News

PC Leadership Hopeful Starke Proposes Plan To Defeat NDP

Published

8 years ago

4 minute read

By Sheldon Spackman

One of four men seeking to lead Alberta’s PC Party to victory in the next provincial election, is proposing an alternative approach to defeating the NDP in 2019. Vermillion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke says he has a better option to defeat the current government in two years, rather than merging the PC’s and Wildrose as fellow leadership candidate Jason Kenney has suggested.

Starke says through a release that “Albertans tell me that they want a real change in the Alberta government but do not necessarily like the risky 5-point Unity power grab.” Adding, “Today, I am introducing a proposal that would see Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose working together on a Common Sense Plan; Alberta’s conservative parties collaborating to eliminate the risk of vote splitting in the next election. This Common Sense Plan could include:

Both parties would fight the 2019 election from positions of strength with a common goal – defeating the NDP.
Both parties would continue to work as separate but collaborating entities – two parties, two leaders, two caucuses.
Giving Albertans an option to ensure that there will be no splitting of conservative votes in the next election.”

Starke says Kenney’s plan to dissolve the PC’s and Wildrose and create one new right-wing party instead, is too risky. He says with the next provincial election only two years away, it’s frankly not enough time to start a new party from scratch and be ready for an election. He says his Common Sense Plan preserves two political parties that want to remain. Adding however, that the two parties still need to talk about it, which hasn’t happened yet. As far as vote splitting is concerned, Starke says “There are mechanisms that could be employed to make sure that doesn’t happen”.

Starke goes on to say “It has become apparent that the Progressive Conservative Leadership race is no longer just about selecting the best leader for the Party, but it has changed into who can defeat the NDP in 2019. I believe strongly that Alberta needs to be governed from the centre-right, and that the NDP cannot see another term in office.”

Starke also says “One of the hallmarks of leadership is to listen, and to respond. I have been listening to Albertans who are desperate to see the end of the NDP government. But I have also listened to Progressive Conservative and Wildrose members who do not want to see their parties destroyed. Many have told me they support “unity” because they believe it is the only way to defeat the NDP.”

Starke adds, “I have stated unequivocally throughout the campaign that the 5-point Unity proposal will not work as it depends on the rushed destruction of two existing political parties and other complicated, high risk political maneuvers. It will result in a second NDP term in office. Working together in collaboration rather than competition is the most effective way to defeat the NDP while avoiding the major upheaval of both parties proposed by Jason Kenney.” The two other PC Leadership hopefuls include Byron Nelson and Stephen Khan.

A Leadership Town Hall is taking place in Grande Prairie on Friday, January 27th, with a Leadership Debate in Medicine Hat February 1st. The Leadership Convention and Vote happens in Calgary March 17th, 2017.

Related Topics:Alberta PC Leadership Race Alberta PC Party

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Facebook / Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan Experience

Published on January 10, 2025

Duane Rolheiser

Earlier this week Mark Zuckerberg rocked the world of information with the news that Facebook, Instagram, and his other Meta properties would no longer use third party fact checking groups to censor information. As the week wraps up, Zuckerberg sits down for an extended conversation with Joe Rogan. For anyone interested in the world of information, this is a must see / listen.

From the Joe Rogan Experience

Mark Zuckerberg is the chief executive of Meta Platforms Inc., the company behind Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, Meta Quest, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Orion augmented reality glasses, and other digital platforms, devices, and services.

Daily Caller

‘Embarrassingly Wrong’: Corporate Media’s Talking Heads Confess Their Biggest Blunders Of 2024

Published on December 31, 2024

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Owen Klinsky

From MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to businessman and television personality Mark Cuban, a slew of media leaders divulged what they got wrong this past year in a Semafor article published Monday.

Media missteps included NBC News President Rebecca Blumenstein underestimating the impact of inflation on politics, Fox News anchor Dana Perino incorrectly predicting Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce would get engaged and CNBC financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin not putting “DOGE and the pairing of Elon [Musk] and Vivek [Ramaswamy]” on his 2024 Bingo card, according to the piece. Despite the variety of answers, one topic — Joe Biden’s lack of mental acuity — seemed to sit at the top of the list for many respondents.

“Like many others, I was completely, utterly, totally, embarrassingly wrong about [President Joe] Biden’s lack of mental competence,” progressive British-American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan told Semafor.

Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election in July following a disastrous June debate performance in which he appeared to lose his train of thought several times and stated he “beat Medicare.” Prior to the decision to exit the race, the White House made various efforts to mask the effects of his age, with the president wearing sneakers rather than dress shoes and taking shorter steps up Air Force One.

The White House actively denied claims Biden’s mental health was declining, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre characterizing a video of the President wandering away from world leaders at the G7 Summit as a “cheap fake” and claiming it was orchestrated by Republicans. Much of the corporate media supported the White House’s effort, with panelists on MSNBC’s Morning Joe describing a June article from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that detailed the president’s declining mental health as “outrageous,” and CNN’s Bakari Sellers suggesting in July, well after the debate, that there was no reason to believe Biden could not serve for another four years.

Other examples of the media downplaying concerns over Biden’s mental acuity include The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg rushing to the president’s defense after co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Biden could have a “senior moment” on stage prior to the debate and MSNBC analyst Mike Barnicle describing members of the Democratic Party as cruel in July for trying to oust the president from the 2024 race.

More recently, former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza apologized in a YouTube video posted in December for waiting too long to investigate concerns that Biden’s mental acuity was deteriorating, admitting that as a journalist he should have “pushed harder earlier for more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being.”

American talk show host Brian Lehrer made a similar apology in his response to Semafor: “Many callers to my show said Joe Biden was in no shape to run for re-election. I mostly dismissed it as ageism. Then I watched the debate.”