Danielle Smith cost Wildrose 2 elections, not one - Memory flashback post - Life Site News

Everyone remembers when Danielle Smith crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservative Party and destroyed the Wildrose party. But she also cost the Wildrose the prior election as well. In both elections, the Wildrose was posed for victory, and in both elections Danielle Smith, on the eve of election detonated a bomb decimating any hopes for a win. Here is an old article to refresh your memory on the first election she cost us. The rationalization for both failures was a rejection of social conservative values.

Alienating social conservatives: The real reason Danielle Smith lost Alberta


The media are claiming that the Wildrose party lost because of its candidates' pro-life views, but polling suggests Danielle Smith seriously alienated her natural base of social-conservative voters by publicly rejecting pro-life and pro-family views in early April.

April 25, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alberta’s April 23 election results were disappointing for the Wildrose Party, winning only 17 seats out of 87 and returning Alison Redford’s increasingly liberal PC Party to hang onto a majority of 61 seats, down from 67. This was especially disheartening for small-c conservatives given that Wildrose was leading in the polls until the final week and a half when the race suddenly tightened. Despite the tightening, it was still expected to be a victory for Wildrose.

So what caused Smith’s dramatic meltdown of support?

... Polling data suggests that Danielle Smith seriously alienated her natural base of social conservative and religious voters when she began to publicly reject pro-life and pro-family views in early April and ultimately announced, “I’m pro-choice and pro-gay marriage” on April 10th. It was a slap in the face to traditional values voters.  ...

Flashpoint moments for social-conservatives and religious voters

.. We highlight the polling numbers before and after two flashpoint moments (where Danielle Smith detonated a bomb) in the campaign, which were important .. to turn ‘values voters’ against her.

The first flashpoint: The PC Party ... through amendments to the Education Act, planned to ban homeschooling families from passing on their religious and moral beliefs about homosexuality to their children, even in their own homes.  Up until that point, according to a Feb 16th Forum Research Poll, the PCs were leading Wildrose 37% – 30%.

The outcry against the PC bill culminated in massive rallies in mid-March at Alberta’s legislature against the PC plan. Homeschooling families and many other religious families, including Catholics, strenuously protested the government’s unwelcome foray into family life and against religious freedom.  The Wildrose supported them ... backing two amendments to the Education bill, to protect religious freedom and parental rights. ...

Guess what happened to Wildrose numbers during this period? They shot up dramatically past the PCs. By March 25th, the polling firm Think HQ, had the WR up by 3 percentage points over the PCs. Forum Research had WR up 10 points.  Was this pure coincidence? This massive mobilization of concerned families and religious voters certainly played a major role in Wildrose’s ascent in the polls.

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