By Christopher Walsh

There was a knock on the door late last week and a tiny, shy girl of indeterminate middle-eastern descent handed me a pamphlet with what looked like a license plate at the top asking me, “R U Ready?”

She wasn't, because she was just about to turn around and head down the steps when I made it to the door. Instead, she slipped me the pamphlet and was quickly on her way before I could determine exactly what this exchange was about.

She was handing out Social Credit Party literature and obviously didn't have time to answer any questions about it. It was self-explanatory, a social credit message from Calgary-North Hill candidate Jim Wright. But the part that grabbed my attention was a scribble across the left side of it. An apology from Jim himself, written with a red pen in strongly feminine characters. “Sorry I missed you. 708-8160.”

Jim strikes me as a serious guy, judging from the photo on the front of the pamphlet. The background is a pure Josten's, dating from the 80s with Jim standing before it in classic working politician form: arms folded, no jacket, tie stretching to the end of the photo and a look that could be interpreted a number of different ways. Since we know this is a political advertisement, the look is taken as serious but approachable, the best man for the job, a leader amongst us all and a guy who knows how to get the job done. But take that Social Credit Party license plate out of the picture and Jim could easily be posing for an E.D. ad.

That's why his handwriting strikes me as odd. It's quite clear that this man; the tough but approachable candidate, that leader among men, that completely satisfied Cialis user, couldn't have written it. His messenger obviously scribbled that note on the side, assuming anyone who votes Social Credit would be hard at work and not at home during the day to debate policies. But that lingering message is better directed to the province itself, not me.

There is no doubt the SoCreds miss Alberta. They haven't been relevant here since the 60s. In 1971, Peter Lougheed ended the Social Credit Party's run after a 36 year dynasty that bears a few comparisons to our present day one-party state.

Our man Stelmach could take a lesson here. The SoCreds lost a considerable amount of the popular vote in 1967 when Lougheed lead the Conservatives to six seats in Calgary and Edmonton. The SoCreds, like the present day Conservatives, were a rural-based party who found support dwindling in urban areas. The money was good – the big discovery of oil reserves in the province occurred under the SoCreds' watch in 1947 – and everyone was feeling prosperous. Ernest Manning led the party to seven straight mandates while the province of previously poor farmers got high off the wealth of its natural resources. But Manning, a well-liked and respected leader, retired a year after Lougheed's breakthrough. The party suffered a huge defeat the following election in 1971, when the Conservatives took 49 seats, leaving the SoCreds with 25. Times were changing and the party founded on farmer-oriented monetary policy and strong religious conservative values were quickly becoming obsolete. The province was changing, as it is today, and the same old plan wasn't working.

Stelmach has found himself in a similar situation in 2008. He's replaced an iconic leader, the province is prospering and new Albertans in all areas could surprise Stelmach and the Tories with a vote for another party. The Conservatives already have one year more on their dynasty than the SoCreds.

It's interesting that although the SoCreds still have a rural base – you've all seen their signs hung on fences like crosses in the area regardless of an election – they're not running a candidate in Drumheller-Stettler or Battle River-Wainwright this time. (Larry Davidson came third in the 2007 byelection, just behind Liberal candidate Tom Dooley). But the party never seems to disappear entirely.....

Looking across the desk just now, I see the only other pamphlet I've received during this election. It's from the PCs, a man named Kyle Fawcett. He's sorry he missed me, too, the note says. I don't even remember hearing him out there, I just found it in the box. Kyle seems to be promising so much it's hard to keep straight or at least in coherent terms. It's like Kyle just started throwing together as many buzz words from this campaign as he could. The front of the pamphlet reads, with no corrections or exaggeration:  “An educated community, a healthy economy fiscally responsible change and growth economic sustainability and education green, healthy communities”.

I am sorry I missed these guys.

[ Go to Chris Walsh's Election 2008 coverage Blog view ]

Comments

Add New Search RSS

3.20 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."