B.C. Liberal trolls skew vote on worst premier

by Charlie Smith on Jul 18, 2012 at 10:14 am
Glen Clark and his wife Dale attended a memorial for Jack Layton at the art gallery.
Charlie Smith

Former NDP premier Glen Clark never gets any respect for his political legacy, even though he froze tuition fees and oversaw a growing economy.

The latest demonstration of this came when the president of the Jim Pattison Group rocketed out front of a Straight online poll asking readers to vote for the worst B.C. premier in the past generation.

At first, former premier Gordon Campbell was winning in a landslide, capturing well over 40 percent of the votes.

Premier Christy Clark was safely nestled in third place for a long time.

But a funny thing has happened over the past 24 hours. A torrent of votes have come in for Glen Clark and Bill Vander Zalm, neither of whom ran for the B.C. Liberals.

This pushed Campbell down into second place and Christy Clark into fourth place.

There were more than twice as many votes in this little exercise than in any of the last 16 online Straight polls.

It's left me wondering why B.C. Liberal trolls are so worried about Campbell coming in first. Does he still have such a strong grip on the party?

It reminds me of the old days when Campbell would get his third-party endorsers, like then-councillor Philip Owen, to write letters to the editor on his behalf. In politics, some things never change.


Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Who was the worst B.C. premier in the past generation?

Christy Clark 12%
195 votes
Gordon Campbell 35%
589 votes
Glen Clark 37%
625 votes
Mike Harcourt 1%
13 votes
Bill Vander Zalm 15%
248 votes
Comments (33) Add New Comment
Barney Fife
Jul 18, 2012 at 11:28 am
Ever wonder who is still controlling the BC Liberal puppet strings?
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AJ
Jul 18, 2012 at 11:48 am
Yes, I thought that was odd. Gee, I didn't think there were enough Liberal trolls still existing in order to skew a poll. I guess I was mistaken. By the way, it should be Campbell, followed very closely by Clark as worst. That would make the most sense. .
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Ray I
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:06 pm
You just can't accept that Glen Clark is a much hated person? Don't blame invisible trolls of whom you have no knowledge or evidence.
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blahblah
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Oh I see how the poll works Charlie. If it shows a liberal in the lead it must be accurate, but if it shows a NDP member in the lead it must be because people are manipulating the poll. Just more of your pro NDP b*llsh*t Charlie. The winds of change are blowing.
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Stephen
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:08 pm
I suspected as much. The demonization of Glen Clark began as soon as he had the temerity to win the 1996 election--an election which Campbell and his allies in the business community and the corporate media had arrogantly assumed would be a coronation for the BC Liberals. A scorched earth policy began from that day. Harcourt had already been hounded from office so why not Clark? Never mind that Clark's misdemeanours pale by comparison to the destructive, self-serving actions of Gordon Campbell, Patrick Kinsella, and the rest of the BC Liberal kleptocracy.
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NDP Trolls
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Maybe it's because Glen Clark was an idiot.
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cosmicsync
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Reminds me of the BC Liberal practice of having staffers like Bob Virk call in to 'NW to boost the government and lob softball questions at cabinet ministers. I'll bet if you check the IP addresses, Charlie, you'd find a lot of people voting for Glen Clark as worst premier are doing so from their taxpayer-funded computers at the PAB.
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Arthur Vandelay
Jul 18, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Charlie, do you seriously think that the BC Liberal Party of any of its surrogates give a hoot about what the readers of the Georgia Straight -- on-line blog yet -- think about Gordon Campbell's political legacy??
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Martin Dunphy
Jul 18, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Vandelay:

Harper's Conservatives have admitted that they pay people to do just that.
Then look at the Liberals' PAB and it's enormous budget.
Then ask yourself if those poor backwoods relations have anything more important to do with their time.
Or their lives.
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Arthur Vandelay
Jul 18, 2012 at 1:35 pm
@Martin - Perhaps a right wing group may seek to influence during an election campaign, but even then, what would be in it for them on such a left-leaning arena like the Georgia Straight? But then to do it a year after a former premier left office to worry about what a tiny group of heavily left-leaning voters might think? That stretches credibility.
BTW, I keep seeing this PAB acronym … what does that mean? Must be lefty slang for some kind of boogeyman?
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Martin Dunphy
Jul 18, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Vandelay:

PAB. Public Affairs Bureau.Short for PABULUM. Its mandate is to help people with their heads stuck in the sand to stay there.
Looks like it's working.
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Arthur Vandelay
Jul 18, 2012 at 1:53 pm
@Martin: That would make the GS the NDP's PAB?
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DavidH
Jul 18, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Art Vandelay wrote: "@Martin - Perhaps a right wing group may seek to influence during an election campaign, but even then, what would be in it for them on such a left-leaning arena like the Georgia Straight?"

Good question, Artie. So, what's in it for you to troll such a left-leaning forum?

Spite?
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Trolls
Jul 18, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Liberal Trolls: 2
Left Wing Pinkos: 0
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cosmicsync
Jul 18, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Tell me, Art Vandelay, if there is no BC Liberal tomfoolery at play, why is it that every comment in this thread critical of the government currently has a negative rating, while the ones in support of the government - including all of your comments - have a positive one? You would think it would be the opposite in a "such a left-leaning arena like the Georgia Straight," as you put it.
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Arthur Vandelay
Jul 18, 2012 at 4:20 pm
@cosmicsync - I couldn't help but notice that myself ... especially the beating Martin is taking above.

All that being said, Glen Clark was really terrible. My father was a union guy for decades and had NDP lawn signs, etc. for decades even voted against him. Only time ever he didn’t vote NDP. So it is conceivable that even GS readers (the older ones who can remember that far back) would also vote against him in a straw poll ... it need not have beeb the work of "trolls", as Charlie so elegantly put it.
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DavidH
Jul 18, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Hilarious. Look at the votes.

The good thing is that Art and his pals have proven, once and for all, that the political drone squad actually exists. No longer any room for doubt.

Thanks Art! You're as dumb as a sack of hammers.
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AJ
Jul 18, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Yes, indeed I was mistaken, the Liberal Trolls are many, and they HARD AT WORK.

GOOD JOB Trolls!! Keep it up and prove the article correct a little more!
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Martin Dunphy
Jul 18, 2012 at 6:17 pm
I will also point out that the upsurge in voting halted at quitting time in Victoria.
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Stephen
Jul 18, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Fortunately these pathetic Liberal trolls can't stuff the ballot boxes to avert the fate which awaits them next May.

PS: Christy Crunch had better act now to make sure she gets the Order of BC before the voters retire her. Gordo can give her some tips on how to pull off that particular heist.
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