For the record I don’t like what the UCP are doing in Alberta right now either, and I don’t think their approach represents acceptable governance.
You didn’t infer this, but I want to say for the record that it would be incorrect to infer, that just because the UCP received 54-ish% of the popular vote in the last provincial general election, it doesn’t follow that 54% of the population of Alberta is anti-trans. The UCP as a political entity takes aggressive stances on a bundle of issues that rationally-minded conservative voters would (and do) find unappealing. The fact that a Conservative stronghold like Barrhead could only get 10% of its citizens behind this petition goes to show that this kind of thinking is overwhelmingly not the norm here among the citizens.
that just because the UCP received 54-ish% of the popular vote in the last provincial general election, it doesn’t follow that 54% of the population of Alberta is anti-trans.
It does mean that 54% is willing to promote UCP even though UCP as an institution is supportive of anti-trans politics. So while not everyone in those 54% might be anti-trans themselves, they are consciously supporting anti-trans politicians, and are effectively helping the anti-trans ideology.
I’m not sure there is really any vote that a thoughtful person could make that doesn’t involve some sort of moral compromise. There are things in the AB NDP platform that I really like, and there are some things that I’m indifferent to. There are some things I wish weren’t there, and some things that I really wish they made a bigger deal about. Despite that, I’m inclined to vote for them because I align more closely with them than any other provincial party. I think a lot of conservatives feel the same way about the UCP.
Again, I’m not trying to justify UCP policy in any way whatsoever. Kenney and Smith are both fools, and have made the province measurably worse for almost everybody. Despite that, I don’t think Alberta should be written off in a casual way. And I don’t think even a UCP voter should necessarily be written off. No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, a political choice is a balancing act of competing interests and aims.
There are things in the AB NDP platform that I really like, and there are some things that I’m indifferent to. There are some things I wish weren’t there, and some things that I really wish they made a bigger deal about.
When you both-sides like this, though, it trivializes one important contrast: there are ideas the NDP have that I don’t agree with, but there are ideas the Cons have that are actually harmful. The different between “what I prefer” and “what allows people to live” is hard to paint with that both-sides brush.
Sure that wasn’t the plan, and I’m picking nits; I would totally agree if you said that. But our language may help contrast the two better by focusing on those differences, and sway the vote or bring more to the polls.
I’m just cranky that 54% of Alberta supports conservative and has the most anti-trans stance. Yes, its true Albertans are not a monolith.
For the record I don’t like what the UCP are doing in Alberta right now either, and I don’t think their approach represents acceptable governance.
You didn’t infer this, but I want to say for the record that it would be incorrect to infer, that just because the UCP received 54-ish% of the popular vote in the last provincial general election, it doesn’t follow that 54% of the population of Alberta is anti-trans. The UCP as a political entity takes aggressive stances on a bundle of issues that rationally-minded conservative voters would (and do) find unappealing. The fact that a Conservative stronghold like Barrhead could only get 10% of its citizens behind this petition goes to show that this kind of thinking is overwhelmingly not the norm here among the citizens.
It does mean that 54% is willing to promote UCP even though UCP as an institution is supportive of anti-trans politics. So while not everyone in those 54% might be anti-trans themselves, they are consciously supporting anti-trans politicians, and are effectively helping the anti-trans ideology.
I hear you.
I’m not sure there is really any vote that a thoughtful person could make that doesn’t involve some sort of moral compromise. There are things in the AB NDP platform that I really like, and there are some things that I’m indifferent to. There are some things I wish weren’t there, and some things that I really wish they made a bigger deal about. Despite that, I’m inclined to vote for them because I align more closely with them than any other provincial party. I think a lot of conservatives feel the same way about the UCP.
Again, I’m not trying to justify UCP policy in any way whatsoever. Kenney and Smith are both fools, and have made the province measurably worse for almost everybody. Despite that, I don’t think Alberta should be written off in a casual way. And I don’t think even a UCP voter should necessarily be written off. No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, a political choice is a balancing act of competing interests and aims.
When you both-sides like this, though, it trivializes one important contrast: there are ideas the NDP have that I don’t agree with, but there are ideas the Cons have that are actually harmful. The different between “what I prefer” and “what allows people to live” is hard to paint with that both-sides brush.
Sure that wasn’t the plan, and I’m picking nits; I would totally agree if you said that. But our language may help contrast the two better by focusing on those differences, and sway the vote or bring more to the polls.