For an interesting counterpoint to Meili's position on the possibility of a nuclear reaction for Saskatchewan (see below), read Dr. Jim Harding's excellent essay on Dwain Lingenfelter's position, "Trapped by History". (Edit: Accidental Deliberations has more on this subject as well.)
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NEWS RELEASE
March 31, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nuclear Power: Not a Viable Solution
Ryan Meili calls of NDP MLAs to oppose SaskParty nuclear resolution
On Thursday, the Saskatchewan Legislature will debate a motion by Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison supporting the development of nuclear generation in Saskatchewan. NDP leadership candidate Ryan Meili has issued the following statement.
The Wall government’s uranium resolution falsely frames the debate on nuclear energy and uranium development.
Nuclear power is not a viable solution to Saskatchewan’s energy needs. It is too expensive. It is too risky. It is too slow.
I am calling on all 20 New Democratic Party MLAs to vote “no” on this misleading motion.
Nuclear power is being sold to us as a means to provide cheap energy, as a means of addressing immediate energy needs, even as a means of protecting our environment.
But none of these sales pitches are based on the facts.
• Nuclear power isn’t cheap. A nuclear reactor is a very expensive undertaking and the people of Saskatchewan will pay for it on their electricity bills for a long time to come, if it is allowed to be built. We pay 10 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity now. Whether its Bruce Power or SaskPower, no one will build a nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan for less than 20 cents per kilowatt hour – double the current price of electricity. That simple fact is why most private sector utilities in the United States have been avoiding nuclear power – they know there are too many hidden costs and that most nuclear power construction projects have huge cost over-runs. Add to that expensive repair bills, the high cost of disposing of radioactive nuclear fuel waste and the very high cost of decommissioning a radioactive reactor core. When compared to wind power at 11 cents per kilowatt hour and electricity conservation at less than 6 cents per kilowatt hour, nuclear power’s economics make no sense.
• Nuclear power puts our environment at risk. Yes, nuclear power can reduce the carbon footprint. But that assumed you ignore the massive carbon emissions involved in building the reactor – particularly if it is built in a remote area. A nuclear reactor will also produce intensely radioactive waste materials which no country on earth has successfully disposed of. Why should the next generation of Saskatchewan residents bear the burden of disposing of this radioactive waste material, with the worry that it must be kept out of ground water supplies for tens of thousands of years into the future.
• Nuclear power doesn’t address our immediate energy needs. Nuclear reactors are not designed and built quickly. Sites are not chosen quickly. Even if the process started today, it would be nearly 20 years before a proposed nuclear facility contributed a single watt to the energy grid.
• Nuclear power doesn’t address our long-term energy needs either. It is simply another non-renewable resource which, by current projections, will have exhausted itself well within a century and possibly within a generation.
The Wall government has appointed a committee to investigate the possibilities of nuclear power in Saskatchewan. As the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran bishops in Saskatchewan recently pointed out, this committee is not a balanced group of open-minded citizens. It is a committee hand-picked to give Premier Wall the answer he wants.
Many of us will remember countless expert panels on this issue over the years. My fellow leadership candidate Dwain Lingenfelter has proposed a panel of his own to study this issue. Many progressive activists have become quite cynical about these “studies / panels / commissions.” Too often, their final recommendations have appeared to be predetermined. That is certainly so in this case. It is likely to be the case regardless of who appoints the panel.
Nuclear power, on the evidence, is too expensive, too risky and which meets neither our short term nor our long term energy needs.
A far better approach – both more principled and more pragmatic – is to pursue real alternative and renewable energy sources: solar, wind, biomass, geothermal. Pursuing these in concert with well considered and effectively supported energy conservation initiatives will be far more effective in meeting our immediate and long term energy needs at less expense and with less risk.
We need to consider our energy future. Limiting that consideration to an either-or discussion of nuclear power narrows the debate and ignores our best options.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Malcolm French
(306) 550-2277
The text of Mr. Harrison’s motion is as follows:
That the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan supports the consideration of further value-added development of Saskatchewan’s uranium industry including nuclear power generation and recognizes the potential benefits to the growth and prosperity of the people of our province.
