Omigod - Dr. Oberg...pack it in! When the Calgary Sun turns on a right wing conservative candidate it is over. I watched the late September duet on CPAC you did at Link Byfield's Conservative Congress in Calgary with Drs. Oberg and Morton. Morton is the inheritor of the Stockwell Day evangelical political machine that took Preston Manning out of politics.
Ipsos Reid recent poll results ironically shows slightly more Alberta Alliance support for Oberg than for Morton - but the total number of AA types in the poll is small. Dr.Morton passes it all off as a tempest in a teapot. Some tempest! Some teapot!
The Oberg base is not gone just his mentors like Jon Havelock, Lorne Taylor and his advertising agency. they have left him! One would hope he would not have any new support growth and his appeal appears to be diminishing according to the new Ipsos Reid poll.
The "influence and leverage" he had - and used to garner "support" as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation is eroding rapidly too. The classic case of how he operates and would govern is shown in the demise of the Legislative Grounds project review as reported by Paula Simons today.
Oberg has a news conference in February for the renewal of the legislature precinct. He does this with no budget or or agenda and priority approvals. He does without following any of the safeguarding procedures and policies. He just announces this - just as he has done for pet political projects in other parts of the province. Then he dares the Caucus, Cabinet and Premier to challenge him. Sounds to me like a recipe for an Alberta made Adscam situation.
Caucus tired of covering for Oberg and in March they kicked his butt out of Caucus and out of Cabinet too as a result. He is not the agent of change in this campaign. He is just a guy who prefers doing things in a kind of freelance self-serving way...not the stuff of leadership or the way to be a positive contributor to party politics.
Perhaps it is time for Dr. Oberg to polish up the resume and dust off the Stethoscope.
I wonder if there is a citizens based "skeleton crew" starting up to uncover some facts about Dr. Oberg's past political conduct. It is being done by the far right on Jim Dinning...I would not be surprised if it happened to Oberg too.
Your comments are well-taken Ken. Bringing up a candidate's record is fair game. That's part of the test to determine one's fitness to govern.
ReplyDeleteIt's when we get personal cheap shots, like the one about someone reading about political leadership from a textbook, as put our by someone from the Dinning campaign, I assume without the candidate's approval, that we cross the line. Let's keep the debate on the issues and the candidates' records and let's make sure that its all solidly researched and sourced.
I agree - political records and previous comments are fair game and part of free speech and politics.
ReplyDeletePositioning and framing of facts to try and persuade is prt of the process too.
Take the "accusation" in the YouTube video of Dinning saying he is going to spend $40m on "Arts" as if that were a sin. Nothing wrong with the "drama" so long as it is factual and not presented in a distorting context.
Anonimity is still a bothersome thing. Why will people not take personal responsibility for their comments in a free and democratic society? Are they afraid of bullies?
Interesting that you use the word "bullies" in your last post. You mean bullies like Dinning, Hallman, Love and crew as has been reported in the recent media?
ReplyDeleteAs much as you dislike the guy Ken, Oberg is going one place for sure and that's to the second ballot.
If this was an election by politically savy gents like yourself, Oberg may never have had a chance but we all know it isn't about appealing to you and the blog followers of the world. It's about appealing to the masses.
You do that with policies that are well thought out. Not wishy washy status quo ideas and certainly not with "trial balloon" policies; lest we forget tax cuts under 30. In fact, I think Jimbo is the only candidate to back peddle on a policy throughout the whole race.
The week between Nov 25 and Dec 2 should be very interesting.
Hi Dante - a have no comment on bullies I have no direct experience with...in Oberg's case I know of real examples. Others are free to talk about their own experiences with other people.
ReplyDeleteAs for Oberg and the second ballot - you may be right. I hope his appeal to the masses is based on more than reaction against the status quo and not thinking seriously about what they can expect from Oberg. There are disasterous consequences due to his kind of power based politics.
I have not met a single municipal politician, official, school superintendent or board member or former government people in any of his portfolios who has worked with him who really respects him. But they all have an "Oberg story" and they all seem to fear him at one level or another.
Being kicked out of caucus and cabinet is not a badge of courage -it is a sign of incompetence.
He is the cause - not the rebel.
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteI know another fellow who used to tick off a lot of political insiders ... he ran the province for 13 years (well actually Rod did).
And God knows, if he was booted from caucus everytime he said something stupid he would have only served maybe 8 of those 13 years actively.
Heck, how much more disrespectful can you be than to kick your whole caucus in the nuts on your way out the door as you flip them the "We didn't have a plan" bird?
Point of clarification ... he had already given notice of his resignation from cabinet prior to the famous skeletons issue.
Like him or hate him, he's resonating with a lot of Albertans. It's still a two horse race despite it all.