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Janet Clarkson knows what happens when Canadian voters have unrealistic expectations about a politicians leadership in office: They vote you out. Period. And that can happen to Prime Minister Trudeau in Mondays election.

Clarkson should know. She was mayor of Trent Lakes in Ontario for two terms before losing to a challenger. Four years later, she ran again and retook the mayors office.

My loss was over stopping quarries, she said, but his challenges are much more complicated.

Justin Trudeau faces the polls on Sept. 20 after calling a snap election in an attempt to grow his Liberal Partys power in the House of Commons. Once confident of a victory, he is now neck and neck with his Conservative Party candidate Erin OToole. The prime minister has 31.6percent support compared to 31.3 percent for his right-leaning opponent, according to the CBC. Other parties with substantial backing include the New Democrats with 19.8percent, the libertarian Peoples Party with 6.1 percent and the Green Party with 3.5 percent.

Clarkson said Trudeau is partly in trouble for the way he handled the pandemic. There are people out there who critique him for the shutdowns and the financial [subsidies] ... and the spike in inflation that has gone along with it, she said.

Consumer prices in Canada rose 4.1 percent in August compared to the same period last year, marking the highest annual inflation rate in the country since March 2003, according to Statistics Canada.

But there is also a backlash because he called this election during a pandemic and people say this was not the smartest move, added the mayor, who said she still supports the prime minister while recognizing his problems with voters.

The decision to call the election before its 2023 scheduled date has been unpopular, agreed Western University of Ontario political science professor Matthew Lebo. It also seems misguided because smaller political parties like the right-leaning Peoples Party and the left-wing Green Party are gaining greater traction.

Libertarians have grown more vocal in the wake of the pandemic, leading to the trending hashtag #TrudeauHasToGo on Twitter. They are the angrier ones, having protests about masks and mandates in schools, Lebo said. In some provinces they are at 10 percent support.

Meanwhile, the Green Party is unsatisfied that [Trudeau] has done enough with climate change and see this as an opportunity to make their frustration heard, Clarkson said.

When Trudeau called the elections in August, polls were in his favor, with both liberal and conservative voters supporting his vaccination mandates for federal public servants and rules requiring proof of vaccination to fly, take trains or enter indoor spaces. Currently, Canada has the highest vaccination rate of single and double doses anywhere in the world. Eighty-two percent of the eligible population aged 12 and up have received at least one dose and 70.3percent are fully vaccinated.

If Trudeau loses, it will be because he failed to give voters a good reason to go to the polls after they were told for more than a year not to venture out in public, Lebo said.

The day he announced the snap election, he was looking great in the polls, Lebo said. That all changed within days of announcing he was calling an election.

In short, voters perceive the move as an exercise in vanity and power.

When Trudeau first ran in 2015, he won in an upset that resulted in a healthy majority, marking the end of nine years of Conservative Party rule. The 49-year-old was seen as having the vision of his father former Premier Pierre Trudeau, the charisma and optimism of his mother Margaret with this energizing youthful style and liberal brand of politics people were looking for, said Clarkson.

Four years later, the discovery that he dressed in blackface multiple times cost him 20 seats and his majority rule in the House of Commons. He was forced to form a minority government and rely on support from small rivals to govern.

In the final days of this months election, OToole has framed the contest as a fight against a selfish elitist who called an election during the pandemics fourth wave.

Every Canadian has met a Justin Trudeau in their lives privileged, entitled and always looking out for number one, OToole said in a recent speech. He was looking out for number one when he called this expensive and unnecessary election in the middle of a pandemic.

Trudeau, meanwhile, has had a tough time of it during his campaign as angry protesters and hecklers have hounded him at nearly every stop of his cross-country tour.

After six years of being the liberal darling good-looking, young, bilingual, cosmopolitan the bloom has faded and people are starting to get sick of the party in power.

Hes been in office six years, Lebo said. The clock is ticking.

Salena Zito is the co-author of The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics (Crown Forum).

More here:
How Justin Trudeau went from liberal darling to possibly endangered species - New York Post

In the end, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made it look almost too easy.

