Is Calgary Ward 14 Alderman Candidate CandMong Getting Desperate? Mystery Of The Missing Signs!

 Desperate times call for desperate measures?  In what appears to be a standard campaign tactic, Peter Demong's campaign manager Craig Chandler has once again woven himself into the spotlight, which may be causing a distraction for Mr. Demong's campaign heading into the final two weeks of the Ward 14 election.  Due to the way that Chandler has integrated himself into this campaign, ( which it is sometimes hard for the public to tell who the actual candidate is) I have decided to affectionately refer to this uni-candidate as ChandMong.  ( Seeing that Chandler sometimes gets my sense of humour, I hope to avoid a govern yourself accordingly letter. )


 In what I can only describe as a desperate attempt to garner some media attention, Ward 14 alderman candidate Peter Demong did a strange interview on CBC radio yesterday.  In this interview, Mr. Demong claimed that close to 400 of his campaign lawn signs have "mysteriously" disappeared from both public and private property in the area.  His campaign manager also sent out an email to the other candidates which was shared to the media outlet, in which he attacks competitor Richard Dur's age and "immaturity", leading some to belive that they where potentially hinting that Dur's campaign was behind the sign removals.

 At first glance, the story looks like it has potential to be a serious accusation.  If you look closer though, I feel that it really is a silly attempt to gain some much needed attention for the Demong team.  Richard's response on the CBC, in which he classifies the statement as a "diversionary tactic" and "desperate attempt by Craig Chandler to revive a dying campaign", may be spot on.  Chandler also tried a similar tactic last fall, in a last ditch effort to try and deliver some sympathy ( and votes) to his last candidate, Mark Dyrholm, during the Wildrose Alliance leadership campaign last fall.

I want to be clear that I think that anyone that removes or damages a candidates campaign sign is disgusting and there is absolutely no room for that type of politics in my world.  These candidates spend a lot of money and time in ordering and placing these signs, and I really find it frustrating to imagine this vandalism/theft happening.  That said, I am having a hard time imaging how ChandMong's claim that 400 signs are missing and an even harder time imagining that it was another candidate that did it.
Logistically, how is it possible for any group to stalk through the night and remove 400 signs from private and public property without warranting a police call? Perhaps ChandMong's opponents hired a few stealth ninjas and leprechauns to pull off this dastardly deed!  So if the signs went missing....( and now ruling out the ninjas) what could the reason possible be for these signs to disappear? 

 Here are some of my thoughts on what happened....

1) Perhaps some of Craig Chandler's recent comments attacking Calgary Southeast MP, the Hon. Jason Kenney have turned some of Chandmong's potential supporters away, casing them to remove their signs in protest?

 Last week, Chandler posted the following tweet..... ( which was promptly removed, but see a copy of it below.) " I find it interesting that Jason Kenney is once again picking a fight with me. It might be time to take him out in a nomination. "

 
The fact that Chandler would attack one of the hardest working, most respected and popular politicians in Canada is shocking.  It is even stranger given the fact that ChandMong position themselves as the Conservative Candidate in ward 14.  Perhaps these attacks on Jason Kenney have caused some supporters to pull their signs in protest of Chandler's questionable comments?

 2)  Perhaps many homeowners removed the ChandMong signs from their lawns, as they were placed there in error?

 I have spoken to a few of my friends that live in the ward and many have noticed that their neighbors had Demong signs placed on their property without their knowledge, which were promptly removed by the homeowner.  The fact that ChandMong seem to have strategically locked up ever corner house with a  sign seems rather odd ( or statistically magical?) to me, but perhaps some of the ChandMong team had the wrong addresses or placed them on private property incorrectly?  Craig has offered to show me the sign database that they have, which I have not yet seen though. I would assume error would be the cause of misplaced signs, rather than willful incorrect placement.

3) Perhaps most of the information from Criag's Calgary Egmont and/or Mark Dyrholm nomination database is out of date?  Maybe the past supporters have moved and no longer want signs on their lawn?


  On another note, I had also heard some disturbing news from a resident of Ward 14 about some potential questionable membership list use by the ChandMong campaign.  I was told of a call from the Demong office trying to drum up support of the resident.  When they asked where they got their name/address, the volunteer claimed that they got it from a Wildrose Alliance membership list.  When told that it was illegal to do so, they backtracked and said that the resident must have completed a Demong survey or met them at the door, to which the resident claims never happened.   I wonder how the Wildrose would respond to such a claim as I can imagine that they would prefer that their private membership list is not being used for unauthorized purposes.  If this tactic is being used ( and I would hope that it is not) this just reeks of desperation.

 I do believe that the voters of Ward 14 will see through these tactics and not be influenced by these actions.  This is going to be a really interesting race to watch and I hope that it stays clean the rest of the way.

Shane