One, if the media don’t like a political ad, it usually means it’ll work. Two, the ad isn’t aimed at old people – it’s aimed at young people. If what works with young people worked for old people, my Mom would be listening to Lady Gaga right about now.

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Michael Taube looks on in horror as I make yet another excellent point about Alberta’s Sarah Palin, Danielle Smith.

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Before the Internet and MTV and MuchMusic, he was pretty much the only game in town. When I heard, in Spring 1980, that Dick Clark had invited PIL onto his show, I predicted it would be anarchic insanity, total chaos, and that the American Bandstand boss would profoundly regret his decision.

Rotten, as you will see, did his level best to derail the proceedings. But Clark, ever the pro, doesn’t once lose his cool or even blink. He just carried on. Me and my punk buddies, then well aware of Rotten’s bottomless talent for destruction, thought that was the coolest thing.

R.I.P., Dick. You were a punk.

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Brought to my attention by Brian Lilley (of all people), on-air. This is brilliant Gen X political marketing.  Share it!

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“I am a pastor. And in beliefs homosexual are headed for the lake of fire. Now with that being said we have Muslims in public office right now who believe that anyone who does not believe in ala should be killed but far be it for anyone to mention that. That would be prejudice. And as a Christian I have a right to believe in what I believe and for u to attach someone for their beliefs in my eyes is racist. At least everyone knows up front what he believes. There are to many people in government who hide behind a lie to get in and then do what they believe is write regardless of what the voters believe. My beliefs are my beliefs and I should not be persecuted for that and no one else should either. And because of what you wrote today I have decided to vote for her based on the fact she did not hide behind a lie to please the media. But this is my opinion.”

From “Floyd McK.” Wow.

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Tim Harper has a piece worth a read.  He’s right that the warring conservative factions needed to get their faces rubbed in the dirt a few times before they got their act together – in 1993, 1997 and 2000.  True.

It took a decade for the Right to come together, and I think that Harper is correct – it’ll probably take a full decade for the Left to do so, too.

But he’s wrong, I think, on a couple of points.  One, Jean Chretien hasn’t tossed a “grenade” at his party over this.  He’s simply saying what Stephen Harper, Preston Manning and many others said in a different context: if we keep fighting amongst ourselves, the other guys are going to benefit.  That’s not destructive – it’s constructive, and the truth, too.

Two, Chretien isn’t “conveniently ignoring” anything.  I know him well enough to know that these things take time; he’s well aware of that.  But his point is that, as long Liberals and New Democrats keep squabbling over the same political real estate, Harper will continue to win with his lesser holdings.

I had an espresso with someone very close to Harper the other day, someone who is very loyal to him.  Said he:  “Harper’s good for at least ten years, maybe fifteen.  As long as you guys keep fighting over nothing, he’ll keep winning.”

He’s right.

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How is saying that gays will burn in “a lake of fire” in Hell, or that whites make for better candidates, simply “politically incorrect”? That’s crap.

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A National Post reporter – one I like – just sent me a Facebook message to ask me if I am “working for the PCs.” I presume she means the Alberta PCs.

I messaged back: “You’re kidding, right?”

But then I thought about it. She’s a good egg, and she deserves a straight answer. So I decided to give it here, right out in the open.

“My family came to Alberta in 1975. We came from Montreal, where the political climate had made it impossible for my Dad – a doctor and a medical researcher – to work. We didn’t know what to expect.

What we got – we, Liberal ex-pat Montrealers – was a home. Alberta, we discovered, was diverse and progressive and welcoming. We didn’t ever vote Progressive Conservative, but we had to acknowledge that the PC-led Alberta was a far better place to live than Montreal had been.

My Dad’s research was generously funded by the government. My brothers and I got great publicly-funded educations.

The first political party I joined – wearing a black bikers jacket – was the Alberta Liberals. I opposed the PCs as a political choice. I never voted for them, not once. But I never regarded them as extremists or evil, either. Instead, they were the people who created the things that attracted us to Alberta in the first place. If we were honest about it, we had to admit that much.

I grew up in, and was educated in, Alberta. I love Alberta, and would have relocated there in a minute. And I’d be there, right now, if they hadn’t insisted l do the bar admission course over again to practice law.

I don’t know Alison Redford or anyone in her cabinet or caucus. I have never voted for their party, or taken a nickel from them, or worked for them in any way.

But I do know this: if Wildrose wins, all of the things that persuaded us to move to Alberta, and make it our home, will be gone. They’re going to wreck the place, and that’s no exaggeration. The homophobia and the racism are just the tip of the iceberg.

I also know this, and I say it with no enthusiasm: in this election, a vote for the Liberals or the NDs is a vote for Wildrose. The only party that can stop them is the PCs.

So, if I were there right now, I’d be working my ass off for the Alberta PCs. Never thought I’d see the day, but that day has surely arrived.

There you go. There’s your answer.”

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“As a Caucasian,” the Wildrose candidate suggests, he’s a better representative than, you know, one of those brown people.

No wonder Danielle Smith is ducking the media today.

One of the biggest freefalls I’ve seen since, well, Tea Party Tim Hudak’s in October. It’s amazing.

UPDATE: Far from denouncing her candidate’s comments, Danielle Smith has defended them. Straight from Sun Media: “Smith defended the comments and said she’s not concerned and each candidate puts forward their best argument for why they should be the person to represent the community.“

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