And so, it continues….Be it directly, indirectly, or by carefully crafted innuendo, the hits against Premier Danielle Smith keep on coming..Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek congratulated Smith and the UCP for winning the election. “I look forward to building relationships with all Calgary MLAs and meeting with the premier in the days to come,” said Gondek in a Tuesday statement. Nice. Gondek emphasized the importance of affordable housing, investment, attracting business, etc. Commendable priorities..But then she artfully swerved into alleged hate territory. Gondek expressed concern about “a small but loud faction of Albertans who are espousing hate.”.Those “homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, and racist views cannot be tolerated” no matter “who you voted for in this election.”.Was that just a matter of packing a lot of issues into one address?.Or did Gondek know people wanting to assume the worst about Smith — or don’t know she has never supported or expressed those views — would draw (or cling to) nasty conclusions about her? Sure, she did..Gondek is a hard-core left politician firmly entrenched in NDP leader Rachel Notley’s socialist camp. This is expected from their ilk..What about the hard-core left media also firmly entrenched in Notley’s camp? The unabashed cheerleaders keep waving their socialist team pom poms..Before, during, and after Monday’s election mainstream media propped up the amazing Rachel as the one and only star of the show..Notley lost — NDP 38 seats, UCP 49..But on election night — after the results were in — the media made her sound like one of the most popular politicians ever..Yeah, yeah Smith won..But Notley, wow!.Why she received 44% of the popular vote — the biggest percentage for the NDP in Alberta history! She got 14 more seats than last time!.Smith in seven months managed to resurrect the UCP from the ashes — 22% popularity under former premier Jason Kenney — to 53%. It was about a 2% drop from what the UCP earned in the 2019 election..Smith did so despite being under attack by the NDP, academics, unions, UCP turncoats, pollsters, and the media..Pffft. That was nothing compared to what the amazing Rachel accomplished in Election 2023..Smith’s victory was flippantly dismissed as a “thin” majority, “only a few points” ahead of Notley..The UCP won. But the media catered to the 44% who voted NDP and paid scant attention to the majority of Albertans who didn’t..A big deal was made of the UCP cabinet ministers who got knocked out. Fair enough..Nope, nothing about the election status of the commies and revolutionaries within the NDP ranks. No surprise. They fell under the mainstream media radar during the entire campaign..But Smith’s allegedly “fringe” politics, well, that was hammered at relentlessly..In her victory speech Smith spoke directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, zeroing in on the Liberal plan to cap oil and gas emissions that will devastate Alberta’s economy..Was she commended for her vow to fight for Alberta? Not exactly..According to media the “shots” she took at Trudeau set Alberta on a “collision course” with Ottawa. She was the aggressor, not Trudeau who is hellbent on showing Alberta he’s lord and master over its resources..Coverage during the campaign was special. Frequent reports celebrated that “more orange signs are popping up.” Notley was definitely oodles more trustworthy. Or so determined the CBC. It’s Vote Compass evaluation said overall Smith scored a paltry 2.3 on the trust scale, compared with Notley at 5.4. Consider the source. Enough said..There was an endless stream of whoever could be rounded up to say the NDP deserved another shot at running the province. Anybody and everybody could take cheap shots at Smith, while her positions and policies weren’t afforded such generous coverage..There wasn’t a lot of media emphasis on the abysmal job Notley did when she was premier 2015-19. It wasn’t her fault. The economy was in a recession..Socialists are always beholden to socialists, so the fact that Notley made bad decisions, like the $15 minimum wage that forced businesses into bankruptcy, was irrelevant..Better to look at what Smith maybe, might do. Keep that cloud of controversy and suspicion hovering over the “extremist.”.Smith, who changed her mind on issues after she explored the merits of her previous arguments, was portrayed as a “flip-flopping” loose cannon..Notley was championed as a solid leader..While the NDP’s character attacks got personal, the UCP’s so-called “steady attacks” were focused on issues, past failures, unkept promises and surprises like the carbon tax that Notley never campaigned on in 2015, but burdened Albertans with..One journalist actually credited Smith’s win, not to her strengths, but to handlers who muzzled her and kept her on a short leash. Don’t you know, they saved her from herself!.It had nothing to do with her experience, grit, determination, love of Alberta and Albertans, solid policies, knowledge of the most intricate details on issues — and likeability by those who weren’t fooled by the NDP smear campaign..Smith surrounded herself with an incredible, accomplished team. Not one is a communist. Roughly 53% of Albertans seemed to like that. And then there was the laughable pitch that a lineup of former Conservatives was “reluctant to publicly back Notley” because they’d be ostracised..A few turncoats were ‘brave’ enough to come forward. But really, there were legions of silently disgruntled somewhere out there..During the debate, Smith punched a hole in the media’s blanket attempt, parroting Notley, to portray her as an unfit, unpredictable, cold-hearted flake with wild ideas..Cruella De Vil didn’t show up to rant and flip. The real Smith did. Poised, knowledgeable, focused — a leader with a vision that would serve Albertans well..In her victory speech Smith appealed for unity..“It’s time to put partisanship, division, and personal and political attacks in the rearview mirror,” she said..Don’t count on it. Old habits die hard..Even though the message was loud and clear..Albertans are smart enough to see past spin. And the media isn’t as powerful or influential as the egos in it think it is.
