Halfway through an at times rocky campaign, insiders describe the “nightmare” moments where it seemed to be a lost cause — and how the party pulled it out.
UCP insiders, speaking confidentially to discuss internal party deliberations, have pulled back the curtain for the Star on a campaign that would keep‘She likes to chat’
“She sees herself as one of the media still,” they said. “She likes to chat, she likes to give verbose answers, she likes to explore conversations.”In the mornings, there would be campaign calls with Smith and about 20 people, including some candidates considered trusted political operatives by Smith. There would be people responsible for areas like rapid response, communications, and research.
But many considered it fertile ground to fight the NDP on. For the first couple weeks, the parties grappled over health care, but advisers around her urged Smith to talk about jobs. The news cycle went into overdrive. “With CTV News Channel on and all the national broadcasts, it was like 15 times a day,” said one source who watched coverage in the war room.
“I think a lot of candidates were stressed at that time and attributing their losing to stuff like that,” said one campaign source. But the magnitude of the comments Smith had made about Hitler and the poppy felt especially impactful to some. And the UCP did end up losing key ridings in the city — barring any changes from recounts of close races, the NDP swept up 14 of the 26 ridings there after only managing three in the previous election.
Not only would Smith have to defend her comments about Hitler and the poppy, she would also have to address an ethics commissioner report released just hours before the debate that found she’d breached the Conflicts of Interest Act in trying to assist a Calgary street preacher in his criminal proceedings.
The campaign held its breath as Smith took the stage, but she performed well, all the sources said. One insider likened the debate to a fourth-quarter comeback win in the Super Bowl. It felt like “a do or die” moment and that if “the premier didn’t perform in that debate, it was over,” they said.
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