I'm sure that Alberta Alliance members would agree with me when I say that Calgary Sun columnist Paul Jackson has been the most prominent journalist in Alberta to consistently cover the Alberta Alliance in a positive way. He has in fact been pretty bullish regarding the prospects of the AAP for over a year now.
At the same time, Paul Jackson isn't one to mince words.
As such, his recent column published on August 22 entitled "Change in the Wind" is of particular significance. In that column, he discusses the pros and cons of various candidates in the PC leadership race. His central point seems to be that there is a strong desire in Alberta for change, and that Jim Dinning is simply too close to the present government to represent real change. He then drops the following bomb:
Believe me friends, there is a growing feeling in the province it's time the PCs were thrown out of office, but with the Alberta Alliance seemingly dead, and the Liberals being rightfully loathed, there seems no alternative but to re-elect what we have had since 1971.
This is getting painful to watch.
Back on April 9, Paul Jackson expressed the view that the Alliance should dump Hinman as leader.
We all know that didn't happen.
Now, he's basically saying the entire party is little more than a corpse, and who can blame him. The facts are stark:
- all the polls since February of this year show the Alberta Alliance at half the support it obtained in the 2004 election;
- high profile conservatives want nothing to do with the party;
- all the merger talks have failed;
- party members are fleeing in droves to support Ted Morton; and,
- the one major journalist that took the Alliance seriously is now proclaiming the party dead.
Now, this may come as a surprise to you Alliance members, but, as an experienced political observer myself, I actually disagree with Paul Jackson. While there are plenty of facts to support his position, I think he is writing you off a bit too soon.
However, I don't want to hear any complaints coming from you AAP members about his coverage. You were all real happy with the fact that he was pumping the Alliance back in the summer of 2005, so don't whine and bitch about the fact that he's now covering your demise.
You see, journalists tend to have this nasty independence streak. They can't be controlled, and they will say what they please.
If you had any real political know-how, you'd understand that, and accept it. You wanted coverage - you got it - so now you have to learn to deal with it when it turns negative. Part of dealing with it means responding to it.
Based on what I've seen from the Alberta Alliance communications staff to date, I'm not convinced that will happen.
