Alberta Liberals Vote

Post-Election Thoughts

Name Change – Pro

Name Change – Con

(Don’t) Unite the Left

Taft Exits

Taylor renewal document

Profiles in Courage: Dave Taylor

Profiles in Courage: Mo Elsalhy

Profiles in Courage: David Swann

Liberals Vote: Swann Wins

Liberals Vote: Swann Wins

Open thread on the ALP leadership race - I will update once I see some results. Rest assured, you will get results here, long before CNN has them!


UPDATE: The hotly contested David versus David ALP leadership race has ended with David Swann emerging as the winner on the first ballot.

David Swann - 2,468 (54%)
Dave Taylor - 1,616 (35%)
Mo Elsalhy - 491 (11%)

This comes as a bit of a surprise, as everyone expected the race to be a lot closer than this, and most people I'd talked to thought Taylor's well run campaign would give him a ground game advantage. In the end, it appears that Swann managed to bring a lot of new faces into the party and that they were simply more motivated to vote.

While I would have voted for Taylor myself were I still living in Alberta, I've always had immense respect for David Swann as a person. As I said in my profile of him, you will never find a more genuine individual, politician or not. Although I have a lot of doubts about his electability in a right-of-centre province, I have nothing but the best of wishes for David, and I think he would make a fantastic Premier.

So what does it all mean?

I will say that a Swann victory is certainly more intriguing than a Taylor one would have been. Swann has been far more radical in his talk about working with the other opposition parties and of renaming the Alberta Liberal Party. He is probably the least conventional politician leading a major political party (using the term loosely) in Canada right now, so it's really hard to predict how he'll fare. But given the current predictability of Alberta politics and that province's history of Black Swan elections, a little unpredictability might not be a bad thing.

Profiles in Courage: Mo Elsalhy

Before I get to this week's ALP leadership profile, my spies were at the Calgary Egmont leadership forum last week and sent me a recap. The following comes from Liberals who had not met any of the candidates before the forum so, for that reason, I re-post highlights from their comments here, if only to offer a different perspective:

Mo Elsahy - Definitely provided the most detail in his answers and seems very detail oriented. In his talks he always referred to retail examples since he was a pharmacist; This makes it easy to follow. I liked him a lot as a person to speak to but because of his age and the fact he is not a sitting member, he will have a difficult time to be selected.

David Swann - Speaks really well on health issues since he is a doctor and used to run one of the health regions. His problem is that he looks and talks too much like Stephane Dion. He seems to have charm, and had lots of people wearing his buttons in the room. He seems comfortable in a crowd and was at ease with all the questions, although he spoke mostly in generalities.

Dave Taylor - Being a radio personality shows for "presence". He certainly has the image needed for a leader in Alberta. He had a really detailed "renewal" plan that he didn't have time to go over in detail, but he talked well about being inclusive and bringing people in to the party. I can see he would do better with media than the others.

And with that said, we're off to profile number 2 - Mo!

History: Mo moved to Alberta from Egypt in 1990 and made a career for himself in Edmonton as a pharmacist (Mo will cure what ails the ALP!). He gained fame as a "giant killer" by defeating former "giant killer" Mark Norris in the 2004 election. However, as Edmonton McClung adores killing giants, they bounced Mo from office this spring.

Federal Equivalent: As much as I hate to compare him to another visible minority, Navdeep Bains would be the MP that comes to mind when thinking of Mo.

Rejected Slogan: “Mo – everybody’s favourite stooge”

A Headline Writer’s Dream Candidate: “Liberals seize MO-mentum”, “Mo problems for Liberals”, etc…

Renewal Plan: Mo has set targets for making the party debt free and for growing the membership but has released few details on how to get there. He's also talked about the opposition parties only fielding one candidate per riding in the hope of getting a majority in the Legislature that could ram through PR.

Surprise Endorsement: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation gives Mo a "B" grade.

Website Advice: The site is functional but, for good or bad, doesn't have a "campaign feel" to it. The biggest problem is that there is no donation link on the main page...you have to put a lot of effort into finding out how exactly you can give Mo your money.

Strengths: Mo has done a great job at engaging young people through his "Mocha with Mo"get togethers.

Strategy: Sign up a ton of new members and try to run the table in Redmonton.

Can He Win? If Dave Taylor is the Jim Dinning of this campaign and David Swann is the Ted Morton, then Elsalhy will certainly try to repeat the feat of his fellow Edmonton candidate, Ed Stelmach. If he can sign up enough new members, Mo could surprise.

My Thoughts: I'll admit I don't know Mo as well as the other candidates, although I had a good chat with him at an ALP lunch in Calgary a few years ago after he was first elected. He was genuinely excited to be fighting for the issues he felt were important and his energy has yet to diminish since then. As a leader, he'd be new, fresh, and different from anything the Alberta Liberals have offered Albertans before.

