It's 9:01 pm on Saturday November 17 and I'm blogging live from the rockin' "Edmontonians for Craig Chandler" party in Edmonton.It's a raucous night as Craig Chandler supporters from across northern Alberta have gathered for a night of Ayn Rand-flavoured debauchery and debate! The Ezra Levant Go-Go Girls are here in force and are handing out left-over copies of the Western Standard.
The pasty-skinned young Chandleristas in the room are chanting "adapt or leave! adapt or leave!" to the cheers of the crowd!
It's rockin' and everyone in the room is anxiously awaiting the news of Craig Chandler's landslide victory in the Calgary-Egmont Progressive Conservative nomination!
9:14 pm - It looks like Craig Chandler's vision for Alberta and its voters has spawned support across Canada! Afar in the blogosphere, it looks like Derek is the new President of the newly-formed "Torontonians for Craig Chandler" chapter. I've heard that the TFCC is already planning a Craig Chandler victory parade on Church and Wellesley tomorrow morning!
9:24 pm - The crowd is on tenterhooks as Craig Chandler supporters gather around the radio waiting to hear if the next PC candidate for Calgary-Egmont has finally been nominated. If anyone has heard how it went today in Egmont, the frighteningly large (and slightly threatening) crowd of Chandleristas would really like to know!
9:32 pm - I'm wondering how rockin' the Jonathan Denis and Rick Smith Edmonton parties are. Not as frighteningly rockin' as this one me thinks...
9:49 pm - Still no results. This is starting to get boring...
9:55 pm - Good lord, they've replaced the Pat Robertson techno-remixes with old podcasts from Chandler's Freedom Radio network...
10:06 pm - Still, no results... I wonder how the Calgarians for Craig Chandler party is going?
10:21 pm - The young Chandleristas are starting to get restless. It's past their bed time and want to hear results. I wonder when Paul Wells and Warren Kinsella are going to wade in with their coverage of the night? (Even The Shotgun is silent tonight...)
10:22 pm - I've just been informed through a media source in Calgary that Craig Chandler has been nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Calgary-Egmont!
Copies of the Western Standard are being thrown in the air with glee by the young Chandleristas! I am frightened!
No news on the vote breakdown, but Craig Chandler has been nominated to carry Ed Stelmach's Progressive Conservative flag in Calgary-Egmont against Alberta Liberal candidate and former Calgary Catholic School District Chair Cathie Williams.
(commissioned art work by the artist formerly known as Holtopia)
We're reading passages from Atlas Shrugged like the gospel it is.
ReplyDeleteTo Craig Chandler! Alberta's own John Galt...
ATLAS SHRUGGED! ATLAS SHRUGGED!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to find any news about how things went in Egmont today... but I really shudder to see Chandler and McIver teaming up in that riding. If he does win it's going to be a very dirty election.
ReplyDeleteAnd in Craig's own mind I'm sure that he thinks Chapters are popping up all over this fair country, and our neighbour to the south to wait and watch to see if he will save the world like the concerned christian that he is. Oddly fitting that the man is a member of the KKK. OOOPPPSSS!!! I mean the CCC. I don't know HOW I could have gotten the two confused.
Wingnutty goodness!
ReplyDeleteHa! This is the greatest live blogging ever!
ReplyDeleteHuzzah!
ReplyDeleteCraig Chandler: The New Face of Alberta's Progressive Conservatives!
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a sweet, sweet pick-up for the Alberta Liberals.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait for the Chandler Victory Pride Parade on Church and Wellesley tomorrow morning!
ReplyDeleteCraig Chandler running against a high-profile liberal candidate who also happens to be a woman.
ReplyDeletethis should be entertaining.
Dave, I can't check your blog anymore til that photo ends up farther down the page. He's touching me with his eyes every time I punch in edstelmach.ca.
ReplyDeleteEgmont is one of the safest PC ridings in Calgary.
ReplyDeleteIf (and that is a big if) Unsteady Eddie signs his candidacy papers he will be able to win it.
Chandler winning against the establishment and the wishes of the party's "higher ups" points to a huge weakness in Ed's organization. If Ed's organization is this weak I can only imagine how poor the PC's will do in swing ridings in the next election.
One thing's for certain - that tool Tom Olsen won't be able to spin this in a good way at all.
Does anyone actually believe Chandler could get through Atlas Shrugged. The man's a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteThe PC Party is being taken over by outside forces!
ReplyDeleteFederal Lieberals Sean Chu and Raj Sherman and crazy-right whingers like Craig Chandler are winning nominationes left and centre!
Where is Ed's leadership now? Save our party, Mr. Premier!
Congrats Craig! You will make an excellent addition to the Alberta Conservative Team!
ReplyDeleteThis is what the Progressive Conservative members in Calgary Egmont voted to support last night:
ReplyDeleteTo those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. You came here to enjoy our economy, our natural beauty and more. This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created.
Welcome to the new Alberta Conservative Party. No progressives here.
Well, Chandler just settled it for me, I am not an Albertan. Glad to get that settled, and now, to watch for the reality show-like stupidity that will ensue in Edgemont.
ReplyDeleteAll my bags are packed
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again,
Maybe if they elected a Liberallllll
...and then Tom Olsen's head exploded...
ReplyDeleteFran in Medicine Hat remarks - Why is it taking the PC Assn. website so long to post Chandler as their Nominated Candidate on their webpage? Do you actually think Eddie would have enough spine to NOT sign Chandler's candidacy papers? It's amazing to me that Chandler even made it onto the ballot as a Nominee - anyone know how the PC Party handles this? I know that with the Liberal and NDP Provicnially there are pretty strict and binding paperwork for anyone seeking to run in a Nominatin Race - seems to me that Chandler could have been cut off at the knees before he won this Nomination. Stelmach is showing that he has lost control of the process, even with what must be dismally weak nomination guidelines for the PC Party. Keeping the duct tape on Chandler's mouth will be a constant headache and a full-time job. Anyone know who the PC Election Chair is for Calgary? God bless that person - he/she will be in "my prayers."
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a "sky is falling" scenario from Ed Stelmach's point of view. Craig Chandler isn't all that different from current SRD minister Ted Morton, albeit probably a little less intelligent.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the PC's have been so successful in Alberta is that they have truly built a "big tent", just like the federal Liberals used to. The party's lack of a strict ideology allows for various political views to all come together under one banner. The downside of this political melting pot is that, while it can kick some big time ass in elections, they have no core philosophy around which to govern. And so it falls to the party leader to set the course. As we saw with Ralph, government was "on auto-pilot" while we lost billions in royalties and god knows what else went on behind the scenes.
If the provincial Liberals and ND's could close the tiny ideological gap between themselves and form any equally big progressive tent, then we might actually have a chance at seeing a change of government. Until those two stop splitting the already meager left voice in Alberta, we will have men like Craig Chandler in office.
Accusing Craig Chandler of having a 'political ideology' is an insult to politicians and idealogues everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhew, another Albertan public embarrassment. When are we going to learn that advertising fear as our primary motivating factor in the democratic process is maybe a bit of a bad idea?
ReplyDeleteThis party used to be respected - that seems inconceivable today. Lets find a real candidate who actually identifies with the country we are a part of and has a vision longer than their driveway.
ED STELMACH IS NOT A LEADER!
ReplyDelete