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Tuesday, March 31
Ryan Meili Calls on NDP MLA's To Oppose Sask Party Nuclear Resolution
by
Jason
on Tue 31 Mar 2009 05:30 PM CST
Sunday, March 29
Correction to My Correction: Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Map *Is* Misleading (Just Not In The Way I Thought It Was)
by
Jason
on Sun 29 Mar 2009 10:28 AM CST
I guess if I'm doing corrections, I should make sure I use precise language. Correcting myself that Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Maps mash-up isn't misleading isn't entirely accurate either. It *is* misleading, just not in the way that I said it was.
It's not misleading in that it contains information about non-existent events as I originally thought. But it *is* misleading in that the map has poor usability and is potentially confusing for users - an issue that could have consequences for the Lingenfelter campaign. At the least, visitors to his campaign web site may click on the wrong spot on the map and think there's no event in their community, just a placeholder push pin (even when there is an event.) At the worst, they may make the same mistake I did and think that there are a lot less events happening than appears to be and think there is something fishy going on. On another note, Kent has replied to my correction saying I should delete the post. That's not something I believe in and it's not going to happen. I posted what I posted, when I was corrected, I admitted that I made a mistake. But the record of these events should remain for a couple reasons. I stand by the rest of my criticisms in that post and also think it's important to see the response that my post engendered from him. In all of our back and forth - and there's been a lot as I can't post a comment without getting yet another response from Kent - I have never resorted to personal attacks or questioning his motives. In my last post, for whatever reason, Kent has stooped to the level of calling me Karl Rove - a pretty extreme attack for what was an honest mistake. As I said, I still stand by my other criticisms of some of the things Lingenfelter is doing online. I have claimed that, to me, this appears to just be moving "politics as usual" online and I would also say that deleting a post to whitewash something that's happened is also "politics as usual" - and also shows that Kent doesn't understand quite how the internet works. The moment I hit "post" on my blog, the content goes out to Google and dozens of other sites/readers/subscribers/etc. and is impossible to "delete", even if that's something I was inclined to do. Kent, since I know you're reading this, here's my challenge. I did a legitimate list giving five reasons I thought Dwain Lingenfelter would make the best leader for the Saskatchewan NDP. Can you do a similar list for Ryan Meili?
Correction: Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Mash-up Map Isn't Misleading
by
Jason
on Sun 29 Mar 2009 09:03 AM CST
Loyal reader, Kent posted a comment in response to my last post about Dwain Lingenfelter's Google Map mash-up to tell me that I was wrong - the map does work and every push pin does have information about an event, you just have to click on the right *spot* on the push pin.
I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong so I'll admit that now. But because he made some pretty harsh accusations about my motives in his comments, I'd also like to explain why I drew attention to this. As I said in my response to Kent's comments, this is something I probably wouldn't even have noticed or tried to draw attention to except for the fact that there is a history of this type of digital expectation-setting already happening with the Lingenfelter campaign - first, with the number of supporters Lingenfelter has from outside the country on his Facebook fan page and then with the gaming of the ActUpInSask leadership poll. Kent accuses me of ignoring the fact that other campaigns (Meili's and Pedersen's) are engaged in the same activities but I pointed out to him that I never excused this. I admitted that both campaigns are also doing similar things. My major problem is that Lingenfelter is doing this to a much larger extent - while both Pedersen and Meili have supporters from outside the province on their Facebook pages, neither has such a concentrated group of not only non-Saskatchewan folks but non-Canadian as well. Same thing with the leadership poll - all have gamed it to some degree (to the point that I think it hurts Act Up's credibility that they even host it to be honest) but Lingenfelter's supporters appear to have done it a much greater degree than any other candidate. The other problem is that this reinforces my point that Lingenfelter represents politics as usual in many ways. This is only my impression but it seems that his campaign is so concerned with cementing their front runner status that they are doing things like this to ensure that they are seen as the front-runner *everywhere*. Anyhow, as penance, I thought I'd post a list of reasons why Lingenfelter would be a good leader for the NDP: FIVE REASONS DWAIN LINGENFELTER WOULD MAKE A GOOD NDP LEADER 1. Dwain Lingenfelter's political experience stretches back over three decades so he'd bring unmatched history to the position of NDP leader. 2. His time working in government relations for Nexen Energy has allowed him to see the other side of the lobbyist game so that he will be well-positioned to make decisions based on what's best for the citizens of this province when he's leader of the NDP rather than what's best for lobbyists and corporations. 3. He has the support of the a large number of NDP MLA's so that makes a strong statement about who the party's upper echelon sees as their preference for leader. 4. All of the leadership candidates (except maybe Deb Higgins?) have attempted to show their connection to Saskatchewan's agricultural sector but Lingenfelter is the only one who currently runs a family farm operation. 5. This video of him playing with his kids in a hotel in Lake Louise, AB really humanizes him and reminds you that everyone has different faucets to their life - even somebody who's been in the public eye for as long as Link has. (Stayed tuned for my list of "10 Reasons Ryan Meili Would Make a Great NDP Leader" sometime in the near future!  )Saturday, March 28
Some Thoughts on Dwain Lingenfelter's Events Calendar, Political Optics, and What A True Commitment to Rural Saskatchewan Looks Like
by
Jason
on Sat 28 Mar 2009 09:21 AM CST
[Edit - 2009/03/29 - It has been pointed out that one of the criticisms in this post is incorrect. Dwain Lingenfelter's Google mash-up map doesn't work because of a usability issue, not because non-events are being posted.]
