Decision 2010: Calgary Municipal Election

[Radley77]

What I found interesting from the latest poll, was Barb Higgins support in the NE. Ric and even moreso Naheed fought for the airport tunnel (i.e.: buildthetunnel.ca), which would have the greatest impact on people who live directly east of the airport. Barb's support for the airport tunnel is contingent on more funding, but she also support the Nose Creek LRT alignment, as well as road improvements, and a people mover to the NCLRT alignment. Also, of the leading candidates only Naheed grew up in Calgary in the NE in Marlborough...

Barb's support in the NE stands at 47%, but had been anticipating that Ric (26%) and Naheed (20%) would have been polling much higher in that quadrant.
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[Wooster]

Good post by Markusoff on his Hall Monitor Blog about where the race stands, and the general unpredictability of civic elections:

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/hallmonitor/default.aspx

[You Need A Thneed]

I picked up a sweet purple shirt and a couple of buttons at the Naheedquarters this afternoon. Made a second donation too.

[Bigtime]

I'll be rocking my Nenshi shirt with my sister (also in Nenshi shirt) at the hockey game this Thursday night.

[mersar]

Went and voted at the advance vote at the U of C today, wasn't too bad a wait but was encouraging to see some people lined up to cast their vote.

[Aegis]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Wow, xenophobia is alive and well in Calgary. Just had another person tell me that there's no way they'd vote for Nenshi, because "you just can't trust those Muslim/brown/whatever people". I didn't catch the exact wording as this rapidly devolved into a 1950s-worthy racist rant and I had to walk away before I punched a cow-orker.

This may come across as elitist, but I'd rather that the idiot-vote stayed home this election.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Aegis

This may come across as elitist, but I'd rather that the idiot-vote stayed home this election.

I'll see you at the Peace Bridge opening...

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Aegis

This may come across as elitist, but I'd rather that the idiot-vote stayed home this election.

I'd rather they did every election, to be honest. And I don't see what's "elitist" about that. If you can't vote on actual things that matter to politics, you have no right to vote.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

My wife had the same conversation with one of our neighbours, she openly admitted to not voting for him based on his colour and that he could be a "sleeper cell".

I really hope these people are the 0.1% minority in our city.

I know a few people who would not even listen to his campaign because he is brown. This is still a very sad reality in Calgary these days.

[Aegis]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I'd rather they did every election, to be honest. And I don't see what's "elitist" about that. If you can't vote on actual things that matter to politics, you have no right to vote.

I'm at the point where I want to tell people not to vote.

If you can't take the time to educate yourself on the issues of the day, and find out who represents your view on those issues.. then for the sake of L. Ron Hubbard stay home. I'd rather someone not vote than vote for their favorite 6 PM newscaster because they've seen her on TV. It makes me wonder if there's any coincidence to the fact that Higgins has the highest support among "people with a high school education or less."

[mooky]

Originally Posted by Aegis

This may come across as elitist, but I'd rather that the idiot-vote stayed home this election.

I'd go as far as to say not the idiot-vote, but the bigoted-vote.

I'd allow idiots to vote unfortunately, but bigots no. These are people that historically didn't allow blacks, natives, women, etc. to vote.

[Doug_Cgy]

Originally Posted by Aegis

I'm at the point where I want to tell people not to vote.

If you can't take the time to educate yourself on the issues of the day, and find out who represents your view on those issues.. then for the sake of L. Ron Hubbard stay home. I'd rather someone not vote than vote for their favorite 6 PM newscaster because they've seen her on TV. It makes me wonder if there's any coincidence to the fact that Higgins has the highest support among "people with a high school education or less."

I have a college education and I voted for Barb Higgins. Not because she was my "favorite 6PM newscaster", but rather because she aligns most with what MY beliefs are for a better city.

I'm all for everyone on here supporting Nenshi. Seems like a good candidate, but I don't see why it's ok to bash those who have opposing views or choose not to support his campaign for whatever reason. Just my 2 cents!

[Aegis]

Originally Posted by Doug_Cgy

I have a college education and I voted for Barb Higgins. Not because she was my "favorite 6PM newscaster", but rather because she aligns most with what MY beliefs are for a better city.

That's totally OK in my books. She has a platform and some people agree with it. I was just venting because I've met a lot of people during this campaign who are voting for her solely because they are familiar with her from CFCN news, and don't know anything about her platform or views.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by Doug_Cgy

I don't see why it's ok to bash those who have opposing views or choose not to support his campaign for whatever reason.

I don't believe anyone has said that. What has been stated is that people who do not educate themselves about the issues and the solutions being tabled may help the system by refraining. If people have educated themselves, it is a good thing for them to vote irrespective of who they are voting for.

The comment about the less educated being more inclined to vote for Barb is a direct quote from the polling agency press release - and is a matter of fact and not opinion.

Don't get too defensive.

[Radley77]

My partner and I both have degrees and work as management in technical services sector. Both of us are planning to vote for Barb Higgins.

