Third Annual Politicians in Cowboy Hats

2006 Politicians in Cowboy Hats
2007 Politicians in Cowboy Hats

A big thanks to everyone who sent in pictures or posted them on their own blogs. Let's begin the photo round-up with the CP wire story's winner and loser:

And with good reviews from the Alberta media scarce during his time there, who can fault the LPC from pouncing on this and making it the top story on their weekly e-brief:

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion attended the Calgary Stampede last weekend, where he was named the best dressed political cowboy. Wearing boots, blue jeans, a fitted plaid shirt, topped off by a broad-brimmed cowboy hat, Mr. Dion looked like a true cowboy as he walked the grounds of the stampede, meeting with Albertans.

Dion also gets top tough guy Clint Eastwood points for walking into a wild west town, knowing that everyone was gunning for him. So I'll second the consensus and name him "best dressed" for Stampede 2008, taking the title from last year's winner, Harry Chase.

As for the green party leader? Mayday mayday! Call in the fashionistas! Since Liz has gotten a lot of flack for the above picture, I will post a slightly more flattering one of her from Sunday. May also gets Clint Eastwood points for wearing the Canada-USA pin, something no other party leader in Canada would ever be gutsy enough to do:
So what about the Village Person? Well, his psychic may have dropped the ball on giving him the Maxime Bernier heads up, but she's earning her paycheck in the fashion advisor role. Unlike the nerdy Quebec professor, who benefits from low cowboy expectations, Albertans expect a lot of their local PM and ever since leathervestgate, Harper has actually done a good job at looking presentable during the 15 minutes of public appearances he puts in every Stampede. In this picture, Steve gets into the spirit of things by giving a handshake so friendly to a little girl, you'd think she was his daughter.
Another Albertan on the hot-seat following his "Alberta Stampede" comments last year was Ed Stelmach. Now, after winning 72 seats in March, Stelmach could show up wearing nothing but a belt buckle and it probably wouldn't matter much. Come to think of it, wearing nothing but a belt buckle might have been better than this random mish-mash of clothing:
So what about those trying to replace Ed as Alberta's top cowboy? Well, politics are always at play during the stampede and with the ALP leadership race on, this year was no different. Saturday morning saw David Swann's breakfast go head-to-head against the federal Liberal one. For the first time in a while, Liberal MLAs visited the federal breakfast, with Dave Taylor, Darshan Kang, and Kent Hehr eating pancakes with Dion. Meanwhile, the Swann breakfast drew 2000 hungry Calgarians, among them Harry Chase. Still, in our fashion review, we must give Taylor the win over Swann:

Last year's winner of "worst dressed" for a bizarre animal sweater vest, Carolyn Bennett was much improved this year. I'll give her credit - she stampedes every year and appears to have an extensive western wear wardrobe, which isn't bad for a Toronto gal. She's pictured bellow with newly elected MLA Kent Hehr:
Finally, the Liberal candidate looking to replace Myron Thompson in Wild Rose, Jen Turcott, sports a stylish cowgirl outfit. A good try, but how could anyone look better than Myron in western wear?

Monday News

1. Ed Stelmach is going to skip out on the climate change talks tomorrow at the first Minister's meeting. This follows in the grand tradition of Ralph Klein playing hooky from first Minister's health care talks to go to a casino in Hull. And this guy is trying to run on change?

2. Macleans profiles the twelve biggest power players in Stephen Harper's inner circle. And, no, his stylist did not make the cut.

3. No surprise here. Harper backs Manley's recommendations and implies he might get the extra 1,000 troops lined up sooner, rather than later. If he does, it will be interesting to see if he schedules the Afghanistan vote before or after the budget vote.

4. For those who haven't caught in, here are the top ten Barack Obama campaign promises, as presented on Letterman last week. Speaking of which, Obama adds another Kennedy to his endorsement list.

5. The Rhinos are back in Alberta. Among their promises: "Annex Saskatchewan to create more room for affordable housing" and "Merge with the Tories to stop splitting the 'silly vote'".

Second Annual "Politicians in Cowboy Hats" Blog Post

Everyone seemed to enjoy last summer's Stampede fashion review so, after hitting all the major breakfasts on the first weekend, I'm pleased to present my recap of how the big names fared this year. For some historical perspective, the Globe & Mail offers up Stampede pictures throughout the ages.

Ever since the disaster of 2005, the nation's eyes turn to Stephen Harper every Stampede. Last year, Harper hoped in and out of the Hays breakfast in under 20 minutes, wanting to avoid human interaction at all costs. To his credit, this year the PM stayed and posed for pictures for double that time. As for the outfit, Harper looked about as good in western wear as it's possible for Stephen Harper to look in western wear. Clearly his psychic stylist is earning her money, although it might be time for a taxpayer funded nutritionist.

I caught Prentice at BBQs Saturday and Sunday, and he wore the same outfit on both occasions. It's also the same thing he's worn every single day of the Stampede since, one imagines, his 12th birthday. It's a good look but it might be time for Jim to mix it up a little bit.