Recently, I did a post noting that Dwain Lingenfelter has about 26% of his support on Facebook from people who can be directly connected to our province via their network affiliation(s) while Ryan Meili gets 60% of his support this way. In pure numbers, Meili beats Lingenfelter 173 to 128. (This count was *before* a recent surge in online support that saw Meili's Facebook fan page jump by about 30 people while Lingenfelter has stayed static for at least a week.) In that post, I also touched on the current ActUpInSask.org NDP leadership poll which shows Lingenfelter as frontrunner by a large margin but has an inherent problem in that it is a poll that is easily gameable via people submitting multiple votes (a technique which likely is being done to a certain extent by all the campaigns. Well, maybe not by Deb Higgins as is pointed out in the comments to a post BuckDog did on the subject.) My latest exposure into the difference between what appears to be happening at first glance and what's really happening beneath the surface, at least in regards to the technological aspects of this leadership campaign, occurred when I took a closer look at the Google Maps mash-up Dwain Lingenfelter has displayed very prominently on his home page. Labelled "Link's Campaign Trail", the map shows the entire province of Saskatchewan with a bunch of green and orange digital push-pins across the length and width of the province. Green pins show where he's been and orange indicates where he plans to go soon. Fair enough - great use of technology, very interactive, very cool way to represent that Lingenfelter is running a province-wide campaign and trying to reach out to all parts of the province (of course, this also subtly hints at his apparent ability to set the rules he wants the other candidates to follow - but that's a different post.) Except that, as with the number of Columbia-based supporters Lingenfelter has on his Facebook fan page, if you look beyond the initial impression this Google map gives, you see something different may be happening. When you zoom in to see the text associated with each push-pin, many identify things like coffee parties, constituency meetings and the like that Link has attended or plans to attend. But there are also a number of push pins that include a generic piece of text, all posted on February 14: "Link is determined to rebuild the party membership province-wide. Throughout the campaign he will be visiting all 58 provincial constituencies and talking with New Democrats and potential supporters in every part of our province. Click on the green balloons to see where he's been, and the orange to see where he's heading soon..." If the pins with this text were all orange, I could (maybe) understand that they're placeholders showing communities he intends to visit but doesn't have an event to tie into or set-up for himself yet. But a number of the push-pins are green indicating that these are places he claims to have been as part of his campaign trail. Yet without a description, you don't know if it's a place where he held a formal event, a place where he stopped for gas and ended up doing some politicking at the nearby coffee shop or if he just passed through. Or if you were a really suspicious type, you might wonder if the person who did the mash-up just filled out the map with push-pins to make it appear that the campaign is doing more across the entire province than it really is? [Edit: I'm not going to delete this entire post as one reader demanded. But upon re-reading, I'm going to strike out this sentence as I think it crosses a line and was inappropriate.] Again, as with Link's Columbia support base on Facebook and the heavily gamed ActUpInSask poll, things like this aren't illegal. But my feeling is that this is so much more politics-as-usual and slightly immoral - bending the truth, framing the question and doing whatever else it takes to create the impression that you want to give. To put it another way, these things all appear intended to send a message: "I'm the oldest candidate in the race yet I also have the most online support - how can you not vote for me?" But this discrepancy between appearance and reality is a big part of why I'm supporting Ryan Meili. I don't think Ryan wants to play these same old games (although to be fair, his supporters appear to have gamed the ActUp poll as much as anyone) and wants to move beyond these type of techniques to a politics that has something that people of all political stripes would find very refreshing - honesty. As an example, in his latest blog post, Ryan admitted that a meeting he held in Wynyard was put together at the last minute and had a small (but mighty!) attendance. I don't know if you'd ever hear Lingenfelter admit to something like this and further, I think this is the type of thing that is *really* indicative of the generational shift that is much of what this contest is about. I believe that people of my generation feel a lot more free to be open, to express their opinions, to share their thoughts honestly without trying to frame things or manage the optics. Technology and its potential to facilitate this openness