Why Calvert And The NDP Lost

"We ran a good campaign. We campaigned on our principles and our values... Friends tonight we leave government, but we leave with heads held high."

The truth is the the NDP and Mr. Calvert did not run a good campaign. They ran a terrible campaign. Their policies received no traction and the party was undisciplined, by their own standards (as witnessed by the SaskHATchewan Weyburn-Big Muddy candidate).

That aside, the reason why they lost is they just weren't honest. Worse yet, they tried to pin dishonesty on their opponents.

Shakespeare said it best, "Me thinks thou dost protest too much". This was the way the NDP acted.

They lied about their accomplishments (14 consecutive balanced budgets) and about the intent of the Sask Party (Enterprise Saskatchewan means Privatization).

Rather than run on their record, which was full of lies and missteps (Fodey's severance, Carriere, the NDP caucus fraud scandal, the lie about the PST), they tried to pin their lack or values and moral judgement on their opponents.

They tried to buy the election with their drug plan, much as Romanow did in 1999 with the free university tuition, but they couldn't.

The fact is the people in Saskatchewan are more pragmatic than political.

They like honest people. The like decent people. And they have an inherent sense of fairness.

The NDP called their opponents names. The NDP lied about the person Brad was and what he was going to do if was elected.

These seem to be the values Calvert refers to in his concession speech. And maybe Calvert still doesn't get it.

When Calvert tried to convince voters about the dangers of Big Brad Wolf, people got angry.

When people call someone you like a name, it says nothing about that person. It says something about the name caller though.

Now some of you may ask if that was the case what happened to the other 48% of the people that didn't vote for Brad.

I submit that the people of Saskatchewan are very cautious. They still aren't sure about the Sask Party brand quite yet, but were willing to give them a chance. Because Saskatchewan people do step out... every time they plant a crop, they step out.

My prediction is that if the Sask Party run their government the way they ran this campaign, there will be a larger mandate given to the Sask Party on Nov. 07th/2011.

The Sask Party realized that the first thing do after becoming elected was not to set the election dates.

It was to keep their word.

And that's something that the voters no longer believed the NDP wanted to do or were capable of doing.

It all boiled down to honesty...