Well, maybe. But I'm not going to type about what a lot of folks are. I'm not going to really focus on the outcome. Because, like any other election some folks that I wanted to get elected were, and some weren't. The election didn't perform to my highest hopes nor did it follow my worst set of expectations. It came, it went, and I'm glad it's over.
Instead I'm going to type about my experiences with the election and watching the results etc.
On the way to my somewhat usual Pub Monday social gathering at the Metro I ran into some campaign volunteers for the NDP. This interested me because they asked if I had voted and when I said yes they turned to talk to the next person who said he hadn't. Then one of these volunteers actually said out loud that he didn't look like an NDP supporter. How does that help the NDP get votes anyway, I wondered as I walked along, noticing the almost worn off sidewalk chalkings supporting the local PC candidate.
At the bar we talked politics. We weren't the only group watching the election results on CBC and CTV, so it was nice when we all cheered for the same things. It was much more fun watching things unfold with the Internet to follow along with. I had already spent far too much of the day on Twitter as it was, but it was good to see the actual vote totals etc. show up both on screen (some candidates had HORRIBLE photos, yikes!) as well as more comprehensive (often times) statistics on the Internet.
I left the bar once most of the results were known and few polls were changing (there were still further changes as the night went on of course). On my walk home I noticed a bunch of Liberal (Laurie Blakeman) supporters walking down the sidewalk with huge grins and even larger campaign signs blocking most of the sidewalk as they walked. It was a bizarre scene.
And then after people had predicted 45% voter turnouts, it seems that as I watched the results update over the course of the rest of the evening (and read Twitter) that we had, at somewhere around 57%, the highest voter turnout since 1993's 60%. This pleases me though it could have been better, of course.
Watching the results come in is SO MUCH more fun with friends to talk to, regardless of the outcome (though living in Edmonton means that the group was pretty much on a similar page, though not all of us voted the same way or supported the same folks). So I guess that pretty much concludes my election musings for this round. 🙂