Substance wins over soundbites in Calgary

Anyone else follow the mayoral election in Calgary? No? Okay, can't say I'm shocked. But it might be worth looking at, because not only is he Canada's first Muslim Mayor (in a province known for it's 'rednecks'), but he came from behind to beat more favored party candidates. The fact that his faith played very little in the majority of debate leading up to the election seems to speak volumes to the difference in approach between Canadian and US politics.

But the REAL story is how Naheed Nenshis was able to win the election by utilzing technology like twitter and youtube to ENGAGE a whole demographic who has normally been quite apathetic about voting. This is the video that started it all:



By posting a lengthy, wonky video about urban development, his campaign was able to see the kinds of people beginning to get engaged in the election. People who were indeed watching long, drawn out explanations o fcomplex problems, not short attack campaign ads.

Here is an excellent interview with Naheed from the CBC's 'The Current":

He's a Harvard-educated business professor at Mount Royal University, a man who has advised Fortune 500 companies, the author of a book about how to make cities work better and -- as of Monday evening -- the Mayor-elect of Calgary. He's also the first Muslim to be elected Mayor in Canada. At the beginning of the race Mr. Nenshi was considered an outsider and a longshot to win. An early poll had him sitting at just 8 percent of the popular vote. But then things started to change. His popularity soared and he rode what he calls his 'Purple Revolution' right into the mayors chair. Naheed Nenshi was is our Calgary studio.

www.cbc.ca...


www.theglobeandmail.com...

www.calgaryherald.com...

I believe this sort of campaign is, imo, a template for engaging the 'apathetic' folks who have no desire to vote for the 'lesser evil'.

ten bucks sez i shoulda made the headline "

Mulsim EXTREMIST wins election

!" and i would a had a thread FULL of people.

oh well.


substance does NOT win out over soundbites on ATS.