Better Alberta
The final group has the best solution: start all over, with or without the Liberal party apparatus supporting the effort. Invite everyone from Preston Manning to Roy Romanow to discuss how they led change.
More important, have an honest, open discussion with Albertans about the kind of change they want to see: fiscally conservative and socially responsible? Ask them what could be improved in the province: less corruption and cronyism, a bolder vision for the future, much more environmental responsibility?
Use the results to form something new. My guess is that it will look a lot like the current Alberta Liberals, whose platform was always much more popular than their party, but maybe not. What I do know is that it will reflect what voters want, not what elites think they should have.
posted by calgarygrit at
8:08 a.m.
13 Comments:
There are some compelling reasons to go the route that Nenshi suggests. We'd lose the unpopular name, and we'd start off fresh financially.
The tricky part will be making sure that the old party is well and truly dead. If a group of "I'll die a Liberal dammit" types decide that the Alberta Liberal Party needs to exist come hell or high water, the two entities (ALP and new party) will split the vote. As long as there is a provincial Liberal party in Alberta, enough people will vote for it to ensure that the PCs govern in perpetuity.
By
Anonymous, at 11:41 a.m.
Is Chima actually running for leadership, or is Naheed just plugging his buddy for kicks?
By
Anonymous, at 12:32 p.m.
Canadian Democratic Party....?
By
Anonymous, at 1:11 p.m.
"We'd lose the unpopular name"
I take it that "Alberta Liberal Party Online" isn't quite the image they wish to portray?
By
Paul, at 5:56 p.m.
Alberta Green Shi*t Party.........
By
Unknown, at 6:39 p.m.
If all else fails, just do what conservatives in Saskatchewan did- make the Alberta Party.
By
MB, at 7:39 p.m.
Serious Party.
By
french wedding cat, at 8:16 p.m.
bct 2.0 - Comparisons to the formation of the Saskatchewan Party are too shallow. That was an amalgamation of the PC Party, Reform Party and the Liberal Party. Moreover Saskatchewan, like BC, has a history of electing either a socialist party or a broad "anybody but the NDP" party. In Saskatchewan that was the Liberals under Ross Thatcher and the PC's under Devine. That is not the tradition here and would be very hard to implement.
Changing the name of the Liberal Party and expecting to win is totally naive. Changing the leader will help if the new leader is ready to govern and campaigns upon fiscally conservative policies.
Good luck.
By
Anonymous, at 10:32 p.m.
Nenshi is just babbling, and not making any sense. The only way for the Alberta Liberal Party to move forward, is to position themselves to the right of the Tories on economics issues. Laurence Decore had it right - why isn't this more obvious???
By
John Murney , at 3:32 a.m.
Because he lost too.
By
Raymaker, at 7:28 a.m.
It comes down to the leadership, bottomline. If you have the right guy as the face of your party you'll be unstoppable.
Liberals can talk all they want about good policy but at the end of the day it comes down to who the people want as the Premier.
The Liberals need a strong personality from Calgary ... not Edmonton. The Liberals need to realize that the only way they'll be successful is if mainstream voters can identify with the leader. They should be looking for the new Ralph Klein. Even if the Liberals had Barack Obama, I doubt they could win Alberta.
By
Anonymous, at 12:05 p.m.
Or maybe they need... the old Ralph Klein.
By
french wedding cat, at 3:59 p.m.
We know that alberta got better and better.
By
cowboy boot, at 10:16 a.m.
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