“I Never Thought I’d Vote PC”

The polls for Alberta’s upcoming provincial election — essentially a battle between the right-wing incumbent Progressive Conservative Party and the johnny-come-lately and far-right Wildrose Party — seem to indicate that the Wildrose Party has a pretty good shot at winning. The Conservatives have been in power in Alberta for the past four decades, and with that entrenchment comes the usual corruption, entitlement and sloth. On the other hand, the Wildrose Party, while promising that a new broom will sweep clean and doing some American-style libertarian/conservative campaigning, will also likely bring with them a rather unpleasant brand of social conservatism if some of the more embarrassing statements made by a couple of their candidates (pastors both) have made are any indication.

Hence this video, titled I Never Thought I’d Vote PC, in which voters are encouraged to respond to their Morton’s Fork situation by picking the lesser of two evils:

The video’s “Buckley’s Mixture” theme is best summed up with a quote from one of the young, non-stereotypical Albertans featured within: “Fuck it, I’m voting PC.”

(Note to my non-Canadian readers: In this case, “PC” means “Progressive Conservative”. If you think that name sounds like a contradiction in terms, it’s not as odd-sounding as the Liberal-Conservative Party, which was their name their federal counterpart until the turn of the previous century.)

My internet friend and Maclean’s contributor Colby Cosh has some interesting commentary in his article on the video:

What does it tell us about the state of the campaign? It doesn’t seem to have been bought and paid for by the Progressive Conservatives; it may, for example, have merely been made and shot pro bono, in their interest and with their blessing. But it is hard to believe they didn’t have some hand in it.

…

It’s a risky move. The ad will alienate old-fashioned, loyalist blue Tories who happen to see it. It is not just old fogies in Alberta who like guns and vote for Stephen Harper. And it is not just young people who watch YouTube videos. At the same time, the sentiment that the ad is trying to appeal to is real; I have already talked to strategic voters who are going to cast their first PC ballot out of fear of the Wildrose Party. I’m actually kind of sorry to see them caricatured so brutally.