We recently had an election in Alberta in which the parties of the left (if you can call the Liberals left wing) went down to crashing defeat. The Conservative received 55% of the vote which is huge in Canadian politics and because of our first past the post system translated into a huge majority.
Now there was ample reason to vote against the Conservatives who had afterall been in power for over 30 years with the associated corruption and arrogance that comes with such a long time in power.
As a long time lefty, I am now getting accustomed to getting clobbered in elections and have become aware that in the privacy of the voting booth at least people do not see things my way.
BC where I grew up was ruled by the Social Credit party who cruised to victory for 20 straight years with huge majorities. A prominent cabinet minister was Phil Gagliardi, a pentacostal minister with a radio show, known for speeding, and for the fact that whenever a highway was built (and he was the minister of highways), he or a member of his family seemed to own the land.
One morning after being re-elected with a huge majority, the local radio station interviewed people in his constituency and asked them if they voted for him and 100% said no. He was eventually defeated as an MLA but about 15 years later was elected mayor.
I am certain there are a lot of people right now who are denying ever having voted Conservative and the number will increase as the government gets into more trouble. (According to Harper's magazine a similar phenomena is present in the US with people denying they ever voted for Bush)
It sort of reminds me of Celine Dion.
Nobody likes her music. Despite this she has sold millions of albums, had a successful touring career and has a Vegas show that is sold out.
The Conservatives are to politics as Celine Dion is to music.
