Brenda Leigh won in Strathcona Regional District’s “Area D” in the recent civic elections:
Brenda Leigh 645
Kellie O’Brien 433
Tom Kennedy 240
Bill Olsthoorn 12
The campaign against her re-election started early in September, when the first yellow-on-black
“Hey, hey, ho, ho/ Brenda Leigh/ has got to go”
signs went up along the highway. The first locations were suggestive of an organization behind them: well-known advocates of unrestricted development. It wasn’t long after that these locations also sported John Duncan signs and, when the municipal campaign fired up, signs for Kellie O’Brien. (Coincidences? I doubt it!)
I’m not a fan of Brenda’s, and I’m not at all sure I’d have voted for her if we lived in Area D. Nonetheless, I predicted she’d win, and I based that prediction entirely on her campaign, in the Fall of 2004, to win the nomination of the North Island NDP, which she lost in a squeaker to Claire Trevena, our present MLA.
In that campaign Claire was a political neophyte, ex-member of the Green Party, new to the NDP and to North Island, who didn’t have the support of either the constituency executive or local union leadership. Brenda did have that support, and consequently she and her supporters were visibly astonished when she lost.
They shouldn’t have been. Although Claire was unpolished, she was supported by a very experienced political team; Brenda had simply been out-organized.
This loss wasn’t for lack of trying on Brenda’s part. A year after the nomination, when the Membership Secretary started to contact many of the 1200 new members the nominating campaign had attracted, he discovered that Brenda had signed up whole streets in Area D. Many of these voters had no idea that they’d become NDP members in the process. Several of them, having voted for Brenda, had no intention of voting NDP!
Which brings me back to the election of November 15.
Brenda once described herself as a “pit bull”, and that’s not far off the mark, vocally or visually. Kellie O’Brien, what I saw of her, reminds one more of a collie. Anyone who knows anything about political campaigns knows that vocals and visuals are usually important.
As soon as the federal election was over, the Kellie O’Brien signs started to go up. Soon the old highway from the Parkway to the Oyster was awash with them. They were light blue on white, easy on the eye, and pronounced O’Brien “A Breath of Fresh Air”. It took Brenda several weeks to get hers in place, and when she did they were an unsophisticated black on white. Or home-made black on purple. Everyone I talked to thought this time Brenda was going down.
I obviously don’t think O’Brien lost because of her sign campaign, and I don’t think Brenda won because she was on the right side of the issues. The referendum she promoted and O’Brien opposed went down badly. She didn’t say anything else that was very different from what her opponents were saying. Furthermore, as near as I could tell O’Brien ran an error-free campaign, with one notable exception: she should probably have participated in the televised debate, if only because all the other candidates did, and virtually all Area D voters get Channel 10. I don't know if the yellow-on-black anti-Brenda campaign affected the outcome, but given where the signs were placed, they might even have helped Brenda.
I’ll bet how Brenda really won – and I’m only guessing at this – was by contacting almost every one of her supporters, and a good many people who didn’t vote for her as well. And I’ll bet her team got the vote out.
Being the incumbent obviously didn’t hurt either.
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2 comments:
You seem to have a very selective memory of the 2004 campaign. I recall a certain individual running back and forth between the back door and the ballot counting. I also recall some funny circumstances of disappearing and reappearing mail ballots. hmmm... could it be... nah... no one would do that..
Regarding the Nov 15, 08 election... whether or not one or the other ran a better or more professional campaign is not the point. Rather people in Area D know the personalities of others that live among them and they know that Brenda is exactly what you see, with no hidden agenda by realtors, teachers, developers, or??? They also know her as a loyal friend, good mother, helpful neighbor and dedicated worker for the community.
When do you think Brenda has time to mess with signs as your innuendo suggests, between caring for her ill and elderly mother, taking her son to and from college, attending his football games, attending Library board meetings, hospital board meetings, regional meetings, planning, APC meetings, meeting with dozens of constituents on a wide variety of needs and issues?
It has been my experience that people are quick to suggest or suspect others of behaviors in which they themselves would or have indulged. Who owns a grey van that was seen pulling out Brenda's signs??
I doubt this comment will ever see the light of day, as I can see you have comments set to pre-approval by blog owner. Never mind.... I can look at me in the mirror, and sleep with me...and having known and worked with Brenda for more than 15 years, I know the same is true of her. Can you say the same thing?
PS.. You can delete this comment, but neither you or Barry, or Kellie, or Claire can delete me.
Paragraph 1: I have no idea what Lilwater is talking about. I do know that the scrutineers appointed by the Constituency Executive didn't report any issues whatsoever. Why is the "certain individual" not identified? Where does this paranoia come from?
Paragraph 2: I have no doubt that this paragraph is largely correct, but what a curious statement concerning hidden agendas. What possible "hidden agenda" could "teachers" possibly have in a municipal election?! Incidentally, nothing I said contradicts this testament to Brenda's popularity.
Paragraph 3: Where do I ever imply that Brenda messed with any signs? All I noted was that her signs went up well after Kellie O'Brien's.
Paragraphs 4,5,6: If one actually reads the post, he or she will discover that I'm actually praising Brenda's campaign, and by extension, as a politician, Brenda herself. I cannot imagine why Lilwater thinks her ox has been gored.
By the way, who's "Barry" and what does Kellie (who I've never met and whose name was unknown to me before I saw her signs) have to do with any of this?
Sorry to disappoint, Lilwater, as you can see I couldn't resist publishing your post. It was just too bizarre to pass up!
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