These Past 8 Weeks in Alberta

OK, so my weekly Friday look at Alberta politics and the ALP leadership race got kind of sidetracked, what with the federal election being thrust upon us. So here's a run down of some of the things you (and I) may have missed:

1. To recap, the membership cut-off November 7th, with the mail-in vote to be announced December 13th. The three candidates are Dave Taylor, David Swann and Mo Elsalhy.

2. Daveberta takes a look at the history of ALP leadership races. My guess is that the winner will wind up with about 2,500 votes this time - on the first ballot, that is. I'm not expecting anyone to win this thing outright.

3. Speaking of Alberta's pre-eminent blogger, Daveberta has endorsed David Swann.

4. To the best of my knowledge, Kent Hehr (Taylor) and Harry Chase (Swann) are the only two MLAs to have endorsed a candidate in this race.

5. Dave Taylor released his very good party renewal document a few weeks back.

6. Slogans: Mo - "An Alberta for ALL Albertans", Swann - "The Courage to Lead. The Power to Inspire.", Taylor - "A New Way Forward"


Tune in every Friday from now until voting day for a look at the race - I'm planning to profile the 3 ALP leadership candidates starting next week.

This Week in Alberta

Admittedly, it's only slightly more interesting than the Ontario NDP leadership race to most people. But, for Liberals in Alberta, it's where the action will be this fall. I've decided the best way to cover the race is with weekly updates, so welcome to your very first Friday edition of "This Week in Alberta".


Swann Dives Into The Race: David Swann has declared his intentions to run for ALP leadership, setting up the biggest David versus David showdown since the American Idol finale. Swann is staking out the anti-establishment terrain, musing about drastic changes to the ALP, and Alberta politics:

"We've got to change the way we make decisions -- it is a middle-age, white male organization," said Swann [ed note: aged 58, white, and male], adding the party needs to be more inclusive by reaching out to youth and minorities. He also said ditching the name Liberal from party banners must be on the table.

Swann is kind of the Ted Morton of the left, drawing huge amounts of support from environmentalists, activists, and Green/NDP types. His candidacy will bring a lot of new people into the party and he's a force to be reckoned with in a one-member-one-vote leadership contest.

The other David responded by sending out a press release yesterday in an attempt to define the clash as a centre/left fight:

I've come out and argued that we need to align ourselves firmly in the center. I want to position the Party as business friendly and as a subject of conversation at the local coffee shop. David Swann meanwhile has been attractive to those on the left of the political spectrum. So it should allow people a clear indication of which path each of us would take the Party down. Liberals will have a choice of continuing to fight for the left or making a stand for the center.

Tayl-Air Takes Off: Dave Taylor has taken off for a cross-Alberta tour, and let me say it’s a smart thing to do. In a one member one vote leadership, there’s hardly anything to be gained from spending time in rural Alberta but, in the long run, the Liberals need to be seen as a party that represents all Albertans.

Whoever winds up leading the ALP/party-to-be-named-later should announce that they’re tearing up the party platform and going on a cross-province tour to listen to Albertans. It’s all optics, but optics are important.


The Third Stooge Speaks: Mo's website has been re-done and now contains priorities and a platform.


Blakeman Bows Out: Laurie Blakeman, citing fundraising difficulties (Laurie gets full marks for honesty), has decided to take a pass at the ALP leadership. Hugh MacDonald and Rick Miller remain possibilities from Edmonton but, barring a wild card entry, this one may very well be a three man race.



In Springfield, Alberta: Mutant Fish!

The Big Mo

The ALP leadership race has it's second candidate, former Edmonton McClung MLA Mo Elsalhy. From Mo's facebook page:

Hi all. Join me as I make it official. On Friday, July 25th, at 12:30 at the front steps of the Legislature, I will confirm my intention to challenge for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party.

Media will be there but we are planning the whole event to take no longer than 30-45 minutes at most. If you can come and would like to show your support, it would be great.

Thanks.

Mo

The 37 year old Elsalhy, while certainly a long-shot candidate, should bring a lot of energy to the campaign, and will hopefully be able to draw young people into the party.

Being the first Edmonton candidate to declare, I can understand why he's chosen the legislature for his launch but if I were running his campaign, I'd be playing up the youth angle and would paint him as a candidate who breaks the conventional political mould. With that in mind, I'm thinking something like a YouTube campaign launch would have worked better than the traditional one he'll deliver later today.

Mo's leadership webpage, abbreviated as M.E.L.L. for reasons I cannot begin to comprehend, can be found here.