Tomorrow is voting day in Alberta

Tomorrow, the campaigning stops, and the voters of Alberta head to the polls to give their verdict on what should follow Ralph Klein's last four years.

I'm not exactly among those that Ralph could call "backer" - I've got a stack of grievances with the man longer than a repeat offender's criminal record.

In the Calgary Sun today appears this article in which Ralph claims:

"A positive campaign is often a quiet campaign -- you know, I've never bad-mouthed the opposition members the way they've bad-mouthed me," he said.

Sure, Ralph. It's hard to bad-mouth your opposition when they are all relatively new, and you're running from campaigning instead of doing it. Besides, you reserved your sneering attitude for those that need the government's assistance. (Don't think I've forgotten about your less-than-charitable comments on AISH)

In the same article, Ralph further claims that he's happy with the way the campaign has gone:

Klein also said he's been happy with the way the campaign has gone: Even if a little quiet.

Maybe it's the conspiracy theory freak in me coming forward, but I think that this campaign has taken the quiet path for some deliberate reasons:

1. Ralph's candidates tried staying out of any of the all-candidates debates.
2. Ralph was on hiatus from the campaign for two major blocks of time - at the very beginning, and after the first week.
   
3. Voter fatigue - this is the fourth election that we've had to endure this year - Federal, Civic and now Provincial, and additionally, a lot of people were following the US Presidential election. - that's 4 major campaigns in one year, one of which has been running for most of the last 18 months.
4. A conservative platform that is more retrospective than forward looking, and a Premier who has made it clear that he doesn't want to talk about the issues.

I'd have to guess that Ralph and his cronies figure that a fatigued voter will simply put their 'X' beside the PC candidate out of habit. Cynical, I know, but probably more correct than I'd really like to know.

The optimist in me wants to believe that there are enough people who are upset with Ralph's Reign that the apathy lands purely in the Conservative camp - giving those who want a change of government in Alberta the chance to send back a loud, clear message. The perverse logic Alberta voters says that the optimistic best we can hope for is a Conservative Minority. (In my perfect fantasy world, we rise up as an electorate and turf the tories out on their over-paid, arrogant butts) Realistically, I'd be moderately happy if we sent back a 25-30 seat opposition. (Ralph's no longer a benevolent dictator, he's just a dictator - period)