Facing a recall election that only a few weeks ago appeared uncomfortably close, Newsom on Tuesday stiff-armed a crowded field of challengers topped by libertarian talk show host Larry Elder. It was Elder, a favorite of the far right and the states diehard Trumpers, who promised to cancel Californias vaccine mandates before drinking his first cup of tea as governor.

Suffice to say, the Darjeelings getting very, very cold.

Democrats and their allies in political punditry are drinking something stronger. Newsoms resounding victory is being heralded as everything from a win for vaccine and mask mandates to a full-throated endorsement of progressive politics in the nations most populous state.

The New York Times and other major news outlets have joined the festivities. The Times has called the victory a Covid referendum and a political victory for vaccination. By ginning up so much vitriol over Newsoms strict approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, Republicans missed the best chance in years to regain control of the state house.

A tank of gas to the east, I wonder whether this weeks recall provides real insight into Nevadas own roiling political Petri dish. As the 2020 midterm election ramps up, can this states Democrats and in-fighting Republicans learn from Californias pummeling of Larry Elder and the Big Lie theorists, anti-vaxxers, and confused constitutionalists?

First, the obvious. Newsom remains in office because of a well-funded GOTV campaign that resulted in a high turnout of Democrats in a state thats trending bluer than Tom Waits on a bender. The character Newsom has displayed during the pandemic has shown in a brand of leadership thats vilified by the opposition, but to date is showing results.

Give or take that tone-deaf but undoubtedly delicious dinner he enjoyed with lobbyists at chef Thomas Kellers The French Laundry, he wasnt exactly damaged goods going into the recall effort that not even vaguely resembled the 2003 voter recall of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis by Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger. The anti-Newsom campaign reeked of too many pity-party Republicans with far more money than sense. (If its any solace, Eater San Francisco calls the restaurant the recalls biggest winner. Note to Elder: Theres tea on the menu.)

Not to oversimplify things, but California is no Nevada, and vice versa. The one thing Silver State Democrats should take away from Tuesdays recall is that nothing clears the political poker table like turnout. Pound chests, produce ads, knock on every door: The winner is the one that gets out the most votes.

But the voter registration numbers in the Silver State dont hold the same easy assurances for Democrats as they do for their allies to the West. Nevada politics is still vulnerable to chip-stack campaigns, where even a poor player with a good haircut and enough money has a chance of winning.

Its also true that, Gov. Steve Sisolaks best efforts acknowledged, Nevadas pandemic response has bounced near the bottom of the country. Its heavy reliance on a service-worker economy has made it especially susceptible to airline schedule reductions, mask mandates, and the kind of anti-vax hysteria that has become part of the talking points for GOP candidates.

In fact, its more evident each day that Nevada Republicans have replaced their traditional small-government rhetoric with an even bigger Trumpian bullhorn. They appear unlikely to walk about from Trumps Big Lie about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Candidates to date show zero interest in calling out the dangerous and orchestrated disinformation campaign about the importance and efficacy of the vaccine combined with medical best practices such as mask wearing and social distancing.

Although a recent CNN poll found that a jaw-dropping 78 percent of Republicans believe that Joe Biden didnt win enough votes to become President, California GOP insiders sensed something different going on in the recall campaign.

Could even loyal Republicans be getting tired of hearing the sound and fury of the debunked Big Lie? Might some contingent of the GOP step forward and campaign for vaccination? Or at least endorse the science?

It would be nice to think so, but with U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt intimating that his campaign is preparing to file preemptive lawsuits, and the anti-mask, anti-vax zealots waving their Gadsden flags in rural towns and city streets, I wouldnt bet on it.

To make matters tougher for Republicans, the state is on the way to receiving more than $3 billion from President Bidens $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan. In a state forever humbled by long neglect, as historian Gilman Ostrander observed, all Nevadans stand to benefit from someone in the White House who gets things done.

With Tuesdays victory no longer in doubt Tuesday evening, just after 9 p.m. Newsom tweeted, We rejected cynicism and bigotry and chose hope and progress.

The line has a nice ring to it.

I wonder if Nevadans will hear that message above the howling winds of 2022.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his familys Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in Time, Readers Digest, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Ruralite and Desert Companion, among others. He also offers weekly commentary on Nevada Public Radio station KNPR. His newest booka biography of iconic Nevada civil rights and political leader, Joe Neal Westside Slugger: Joe Neals Lifelong Fight for Social Justice is published by University of Nevada Press and is available at Amazon.com. He is also the author of a new book, "Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War Over the Wests Public Lands." On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.

