If, by some miracle, I were elected to public office, my first action would be to demand a recount.
Because there’s a huge gulf between the simplistic solutions column-writing or talk show hosting encourage and the complexity involved in running any sizable constituency. A flair for words and grandiose promises will soon collide head-first with the reality of balancing multiple competing interests and judging endless shifts in the general mood of those you’re expected to serve and not just entertain.
Speaking days after becoming premier she described the COVID-19 unvaccinated as the most discriminated against bunch in her lifetime. Wow! It sounded more like an opinion page column or an intro to a talk show segment than the usual boilerplate pronouncement from a new leader.
The outrage stirred seemed genuine enough — though some undoubtedly revel in exuding permanent umbrage — and Smith probably deserved the public mauling. After all, she was speaking as premier.
Yet it’s different when opponents constantly regurgitate things Smith wrote or said during her previous media work, an occupation demanding controversy as a job requirement. Sure, people say they want good news and unbiased coverage, but columnists and talk show hosts seeking refuge beneath the bland phrase “on the other hand” soon find themselves rediscovering the joys of covering late-night council meetings or reading the weather forecast.
She realizes each time announcing anything as premier — and she’s announced a boatload lately — opponents will dig out some earlier statements on that same issue and, given the abundance of her publicly available material, it then becomes the political equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel.
“Having spent decades in media and hosting talk shows, I discussed hundreds of different topics and sometimes took controversial positions, many of which have evolved or changed as I’ve grown and listened to you,” is how she framed it last week, after a provincewide announcement involving a multibillion-dollar giveaway to soften the effects of rising prices.
Meanwhile, Smith also executed a neat political pincer movement upon NDP Leader Rachel Notley — flying so high just weeks ago — by essentially stealing the Dippers’ platform.
Hey, money for families, money for seniors, money for AISH folk, money for food banks, rebates on electricity, taxes axed on gasoline, subsidized low-income bus passes, more cash promised for front-line health-care delivery. It was a smorgasbord of caring, sharing giveaways, leaving the NDP Opposition with little complaining room other than suggesting yet bigger bribes for your future vote.
Oh well, such is politics. In the end, every participant has one goal: to be elected. Danielle Smith the columnist/radio talk show host is gone. Premier Smith has entered the room.
That was then, this is now. Get over it. (And don’t forget: never vote for me.)
Chris Nelson is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.
