Alberta Election: Final Report

The Alberta Election was definitely a shock for many who predicted Ed Stelmach losing some seats to Kevin Taft's Liberals in Calgary. Stelmach's landslide victory will take some time to analyze before coming to any substantive conclusions in terms of the web 2.0 campaign, especially when only 41% of Alberta voters turned out to cast a vote. This was the lowest voter turnout of any province in the last 50 years. For the moment, the poor voter turnout is being read in many different ways in the media, which include some of the following explanations: 1) People do not turn out to vote when they're happy with the government, 2) people do not vote when they do not like their options, 3) people do not vote when they believe media pre-election polls are going to be true, 4) the media and the oil lobby did not sway the people and Ed Stelmach was therefore chosen as Alberta's resounding choice.

More analysis of the voting behaviour will be required in the coming weeks to identify the failings of the other party's campaigns, but this election is definitely an interesting case in terms of a disconnect between the on-line media and the main stream media. The on-line media was highly dominated by the other parties in terms of being critical of Stelmach's government, while many media analysts commented that the mainstream media in Alberta provided a more balanced account of the campaign with up to 30% of voters undecided heading into election day. It seems those same 30% did not show up to vote, along with some of their friends. Because of the voter turnout, the negative media campaign on-line was not emblematic of any major new political movements that were transformed into representative political power in Alberta.

YouTube videos are returning to politics as usual coverage fairly quickly after the election. The top video was Stelmach's victory speech, but after that many of the dominant issues in Alberta politics are being viewed. These issues include the Oil Sands, the North American consolidation concerns, the environment, and infrastructure.


Facebook

Party Leader Facebook Supporters

  1. Kevin Taft Personal Profile (Alberta Liberals): 757 friends (up by 14 from last week)
  2. Ed Stelmach Fan Club (Progressive Conservatives): 465 member (up by 4 from last week)
  3. Re-Elect Brian Mason, Edmonton Highlands-Norwood (NDP): 280 members (down by 98 from last week)
  4. George Read (Green Party of Alberta): 233 members (up by 6 from last week)
  5. Paul Hinman (Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta): 128 members (down by 34 from last week)

YouTube

Ed Stelmach (Leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party)

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. Ed Stelmach Uncut - Chateau Louis Victory Speech Part 2 March 3, 2008 613 Vlogger Positive
2. Alberta - Fortis et liber (strong and free) March 5, 2008 598 Lobby Group: CanadaPetitions Negative
3. Ed Stelmach says Myth - Crude Awakening Part 1 of 3. December 24, 2007 594 Vlogger: Streaming CBC Media Negative
4. Ed Stelmach says Myth - Crude Awakening Part 2 of 3. December 24, 2007 585 Vlogger: Streaming CBC Media Negative
5. Alberta PC - AGM 2007 (Part 1 of 2) May 5, 2007 576 Alberta PC Party Positive

Kevin Taft (Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party)

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. CFIB Interview with Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft February 29, 2008 574 Interest Group Positive
2. PART 2/6 : ALBERTA ELECTION ON CPAC : TAFT February 28, 2008 541 AlbertaVotes2008 Positive
3. Kevin Taft and Hugh MacDonald on the Royalty Review Report February 5, 2008 391 Alberta Liberal Caucus Positive
4. The Heart of a Western Tiger, Part III February 28, 2008 381 Alberta Liberal Caucus Positive
5. Meet Kevin Taft February 5, 2008 368 Alberta Liberal Party Positive

Brian Mason (Leader of the Alberta NDP)

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. NDP Affordable Housing Rally - Brian Mason May 18, 2007 320 Vlogger Positive
2. National Day of Action - Brian Mason November 28, 2007 282 Vlogger Positive
3. Deron Bilous and Brian Mason call Election '08 February 4, 2008 227 NDP Positive
4. PART 4/6 : ALBERTA ELECTION ON CPAC : BABCOCK February 26, 2008 200 AlbertaVotes2008 Neutral
5. AUPE Labour Rally - Brian Mason October 28, 2007 195 Vlogger Positive

George Read (Leader of the Alberta Green Party)

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. CFIB Interview with Green Party Leader George Read - Part 1 February 29, 2008 560 Interest Group Positive
2. PART 8/11: Alberta Leaders Debate - People on the Edge February 22, 2008 432 AlbertaVotes2008 Neutral
3. PART 7/11: Alberta Leaders Debate - Crumbling Infrastructure February 22, 2008 404 AlbertaVotes2008 Neutral
4. PART 6/11: Alberta Leaders Debate - Environment & Economy February 22, 2008 395 AlbertaVotes2008 Neutral
5. PART 5/11: Alberta Leaders Debate - Oil Sands Development February 22, 2008 379 AlbertaVotes2008 Neutral

Paul Hinman (Leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta)

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. CFIB Interview with Wild Rose Alliance Leader Paul Hinman February 22, 2008 492 Wildrose Alliance Party Positive
2. CBC's Politics - Paul Hinman's Debate performance February 25, 2008 361 Wildrose Alliance Party streaming CBC Media Neutral
3. Infrustruction February 22, 2008 115 Wildrose Alliance Party Positive
4. Tax Relief February 14, 2008 114 Wildrose Alliance Party Positive
5. Wildrose Alliance TV Commercial - Two Minute February 27, 2008 94 Wildrose Alliance Party Positive

"Alberta Election"

Title Upload Date Views Last Week Affiliation Tone
1. Ed Stelmach Uncut - Chateau Louis Victory Speech Part 2 March 3, 2008 613 Vlogger Positive: Ed Stelmach
2. Ed Stelmach says Myth - Crude Awakening Part 1 of 3. December 24, 2007 594 Vlogger: Streaming CBC Media Negative: Ed Stelmach
3. Alberta Election Part 1 February 9, 2008 586 Vlogger Negative: Ed Stelmach
4. Ed Stelmach says Myth - Crude Awakening Part 2 of 3. December 24, 2007 585 Vlogger: Streaming CBC Media Negative: Ed Stelmach
5. CFIB Interview with Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft February 29, 2008 574 Interest Group Positive: Kevin Taft

17 March, 2008 - 20:12