The chief strategist behind Danielle Smith’s recent election win to be reinstated as premier of Alberta has written an insider account of the campaign.
“We were all in foul moods. The past few days had been bad,” wrote Lietaer. The NDP was finding footage of Smiths’s radio show days and releasing it, plus Smith had two debates scheduled in southeastern Alberta, with a looming six hours of driving to get to the leader’s debate later that night in Edmonton.
That was the same day the ethics commissioner released a report on Smith’s phone call with street pastor Artur Pawlowski.
“Voters were looking to be reassured about Smith,” Lietaer wrote. “We couldn’t lose the debate.”
“The premier looked down at her notes and wondered aloud: ‘I’m running on my record. Why isn’t she running on hers?’” said the campaign strategist. That became Smith’s theme for the remainder of the campaign.
The strategy was simple, Lietaer said. “Be calmer, tighter, friendlier and relentlessly focused on the concerns of Albertans. But it needed a balance (we’ve all seen the headlines from the past year): Be humble and take responsibility for mistakes. And put Notley’s record on trial,” he wrote.
“We expected Notley to be unable to hide her animosity toward Smith and, in an election where both parties were being dinged for their negativity, Smith wanted Albertans to see a positive candidate on the stage as much as possible — one that knew her stuff. People expected fireworks and gaffes, we wanted calm stability.”
The closing debate statement focused on the patriotism and spirit of Alberta, a final speech that Lietaer described as “a message that was unabashedly aspirational.”
Not only did Smith not self-destruct like the NDP hoped, stated Lietaer, the debate flipped the night into momentum for the United Conservative Party (UCP).
The video of Smith’s closing remarks is still the most shared viral video of the campaign, with hundreds of thousands of views, according to Lietaer. He said the debate was a “home run” for the UCP and Smith.
“The NDP had made a monumental mistake. Notley had given the business community something tangible to think about,” said the strategist.
“The premier found her stride in prosecuting Notley’s time as premier and how we’d kick the economy up a gear,” said Lietaer.
The entire UCP team was told to talk exclusively about three things: the economy, Notley’s record, and the NDP’s announcement that they would hike business taxes by 38 percent, going from 8 percent to 11 percent.
Lietaer said his former boss, Harper, had once made an astute observation about politics.
Political commentators who spoke to The Epoch Times during the election said much the same thing. For example, Michael Wagner, who has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Alberta, told The Epoch Times in an interview on May 24 that Canadians seem to “vote against a party, not for a party” in a political election. “Canadians focus on what they don’t want,” he said.
The NDP made the election about Smith, said Lietaer. “The NDP made a big bet on ‘leadership’ and Smith called them on it. She made a decision to put Notley’s record to the test.”
He said it was “enough to turn the tide of a close election. When faced with the kind of adversity and pressure Smith faced, I’ve seen many political leaders wilt. She didn’t.”
Smith won the election, with 52.6 percent of the popular vote and 49 seats out of the total 87 seats, enough to form a majority government.
In her victory speech on May 29, Smith said: “The election is now over. It is time to put partisanship, division, and personal and political attacks in the rear-view mirror. It’s time to move forward together as all Albertans no matter who we voted for.”
“We celebrate this beautiful province and all who live here, this uniquely special place ... where the only things that are larger than our mountains is the compassion and irrepressible spirit of our people,” she said.
