ambition.
A quick look on his fancy website clearly shows that the gentleman has a ambitious plan for 2010! Also, his Facebook page (65 Followers, mostly from the Alberta Liberal crowd.) shows another link to a George Dadamo for Mayor site, where he is the administrator of this page.
Well, I am pretty well read and I try to keep up with local politics, but I don't have the slightest clue who this man is? His political background bio page highlights his time with the Bob Rae Ontario NDP government in the early 1990's, which I am sure impresses most Albertans. His website claims he is a community organizer ( akin to President Obama?) and activist. Hmmm...still never heard of him.
I watched the above video, from his DadamoTv youtube page, which is quite amusing. The page is a Obama style populist ad, with catchphrases such as "a new kind of politics", "from a grassroots leader" with a catchy baptist soul song repeating "We Need a Change". The funny part about it is the visual content. It appears that all of the photographs are taken in late May 2009 at the Speak Out 11 event and the Lilac Festival. If this man is such a Community Leader/Organizer and a "grassroots leader" then were are all the photographs highlighting his expansive community service in Calgary? ( The best you can show is two events from the end of May?) Its so cheesy, that I think I tasted something funny in the back of my throat. ( Trying to keep it PG here folks.)
On Tuesday June 9, George Dadamo will announce that he is running for Mayor in 2010. Seeing that he failed to get elected as an Alderman in 1997 in his hometown of Windsor, what makes him think he can just pop into the Calgary Mayor's seat?
If all it takes is a cool website, a tiny Facebook following and a cheesy web-ad to run for mayor, then I should reconsider my career options.
Again, Mr. Dadamo is very ambitious, which should make the mayors race very interesting. I just wonder if Bronco is pissed that another Liberal is gunning after his seat?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Will Ignatieff force a Summer Election or dust off the old dancing shoes?
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff will decide next week weather he will "force" a summer election. ( yawn....) I have heard this before and will hear it again....and again. However, you just never know with this leader. Here are my thoughts on his options...
1) Iggy may well choose to force a summer election, as his future depends on it. ( This way, when the Conservatives destroy the Liberals at the polls, Iggy will still have time to rush back to Harvard in time for the fall semester. I hear its nice there in September.)
2) Iggy may want to take some notes from the awesome video above of a Calgary dancer aka "Dancing Man" and wait until the FALL for an election.....
Look at how he starts out all alone, with no support. ( Thinking he is the "chosen one" begging and pleading for others to join him. ) Finally, a wave of people rush to dance with him. Hilarity ensues.
If I were Iggy, I would pay less attention to the elite strategists, dust off the old dancing shoes and spend all summer making some youtube videos of his own sweet dance moves in Downtown Toronto or Montreal. Just imagine the viral marketing campaign Iggy. Who knows, you may even pick up a few donations for your party!
Happy Weekend everyone!
Shane
Britian's Parliment is a mess! Luckily, a friend of Calgaryrants is running in the next election.
Oh, to be a blogger in the UK right now! I must admit that I am a "casual" follower of British Politics, but I now have a personal interest in them!
While Canadian Liberal MP's posture for public opinion, their counterparts in England are fighting for their political survival. The Labour Party's 12 year grip on power is in doubt due to a series of scandals and resignations. Even today, it looks like PM Gordon Brown is in big trouble, as his own party appears to be turning on him. The British Government quickly disputed a rumour today that he will in fact resign, which affected the value of the British Pound this morning!
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. I hope that the Canadian MP's can learn a lesson or two from this fiasco. I am sure the British people would prefer that the government actually spend their time trying to fix the social and economic problems facing their country. ( Sound familiar?)
On another note, a business associate of mine is actually going to be running in the next British election. Check out her blog here....
Karen Allen is the Conservative Party candidate in the riding of South Shields. This riding is currently held by David Miliband (Labour), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. While it is always a challenge to run against a cabinet minister, I am confident that the people of South Shields will support Karen and the Conservative Party in the next election. I will be following this closely and wish Karen success.
While Canadian Liberal MP's posture for public opinion, their counterparts in England are fighting for their political survival. The Labour Party's 12 year grip on power is in doubt due to a series of scandals and resignations. Even today, it looks like PM Gordon Brown is in big trouble, as his own party appears to be turning on him. The British Government quickly disputed a rumour today that he will in fact resign, which affected the value of the British Pound this morning!
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. I hope that the Canadian MP's can learn a lesson or two from this fiasco. I am sure the British people would prefer that the government actually spend their time trying to fix the social and economic problems facing their country. ( Sound familiar?)
On another note, a business associate of mine is actually going to be running in the next British election. Check out her blog here....
Karen Allen is the Conservative Party candidate in the riding of South Shields. This riding is currently held by David Miliband (Labour), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. While it is always a challenge to run against a cabinet minister, I am confident that the people of South Shields will support Karen and the Conservative Party in the next election. I will be following this closely and wish Karen success.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Six Months Already...Wow, time flies!
When I started this blog in January, I heard that many people give up after a month or so and just quit. Never being much of a quitter, I am pleased to see that I have gotten over the the initial six month hump and look forward to the rest of the year.
I am still trying to find my voice and determine exactly what I want this blog to become and I appreciate everyone's comments over the past few months. I'll find my niche yet!
Thanks to the following bloggers who put up with my email questions ( when I should have bought the book at the top of the page!) and for the initial links on their sites!
- http://tinyperfectblog.blogspot.com/ ( Thanks for the ton of traffic you send to me!)
- http://enlightenedsavage.blogspot.com/ (1st blog I ever read & got me interested in setting up my own blog.)
- http://www.wernerpatels.com/ ( Early links to my site helped & email guidance. WP's Webcolumns are always entertaining and well written..even if I disagree with 90% of it!)
- http://daveberta.blogspot.com/ ( For setting the standard for Alberta political blogs.)
Anyways... thanks to everyone who reads this blog and comments on my hacks.
I look forward to boring you for many more months!
Shane
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