and sharing is a bit part of that so when I see someone using technology in what you might call an "old school" way, I guess it just shows me that you can have all the fancy Google Maps mash-ups you want but if the content isn't there, you're missing the point completely. One final point (and I know this post has been a bit all over the map - no pun intended). Like Meili, Link also had a campaign event in Wynyard. It was a coffee party on February 7. Ryan Meili's Wynyard event was held in the evening while he was in that geographic area, continuing to his work as a rural relief locum doctor. As with my technology-related examples, you can look at the surface appearance but the important thing is to look at what's really happening underneath. Lingenfelter comes to town and I'm sure he has a well-planned, well-oiled, well-attended event. Then he leaves. Ryan comes to Wynyard because he's in the area working in his role as a rural relief locum doctor. He has an event that's last-minute, poorly attended and comes after a long day at the local clinic. But if I'm living in rural Saskatchewan, I know which candidate is demonstrating a true commitment to rural Saskatchewan and which candidate, I would support for that reason. Sunday, March 22
Ryan Meili and Dwain Lingenfelter Facebook Face-off (aka I Have Too Much Time On My Hands)
by
Jason
on Sun 22 Mar 2009 07:38 PM CST
When I first started looking into the NDP leadership race, I went to the now obligatory Facebook fan pages of each of the four leadership candidates.
I was a bit shocked to see that Dwain Lingenfelter had almost twice the number of supporters that Ryan Meili had - even though Meili was the much younger candidate with a lot more appeal to the younger set who would be likely to show their support for someone on Facebook. I started clicking through their lists of supporters and was a bit surprised to find that a large number of Lingenfelter's supporters were either obviously (because of their network affiliations) or very likely (based on their names) from South America. (And I'm not the only one who noticed it - Small Dead Animals, a right-wing blog I've defended on my blog before - also pointed out this incongruity.) I later learned that Lingenfelter's wife is from Columbia and this is where the support comes from - likely she's been spreading the word among her connections back home and encouraging them to support her husband's campaign. There's nothing illegal about this of course and Facebook fan page counts (like any other online poll) aren't binding in any way. But they could convey a message about support and momentum, especially to a reporter (professional or otherwise) that wasn't paying attention. For example, if tomorrow's Leader Post says "Lingenfelter has twice the online support that Meili does" without explaining that a lot of this support is from people who can't vote in the leadership race, that's misleading at best and could have an impact on the race at worst. So, in the interests of finding out what support levels might really indicate, I did some counting last night. I focused on the two people who are leading in online Facebook support - Lingenfelter who had 543 supporters at the time I checked and Meili who had 290 (For the record, the other two candidates have the following totals: Pedersen - 209 and Higgins - 69.) I went through both lists of fan page members counting *only* those who are identifiable as belonging to a Saskatchewan network in some way - most likely by having joined a city or a University or a high school network. There are numerous problems with this methodology: 1) there are some people who support more than one candidate but at least in my counts, they would cancel each other out. 2) some people I *knew* were from Saskatchewan didn't get counted. (In fact Ryan Meili himself doesn't belong to a network so didn't get counted in his own total! Plus Lingenfelter does belong to the Regina network so there was no canceling out effect on this point.) 3) some who belong to a University network may be alumni who are no longer in the province and therefore, ineligible to vote even if they support one candidate or the other. Before someone calls me on it, I'll admit that I did a pretty quick count late at night clicking through dozens of pages so my final totals likely aren't 100% accurate and I may be out a few people either way for each candidate. But here's what I came up with in terms of Saskatchewan-based support: Lingenfelter - 128/543 = 24% (or less than a quarter of his support from people identifiable as being connected to Saskatchewan. I thought about it but didn't also do a count of Lingenfelter fans who are in the Columbia network or who have Spanish-sounding names to see if my assertion elsewhere that the "vast majority" of Lingenfelter's online support comes from outside the country is true. But with only one quarter of his online support coming from Saskatchewan, it's definitely possible.) Meili = 173/290 = 60% (or three out of every five of his supporters are people identifiable as being connected to Saskatchewan) I've already seen some spin this as Lingenfelter having lots of international