For those with completed university degrees the breakdown was as follows (a statistical tie):
Barb Higgins: 31%
Rick McIver: 33%
Naheed Nenshi: 27%

http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=10036

Nenshi has a lot more weighting towards completed university, but he also spent a considerable amount of time campaigning there, as well as being a professor, and student union president. No suprise his base is there. Higgins on the other hand has done a lot of philanthropic work as well as chair of the United Way demonstrates her concern for those most at risk. What better way to thank her for her support on these issues but by voting for her?

The other way to read it, is that lower education levels are voting more based on name recognition. There are ways to address this through ad campaigns and the kinds of vocabulary\terminology that one communicates. As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message. Key to this campaign was the formats that candidates communicate (from ads on LRT's to podcasts to television). Does Higgins relative lack of podcasts or tweeting inhibit her ability to communicate most effectively with some groups? Does Nenshi's poorer face recognition on TV impact his campaign?

I have read her campaign as well as Nenshi and Ric's. I agree the most with her campaign policies (not all).

If Barb is best able to address some of the concerns of low income as well as people of various educational attainment levels, I see that as being a positive thing. Building a great city takes the individual contributions of a wide variety of skill levels and experience.

[Doug_Cgy]

Originally Posted by suburb

I don't believe anyone has said that. What has been stated is that people who do not educate themselves about the issues and the solutions being tabled may help the system by refraining. If people have educated themselves, it is a good thing for them to vote irrespective of who they are voting for.

The comment about the less educated being more inclined to vote for Barb is a direct quote from the polling agency press release - and is a matter of fact and not opinion.

Don't get too defensive.

I certainly didn't mean to come off as "defensive"...I was just stating how there seems to be a feeling of "Vote Nenshi, or don't vote at all" in here. Like I said, I like Naheed, like his vision, wouldn't mind seeing him win...I just happen to align with Barb's priorities and visions more.

[fusili]

Voted today in advance poll. Should be obvious my mayoral choice. Alderman I will leave a secret. Spoiled my school board vote. I didn't know enough about the candidates and honestly, I didn't want my vote skewing things.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by Radley77

Higgins on the other hand has done a lot of philanthropic work

That has more to do with her celebrity. If I were a TV anchor tomorrow, I'd get calls immediately to come and emcee this event or that and be the face of such and such campaign.

Nenshi's NGO and philanthropic work has been much more at the working level. Developing policy and doing substantial foundational pro bono work. You may not be aware that he was Chair of the Board of Directors for many years of the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Doug_Cgy

I have a college education and I voted for Barb Higgins. Not because she was my "favorite 6PM newscaster", but rather because she aligns most with what MY beliefs are for a better city.

I'm all for everyone on here supporting Nenshi. Seems like a good candidate, but I don't see why it's ok to bash those who have opposing views or choose not to support his campaign for whatever reason. Just my 2 cents!

I hope people here aren't coming across as bashing anyone (beyond some good-natured ribbing on specific issues). I certainly am not - what I am trying to communicate is the utter lack of anyone actually explaining her policies, discussing why she'd be a good candidate, etc. I've heard a lot of people explain McIver, I've heard a lot of people explain Nenshi (here more than anywhere else), but it just seems like no one actually knows what Higgins stands for - that I know, anyway.

The McIver vote I get. The Nenshi vote I mostly get. The Higgins vote? So far all I've heard in her favour is that she's "recognizable". Oh, and today someone told me he'd vote for her because his cousin suggested it.

Maybe a Higgins supporter could share?

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Doug_Cgy

I certainly didn't mean to come off as "defensive"...I was just stating how there seems to be a feeling of "Vote Nenshi, or don't vote at all" in here. Like I said, I like Naheed, like his vision, wouldn't mind seeing him win...I just happen to align with Barb's priorities and visions more.

Hmm. I definitely didn't mean to imply that, personally. What most of us have been talking about is blatant racism directed towards Nenshi. If anything, it's "don't NOT vote for someone based on something irrelevant, please!", not so much an endorsement of him as a candidate. You'll notice that I for one pretty much never tell people who I'm voting for (secret ballot for a reason!), so I hope I'm not giving an impression of "Nenshi or no one!".

And as I posted just a minute ago, I'd love for someone to explain Higgins' attraction beyond the shallow bits the mass media gives us. To listen to the general news, she's going to be mayor solely because she's a recognizable face. That's seriously all I've gotten from any news story this campaign (obviously I've done my own research outside of fluff stories err I mean news).

Knowing that the vast majority of voters do not in fact do much research, and just rely on what they hear from the news/friends/family, I'm astounded that a political unknown could be leading in some polls. People just aren't TALKING about her, from what I can see - beyond the news once again repeating that she was a broadcaster, love us we're the media, blah blah blah oh and here's the 675th commercial talking about our new nightly national newscaster! Yes, I think the media masturbates a little too much to itself, can you tell?