I can't make fun of Carolyn Bennett for her wild pink outfit since the Stampede has been running a "tough enough to wear pink" promotion to raise awareness for breast cancer. It's a shame since it would have been really easy to poke fun at her pink shirt, bizarre sweater vest, and green Dion scarf.

Kevin Taft has been everywhere this week - the Stampede parade Friday, a series of breakfasts Saturday, and the Hays breakfast Sunday. The pink worked well on Friday, but Kevin's wife pulled off Western a lot better than him at the Hays breakfast Sunday. The jacket? Definitely a no-no. Still, at least Kevin is aware that it's the Calgary Stampede.

Actual conversation with Jason Kenney:

Me: Hey Jason, you're in MP - I was hoping to get a picture with you.
Jason: Are you Young Liberals or Young Conservatives?

Me: Young Liberals.

Jason: I won't hold it against you. I used to be a Young Liberal too.

Me: Yeah, in Goodale's office. Just wanted the picture because I've got a collection of pictures of myself with Tory MPs...I got one with me and Anders last year.

Jason: Ha Ha. Well I'm not as bad as Rob, eh?

And, with that, Jason Kennedy went up about 200% in my books. Admittedly, he was starting pretty low so a 200% increase isn't a lot, but he's climbing.

Speaking of which...

Craig Cheffins, new to elected politics, obviously has yet to learn the "never dance when there's a camera around" rule.

Stephane Dion looked almost the same as he did last year. For a French University professor, he always presents himself surprisingly well at Stampede.

Peter Miliken, a frequent visitor to the Hays breakfast flashes his sheriff badge. If only he could lay down the law in the House of Commons and keep the children in order...

Harry Chase is probably the only politician in Canada who can wear a coat like that and pull it off. The man looks like he's straight out of a Western and probably deserves "best dressed 2007" for that. That said, it's never a good sign when you need to identify yourself as an MLA on your apron.

There were also a bunch of other politicians at the Hays breakfast I wasn't able to track down. Lawrence Cannon was out and about espousing the values of Quebec nationhood to the Calgary faithful (which means he must have felt a bit like Jason Jones in those Molson Canadian commercials). Bill Casey was also shaking hands. Carol Skelton may have been around but since no one alive knows what she looks like, I don't have a picture (unless she accidentally wandered into one of the other shots).

A Fortnight to Forget

Stephen Harper hasn’t had many bad days since becoming Prime Minister but, boy, the last two weeks have been tough ones for him.

The rough patch all started last week with the taxpayer funded stylist turned psychic fiasco (she really should have seen it coming). Sure, it’s not a big deal, but it’s one of those quirky little mini-scandals like Romanian Strippers which gives the opposition parties a guaranteed joke in every stump speech from now until the end of the next campaign.

Then there’s been the environmental file which was going to be a headache no matter when it came to a head. John Baird’s Martin-esque hyperbole probably discredited some very legitimate economic concerns surrounding the Liberal Kyoto plan. Having the Tory plan leak out in advance (possibly breaking Canada's securities laws) didn’t help matters at all, especially since it led to a rushed release. As for the plan itself? Well, take a look at the less than enthusiastic response it has generated.

Worst of all, the Tories took a big hit on Afghanistan, which is guaranteed to be an issue during the next campaign. The Globe's front page story on blacked out torture documents was bad for optics, regardless of who edited the documents. The week-long game of "deal or no deal" left opposition leaders, pundits, and probably quite a few Tory Cabinet Ministers confused. It's unclear when this "deal" was signed, if it was signed, who negotiated it, what it entails, if it changes the status quo, or who knew about it when.

O'Connor himself has been crippled beyond repair and paying homage to Paul Martin's famous escalator scrum, by doing an elevator scrum, likely wasn't the best way for him to announce this deal. At the very least he could have let Peter McKay know beforehand...

As for the fall-out, well, just take a look at the CTV wire story and count the number of times "contradiction" and "incompetence" appear. For a government that prides itself on decisiveness and messaging, this has certainly been a week Harper would love to put behind him.

Mandatory Blogging

Two topics which I just could not go without some comment:


1. My bestest bud Rob Anders will have to go through with a nomination after a judge denied the request to delay it on the grounds that "[Rob] cannot fairly and effectively fight a new nomination battle while performing his duties as a sitting MP in a minority government." Uh-huh. This from a man who, according to Hansard, has not uttered a single word in the House on Commons since last spring.

That last little fact and many more like it, can be found in Don Martin's Saturday Herald column titled "pulseless Anders stayin' alive".

[As an aside, I found it amusing to see the Herald cite "wikipedia" as their source for Saturday's front page story on dwindling resource revenues]


2. I'm hesitant to comment on this because, quite frankly, whatever Stephen Harper's taxpayer-funded stylist does in her spare time really isn't relevant to the controversy. So long as she picks out a nice tie, combs Stephen's hair, and gives him his bath, I don't really care if she's communing with Mackenzie King's mother on the side.

And if she is giving him advice? Well, given the tactical moves Harper has made over the past year in a half, she's worth every penny he we are paying her.