experience/support but I think that's a bit of a stretch. I mean, I have family in Hawaii but that doesn't mean I know how to surf! What this really shows me is that this race might just be a lot closer than people realise - especially if Meili can continue to leverage the advantages of social networking. (To be fair, these numbers maybe just prove my initial suspicion that Meili would have the type of supporters who not only join Facebook but also join networks to expand their reach within those networks. And to be even more fair, there's a poll up right now on the citizen journalism site, Act Up In Saskatchewan, that shows it as a race between Lingenfelter and Pedersen. That poll allows you to vote more than once so that's hardly representative but you could probably claim it's as legitimate as counting Facebook supporters. Here's the current totals on it:
Saturday, March 21
The Next Tommy Douglas? Why I'm Supporting Ryan Meili For Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
by
Jason
on Sat 21 Mar 2009 06:20 PM CST
As you may know, former Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert is retiring from politics and a race for the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP
is currently underway. When the first few candidates declared, I didn’t
see anything that seemed different than what you’d expect – a former
Deputy Premier, a current MLA, a young man involved in the behind-the-scenes of the party. As usual, I'd pay attention, maybe even pick a personal favourite. But that's as far as my involvement would go once again. Except this time, I didn't feel apathy, I felt disappointed. After
seeing the excitement generated in people of all ages, races, geographic locations and political persuasions
by the Obama campaign in the US, I wondered why we couldn’t have a
young, dynamic, post-partisan candidate here? Then I heard that Dr. Ryan Meili had entered the race. Although he’d be the first to deny it, I think the parallels between his campaign and Obama’s are obvious – a young outsider with a background as a community organizer goes up against the establishment candidate (who, in this case, is former Saskatchewan Deputy Premier, Dwain Lingenfelter.) After doing some research on Ryan, I decided to do something I’d never done before – I went to an event in Regina to hear a leadership candidate speak. And I was so impressed, I called my wife and we both went to hear him speak at another event later the same day. We’ve both become members of the NDP so that we can vote for Ryan during the NDP’s convention in June. I know that for many of us, talking about politics is often like talking about sex or religion - something we don't do in polite company. And admitting that you're excited about politics, that you've taken out an actual party membership and that you're planning to get involved and help out however you can, well, that sort of feels like telling someone what your favourite position is or what you usually only share in the confessional booth! I have no interest in knowing your answers to the last two questions - honest! But I do hope that you also take the time to do some research about Ryan (I've got a couple links at the end of this post to get you started). And if you like what you read/hear/see, I strongly encourage you to take the big scary leap to get involved yourself. The things you can do range from really easy and really cheap (see #1 below) to things that will take a bit of your time, your money, your expertise or maybe all three: 1) join the Ryan Meili fan page on Facebook. 2) if you live in Saskatchewan, consider joining the NDP. It only costs $10 (and just $7 if you’re between 13 and 25). This will allow you to vote for Ryan online or by mail-in ballot during the NDP convention in early June. 3) become one of his community organizers 4) Pass this blog post on to family, friends and acquaintances who live in Saskatchewan, even if you no longer do. 5) Donate to Ryan’s campaign. Neither him nor his supporters are particularly wealthy (I speak from personal experience!) so he is relying on many small donors to help cover the various costs associated with running a leadership campaign. 6) You can also donate to the provincial NDP, whether you live here or not. It’s the best tax break in the country – for every $1 you donate, you get $0.75 back on your income taxes! I’ve spent a few lines this post comparing Ryan’s campaign to Barack Obama’s. But I sincerely believe Ryan Meili has the potential to be even more than that. His unique combination of intelligence and compassion, life experience and willingness to dream big means he could be a Tommy Douglas for the 21st century, he could be our Tommy Douglas. I really hope that you decide to take that leap and get involved with his campaign! Jason Hammond More information: * Ryan Meili's campaign web site ...and a YouTube clip from his campaign launch in Saskatoon: Wednesday, March 4
Going to the Candidate's Debate...
by
Jason
on Wed 04 Mar 2009 11:16 PM CST
There was a forum for the candidates for the NDP leadership tonight at a local restaurant so I headed over to check it out. Here are some random impressions...
