Welcome to the second, less frequently-posted decade of RevMod.

Contact me at revmod AT gmail.

Sunday, August 02, 2015

Gaffeometer

Yes, I'll be running the Gaffeometer again.  I hadn't really given it any thought, because I obviously don't spend a bunch of time blogging any more.  Twitter's been my latest outlet.  Frankly, I'm a little resentful that the Prime Minister's constant need to game the system means I have to start this process in August.

That's hardly the worst sin among Harper's constant win-at-all-costs defiance of all decent Parliamentary and democratic traditions, just the one that directly affects me.

I'm not going to pay attention to the Greens or the Bloc.  Unlike some debate organizers, I'm happy to draw the line at party status in the House.  If I had to pay attention to Elizabeth May to run this thing, the price would be too high.

The chart won't appear on this page up to date until the Edmonton Fringe Festival is over.  I'm sure I can get caught up - how bad can it be, given how tightly the central parties are trying to manage their message?  "Pretty bad" is the answer, in case you haven't paid attention in the past.

This also buys me a couple of weeks to find goofy pictures of the leaders.  Feel encouraged to forward your favourites.

Friday, March 06, 2015

The Right Moment

(Much of this is cross-posted from my comments on daveberta.ca)

I can't remember a time the Tories seemed so vulnerable.  Wild Rose taught an entire generation of Albertans it's okay to vote against the PC party, and Danielle Smith managed to make those voters mad at herself AND Jim Prentice.  There's only one opposition party that doesn't seem to be in disarray, so if Notley catches on during a campaign she might be able to overcome the branding issues the NDP have traditionally had in this province, organizing the anti-government vote to NDP candidates.  

The Tories won the last election by triangulating progressives' fears of Wild Rose.  Those progressive voters exist.  Don Iveson and Naheed Nenshi aren't mayors by accident.  The face of this province has changed.  

Jim Prentice seemed pretty smooth during the leadership, but between Bill 10 and Look in the Mirror,  he's increasingly appearing out of touch.  If you were to look for a big-oil plutocrat straight from central casting, you could do far worse than finding Jim Prentice.  Give electors one #PrenticeBlamesAlbertans moment during the writ period, and it's going to get very interesting very quickly.  

I can't wait!