Alberta NDP stumble into Calgary-Shaw

This political strategy should have been an email. No, really.

The campaign for Calgary-Shaw’s by-election is… going on, I guess… and I don’t know why I thought this time might be different. I don’t know why I thought there was a possibility that the Alberta NDP might have something ready for a campaign we knew was coming for the last eight months. I don’t know why I thought they might run a different campaign than they have for the past three elections.

I live in a happy place of optimism about the future. I have hope and know that there’s a lot of potential because campaigns matter… and then they show up with a bag of dog poop.

A BIG BAG OF DOG POOP.

This morning, someone shared a link to the website WhoIsMikeDerry.ca. Frankly, it was something I’d expect to read posted anonymously on Reddit or shared in political group chats where we talk about political players and strategy. I didn’t even see that it was authorized by the NDP at first and assumed, with way too much good faith, that it was not “official communications”.

The litany of spelling and grammar mistakes make it feel like it was thrown together after 2 AM but does a lot of lifting to make it look like it shouldn’t have the “authorized by Alberta NDP” attached— and I think it would be beneficial if more people didn’t pick that up, to be honest.

If anything, it should have been an email to the most loyal supporters because the hyperbole is exhausting.

Electing the extreme Mike Derry sends the wrong message: that Smith’s hard right priorities are the right way to go.

Who are the UCP running?

UCP candidate Mike Derry wants you to believe he’s a mainstream Conservative. He is not.

Danielle Smith has allowed the extreme fringes to take over her party and Mike Derry and his puppet master, campaign manager Craig Chandler, are the most extreme of the extreme. Mike Derry is too extreme for Calgary.

I’m sorry— did they accidentally publish a draft where they were still workshopping when they should throw out the word “extreme” for emphasis? Because FIVE TIMES in four sentences is, at a minimum, FOUR TIMES TOO MANY, and defeats the purpose of using it at all.

You might wonder if this guy Mussolini reincarnate running to bring back the “fascist firing squad.”

No. Apparently he’s a regular old numpty sharing conspiracy theories online who bragged that he’s “heavily involved” in the UCP, helped draft nine of 50 resolutions at the last UCP convention, and he supports the policy the party adopted.

You know, like replacing the RCMP, ending fluoridation, not mandating vaccination, restricting women’s reproductive healthcare, and creating an Alberta Pension Plan.

Even with my personal bias in favour of not replacing the RCMP, keeping fluoridation in the water, the benefits of childhood vaccinations, remaining in the CPP, and not having to worry that the women in my life would be denied healthcare… these are debatable policies— and standard ones for UCP candidates at that.

The only people who would read this list and agree it’s “extreme” are people who have already convinced themselves that anything the UCP does is “extreme.”

And I have news for the campaign: in a province that would still hand the UCP government if a vote was held today THAT IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE VOTER.

… I say as I rub my eyes and drag my fingers down my face in frustration for the umpteenth time today.

Wut

With barely a month and a half to go before Danielle Smith’s separatist pandering referendum, it’s only marginally acceptable that they decided to talk about the actual candidate but in what world does the NDP think anyone gives a flying one about Craig Chandler?

Sure, my audience might remember him from being fired from Danielle Smith’s leadership campaign— four years ago— but do you know who doesn’t? THE VAST MAJORITY OF ALBERTANS.

There is no way anyone but the already initiated (and people who have to write about it) are reading through three pages of that website. At best, you might get some people who clutch their pearls over Mike Derry’s choice of campaign manager but at worst (and the most likely option) they won’t give a damn because HE’S NOT ON THE BALLOT.

I feel like I’ve just been subjected to a small opposition party aiming for a viral post that might achieve a single headline. Hey— that’s a goal for a party that is just trying to let people know it exists.

Except three pages on a website won’t go viral because it’s THREE PAGES ON A WEBSITE.

I honestly don’t get it.

How many times have I said that the “Alberta NDP is no longer the little party that could”? Why did I need to say it once, let alone reference it again?

I don’t let the UCP get away with taking advantage of the fact that they’re the only named “Conservative” option and I’m certainly not about to offer the NDP a pass just because they’re the only option for non-Conservative voters.

There is also a page for the Premier (who could be vulnerable to some well-thought out hits) but they manage to miss the mark by pointing the reader down south as if everyone has made the connection already.

Spoiler alert: they have not.

If this is a vote to send Danielle Smith a message, the NDP needs to go back and figure out what that message is because the UCP isn’t going to sit by and wait for someone to go through three pages and voters tuned out long before they read the seventh “extreme”.

No one cares who Mike Derry is and they aren’t voting for him anyway; they’re going to vote for the person with (UCP) by their name.

Most importantly, why are you talking about him or Craig freaking Chandler instead of telling them why they should vote NDP?

I…

I am a hyper-engaged individual who enjoys picking apart political strategy. I truly appreciate seeing political strategy in action and I like to look at it from the target audience’s perspective because I can not only see why it works for them but also how it appeals to a broader audience.

There is no broader audience for this website’s messaging; it’s just music for the choir to sing to— sing to the congregation of true believers.

The fact that it’s littered with spelling and grammar errors makes it look unprofessional and deeply unserious.

It looks like a campaign that is just trying to hang onto the supporters it already has in the hopes that with no other option, voters will eventually help them fumble their way back into government.

It’s the Pierre Poilievre strategy à l’Orange.

Unless they’re aiming for the same results, I’d suggest they pivot sooner.

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