The Final Vote

Tomorrow we pick our new premier. I know I've been down on Ted Morton and I haven't really mentioned Jim Dinning or Ed Stelmach. So today I'll talk about them. I've looked at some of their policies, and it's hard to decide which are better. Morton doesn't say as much about policy on his website as the other candidates. Stelmach and Dinning say a lot, but Stelmach seems more vague. This could mean he wants to put more time and thought into the specific details and wants to avoid making foolish promises, or it could mean he's not good with details.

I saw part of the debate on TV last night, and I think Morton and Dinning are both better public speakers than Stelmach, not that Stelmach is that bad. Personally I didn't think Ralph Klein was a wonderful public speaker either (I remember him saying "um" a lot), and people kept voting for him. But he was funnier than Stelmach.

Of course, policy isn't everything, and public speaking skills are less important to me than policy. Integrity and leadership skill are also very important. I'm not sure how any of the candidates are with leadership skill, but it seems like Stelmach has the best reputation for integrity. People even call him "Honest Ed."

And then there's Ted Morton. I've been hard on him, so now I'll be sort of nice to him. While I am not taking back the negative things I've said about him and I'm pretty sure I won't vote for him, a lot of his policies seem about as good as the other candidates' (with a few exceptions). Overall he seems like a smart guy (except for his comment about Edmonton being the capital of northern Alberta), and he probably has a few good ideas. I think he is somewhat extreme, but maybe not as bad as Jim Dinning thinks. I think it is good to have a few people in the legislature who are kind of extreme (left or right wing), because they tend to have a few good ideas that the more moderate people don't think of. So I hope Ted Morton remains as an MLA, but I hope he doesn't become premier.