I'm back

For those who don't already know, I ran for the NDP here in my home riding of Peace River (Alberta). Our Conservative incumbent, Charlie Penson, won yet again, which is not much of a surprise although still disappointing, especially since he actually ran radio ads which talked only about strengthening the military and boosting military funding (the Conservatives want to pump 1.2 billion into the military, which means a huge increase in the militarization of Canada) --which you wouldn't think would be much of an election issue here in northern Alberta where farmers are going bankrupt thanks to the BSE crisis.

The Liberals took about 18% of the vote I believe, and word is they spent more than the campaign limit of $97,000 meaning they'll have to pay that extra money back.

Despite the fact that the Liberals spent 10 times more than us, I still got about 11% of the vote here. That's twice as many votes as we got in the last two elections and gives us a rebate on our expenses (which you get if you get over 10% of the vote). That growth is good news since with the new campaign finance rulse each vote is worth $1.75 each year until the next election.

Our Green Party candidate, a parachute from Edmonton, got about 4% of the vote. I think I would be more proud of him for that if the Canadian Greens weren't so right wing in their economic policies, which scares me.

As far as what I learned from this experience, I can tell you that politicians are not all evil or greedy or corrupt. They're regular people. Some have good reasons for running; some don't. Anyone over 18 can run in the election and it's basically a volunteer job where you work your butt off and put yourself out there at great risk to yourself. You are speaking out on the issues you care about, making yourself both the public face for the party and a target.

As for what you actually do as a candidate, you attend events (for instance I went to the Highland Games and threw haggis), make speeches, talk to school classes, issue press releases, canvass people's homes (spend hours going door to door with volunteers and introducing yourself and talking, and volunteers do this without you to see who is undecided and who might vote for you), mainstreet (introduce yourself to people in stores on mainstreets in different towns), attend all candidates' forums (debate policy and answer public questions), have honk and waves (stand on street corners with volunteers and signs) and give interviews all the time to radio, papers, and TV. Generally I was doing abut 1-3 events a day, and I wasn't able to do as much as our Liberal candidate for example (money and people again).

It's a lot like an activist campaign in some ways, but rather than just lobbying the government you're trying to win a chance to actually make decisions in the government. And you have only 5 weeks to do it.

Every campaign is run on donations from members and supporters, and fundraising is a huge part of it (no money means no radio ads, no signs, no pamphlets, etc, and not every campaign has the same budget so each campaign has to choose where to spend it's money--remember that next election before complaining that the NDP candidate has no eleciton buttons). Every campaign is also run on the blood, sweat, and tears of many, many volunteers who really get nothing in return besides the satisfaction of helping out and taking part.

I can also tell you that who wins isn't necessarily related to who is the best candidate. It depends a lot of personal connections (that old boys' club is alive and well), people's voting patterns in the past, strategic voting, the way the media portrays the race, and as I've mentioned, money.

It's also frightening how many people remain unaware of some of the basic facts of voting, including what the difference is between provincial and federal politics and what an MP is, the name of their riding, and the differences between the parties. For instance, one person asked if I was running for mayor, and many, many people didn't know the name of our riding (Peace River) or where it's boundaries are. These people probably aren't voting well, and we need to educate more people about what it means to be a responsible citizen and a responsible voter.

Lastly, after having taken part in the process, I understand even less the idea that many people have that getting involved in party politics is a wasted effort while grassroots action is not. Taking part in politics IS action, whether you're the candidate or helping with the campaign. It's an extension of other kinds of activism. A political campaign is only as good or as bad as the people who get involved with it, and that means the candidate, the campaign manager, the canvassers, and everyone else who is involved. So I would really encourage people to join a party, donate, and/or volunteer, because that way you have a say in the process and you can even help set the direction of that party (or try to). And you'll certainly learn a lot and meet a lot of very committed people.

So that's the quick and dirty version of what it was like to be a candidate. Would I do it all again? You bet. In fact, I may run again, in order to build on the name recognition I've got going now and the respect I earned in our all candidates' forums .

Minority governments don't last long and it could be less than a year, folks. Meanwhile, we can have all the fun of discussing it here.

- Susan

[Just a little note - thought I'd show you all a picture I took on Election night showing the deed in progress ;) Dr. C]