OPINION: Wake up "Progressives" you are winning twitter, not real life
Mayor Stewart, Mayor McKenney, and Mayor Murray.
What the people of Twitter would have wanted you to believe 24 hours prior to polls closing in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Winnipeg earlier this month.
The so-called progressives in Canada are losing municipally. City, after City is rejecting the campaigning of the progressive way and moving to a more central-right campaign.
It is not like this isn't a surprise.
In the age of eco-chambers and social media feeds, we have become a society that only wants to see what we agree with. But some people are hopefully starting to realize - and I've been screaming this into the void for some time - "SOCIAL MEDIA ISN'T REAL LIFE.
Some campaign workers, and staff, believe that you win elections with a good social media game. I'm sorry to burst all your bubbles, but good ol' honest hard work and door-knocking will always wins the day.
I have never respected a candidate, who has run for political office who put all their eggs in one basket. If you believe the path to elected office is through Twitter, Facebook, or even the abomination of tik tok, then you are sorely mistaken.
After this month's strings of losses by more progressive candidates in major cities, progressive campaign strategists need to take a hard look at their battle plan heading into the next federal and provincial general elections.
I'm not dunking only on so-called 'progressives' on this issue. We also have a federal opposition party that believes that memes and 30-second soundbites from Question Period are going to be the way to 24 Sussex.
The vast majority of people in Canada aren't paying attention to social media, they are worried about pocketbook issues, they are worried about crime, they are worried about their own families and couldn't care about what is going on Twitter.
After the municipal elections in Ontario, Twitter went crazy with people saying "Well (insert random city) you screwed us over", and "How could anyone vote for (insert centre-right candidate here) again".
Well because people did.
Your Twitter feed isn't a poll of society - Heck! It isn't even what reality is saying on the ground. The people who vote are worried about pocketbook issues and aren't worried about what is going on on social media.
With turnout municipally falling faster and harder than a rock in Lake Ontario, people have started to wonder why.
I can tell you why, people believe that posting your support for a candidate on social media, rather than hitting the pavement and door knocking will win the day.
If you believe that social media will win you the vote, and you don't have to door knock, I again want to introduce you to Mayor Stewart, Mayor McKenney, and Mayor Murray.
I have lived in Calgary during 4 elections. We have gone to the polls twice federally, once provincially, and once municipally. I live in what I would call a swing riding - federally it has gone Conservative and Liberal, Provincially it was NDP and now UCP, municipally it had no incumbent so it was a clean slate.
During all of these elections, the only time a candidate came to my door was when I submitted a lawn sign request on their website. (Big sign and button collector if you weren't aware).
We didn't have a candidate/campaign volunteer door knock on our front door during any of those elections. I have run a few campaigns in my time, and I have been part of many campaigns in my time. The first rule of politics is to go to where the people are. Don't assume you are going to win, but run like you are 10 points behind and have to reach as many people as possible.
Door-knocking is the best way to victory in my opinion. Yes, you do need social media - but you can't rely on it to win an election. You need a dedicated base of volunteers and a dedicated group of people who are willing to go door to door and speak directly to people.
I have run three in three different elections in my time, once federally and twice municipally. In each one of those campaigns I door knocked, and you'd be surprised how many people told me "You are the first candidate to knock on my door in my entire time living here".
I'm not sure if they voted for me afterwards, but we had a connection and I left knowing that they saw my face and were able to ask me questions.
If you are looking at the results from the major cities in Canada and thinking they are because of low turnout, and that we need to reform our voting system. Let me put it into numbers here.
A report published in September 2022, by socialmedialab.ca called "The State of Social Media in Canada 2022" stated that 40% of online adults reported having an account on Twitter.
Thats right 40 percent. If you read the report even further, Young people aged 18–24 are the most prevalent users on Twitter. What is the biggest age group that doesn't go to the polls? Well, 18-24 years old to be exact. So when you yell into the void of twitter remember Twitter doesn't vote.
People who do vote, are least likely to adopt Twitter. Only 24% of Canadians 55 and older have Twitter accounts.
When we have turnout hovering around 30 to 45 percent in municipalities across Canada it makes me wonder if people are forgoing the door-to-door campaign and trying to engage with that 40 percent of the online population of Canada, on Twitter.
During the Ontario Provincial election of 1990 - the first campaign I helped out on - I was the unofficial drill guy for my Aunt's Sign Team in Newcastle, Ontario. The campaign office was a Zoo, people were coming and going and there were people going out to door knock every single day of that campaign.
Since that election, I have seen campaigns slowly lose volunteers due to ageing, or just wanting to be the social media person for the campaign.
Well I want to make a plea, put down social media. If you want your candidate to win, go to their campaign office, or if they don't have one send them an email, and volunteer. Go pick up 100 brochures and drop them off in your neighbourhood. Go get a phone list and call your neighbours if you have issues with going door to door.
Because at the end of the day remember Twitter doesn't vote and if you believe it does I would again like to introduce you to re-elected Vancouver Mayor Stewart, Ottawa Mayor McKenney, and Winnipeg Mayor Murray.