- I arrived early and bumped into a young woman who looked really familiar but who I couldn't place. She did the "you look familiar..." routine with me too and it turns out she was a journalism student who did a brief placement with an organization I worked for a few years ago. Inevitable "small world" comment is followed with some catching up on each others' lives since then. - the event started to fill up so I slipped into the private room they'd booked and grabbed a seat. Luckily I did because they ended up getting probably 3x the number of guests they expected. (I ended up helping to carry out a table with a sitting MLA doing the heavy-lifting at the other end to clear room for more chairs!) - I'm biased but I interpret this turnout as a pretty good sign for the campaign of Ryan Meili - I think people who are involved with the NDP enough to come out for an event like this are also very curious about this new, bright young light who doesn't have much history with the party but has a buzz going. (Meili just got endorsed today by two former Cabinet Ministers and I wonder if that's an echo of the slow build that Obama saw in the States too when all the initial endorsements went to Hillary thinking she was a "safe" choice. Similarly, right now, the leader in the race, Dwain Lingenfelter has been endorsed by 10 of the 20 sitting Sask MLA's I think.) - they drew names randomly for the order in which the candidates would speak and first up was...Dwain Lingen...I mean, Harry Van Mulligan [Edit: Mulligen - though I think he gets that all the time!]. The former Finance Minister was subbing in for Mr. Lingenfelter and I'm not sure how people will take this - I kinda got a sense that some people in attendance found it a bit insulting that all the other candidates could make the effort to attend but Mr. Lingenfelter couldn't. (To be fair, I have no idea what his reasons for not attending were - but again, there is a very sizable "anyone but Link" contingent out there and part of this is predicated on the fact that he is seen as having abandoned the party (and the province) for a plush government relations job with an oil company in Calgary when the NDP lost a previous election. Now he's coming back as if he's a knight on a white stallion but some people still think he's somebody who doesn't show up when he should and not appearing tonight doesn't help that reputation.) - second on the list was Deb Higgins who is a sitting MLA from Moose Jaw. Her speech quite good but I almost wonder if this happens automatically when you've been in politics for awhile - both her and Mr. Van Mulligan [Mulligen] spoke like politicians instead of real people - safe platitudes while circling around issues instead of being direct. I don't know - maybe that's the reality of having to play it safe all the time so you never offend anyone. I guess that also means I'll never be a politician (er, not least because I have a blog where I post this - won't someone think of the children???) - Next up was Yens Pedersen who's a young lawyer and former NDP party president. His speech was quite good (all were given a quote from an Allan Blakeney book about Saskatchewan's place in Canada and asked to speak to that). I'm not sure if this was intentional but he seemed to directly point out the absence of Mr. Lingenfelter in his remarks when he mentioned the other two candidates in attendance but failed to note the appearance of Mr. Van Mulligan [Mulligen], even in his substitute role. - Ryan Meili drew the final spot which can be a blessing or a curse. Luckily, he quickly got the crowd on side with a funny joke I wish I could remember then launched into a speech that was...well, I wish I'd had my video camera there so you could be watching it on YouTube right now. He got tons of applause during his presentation and quite a few laughs as well. Of the three, he sounded the least like a politician and the most like a leader if that makes any sense. I admit that I'm biased because I really like what Ryan Meili brings to the contest but now, having had occasion to hear all four candidates (okay, three and a proxy), I've solidified my support for Ryan Meili. Tonight, I think he stole the show and gave a big group of Regina-area NDP loyalists a lot to think about. (Afterwards, I talked to one person I knew from my undergrad days who said they didn't have a party membership but were thinking of taking one out, just to vote for Ryan!) I also thought of another thing to add to my list of Ryan's similarities to Obama - he comes across as very cerebral and someone who puts a lot of deep thought into his opinions before speaking them. - Shea was at home with Pace so I didn't stick around for the hob-nobbing afterwards but as I mentioned above, I did get to say 'hi' to a couple people I knew. - I think I've also volunteered to help out with the online aspects of Ryan's campaign which I'm quite looking forward to. I watched what Obama did with the online aspects of his campaign very closely and would love to try to model some stuff for the Meili campaign in Saskatchewan. More on this topic in the weeks to come... |
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