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Is there a lesson for Nevada from California's recall rejection? - The Nevada Independent

The Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada and the People'sParty of Canada are the only federal parties that have nominated full slates of candidates in central and northern Alberta.

The Maverick Party, with 10 candidates running in this halfof the province, has two more candidates running than the Green Party of Canada.

Nearly 30 per cent of the 115 candidates running in 19 ridings are women.

Don't know your riding or where to vote on Sept. 20? Elections Canada's Voter Information Service hasinformation on electoral districts and polling locations.

These are the confirmed candidates for ridings between Red Deer and Alberta's northern border.

This central Alberta riding includes the communities of Camrose, Stettler, Three Hills andWainwright.

Conservative Damien Kurek won the riding in 2019 with 85.5 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 75.4 per cent.

Bordered by the North Saskatchewan River, Yellowhead Trail, 97th Street and 156th Street, this riding includes downtown Edmonton.

Conservative James Cumming won this riding in 2019 with 41.4 per cent of the vote, defeating incumbent Liberal Randy Boissonnault, who received 33 per cent of the vote, and the NDP's Katherine Swampy, who received 20.6 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 64.3 per cent.

This riding includes part of Edmonton's eastern core, between the North Saskatchewan River, YellowheadTrailand 97th Street. Its northern section, north of the Yellowhead, includes neighbourhoodsbetween St. Albert Trail and 66th Street, with 153rd Avenue as its northern border.

Conservative Kerry Diotte won this riding in 2019 with 51.4 per cent of the vote, defeating the NDP's Mark Cherrington and Habiba Mohamud, who received 25.1 per cent and 17.2 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 56.8 per cent the lowest of all the ridings on this list.

This riding includes northeast Edmonton and areas outside the city, both north and south of the North Saskatchewan River. Its southern border is Yellowhead Trail.

Conservative Ziad Aboultaif won this riding in 2019 with 55.9 per cent of the vote, defeating Liberal Kamal Kadri and the NDP's Charmaine St. Germain, who received 21.5 per cent and 17.6 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 60.8 per cent.

This south Edmonton riding is bordered by Whitemud Drive, Anthony Henday Drive, Calgary Trail and Meridian Street.

Conservative Tim Uppal won this riding in 2019 with 50.3 per cent of the vote, defeating incumbent Amarjeet Sohi, who received 33.6 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 68.1 per cent.

Edmonton Riverbend is bordered by the North Saskatchewan River, Ellerslie Drive and Calgary Trail. Its section north of Whitemud Drive includes neighbourhoods between the river and Whitemud Creek.

Conservative Matt Jeneroux won this riding in 2019 with 57.4 per cent of the vote, defeating Tariq Chaudary and the NDP's Audrey Redman, who received 23 per cent and 15.3 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 70.4 per cent.

South of the North Saskatchewan River, this riding has asouthern border ofWhitemud Driveand includes Edmonton neighbourhoods between Whitemud Creek and Sherwood Park.

Heather McPherson was the only non-Conservative candidate to win a federal riding in Alberta in the 2019 election. She received 47.3 per cent of the vote and her closest challenger was Conservative Sam Lilly, who received 37.1 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 72.3 per cent.

This riding includes west Edmonton neighbourhoods between the North Saskatchewan River and Yellowhead Trail.

Conservative Kelly McCauley won the riding in 2019 with 60.9 per cent of the vote, defeating Liberal Kerrie Johnston and the NDP's Patrick Steuber, who received 20.1 per cent and 14.6 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 66 per cent.

This riding includes Edmonton neighbourhoods south of the Henday as well as the communities of Beaumont, Devon, Leduc, Millet and Wetaskiwin.

Conservative Mike Lake won the riding in 2019 with 72.4 per cent of the vote. Liberal Richard Wong and the NDP's Noah Garver were nearly tied behind him, with 12.4 and 11.2 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 70.2 per cent.

This riding covers northeastern Alberta, including the communities of Cold Lake, Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche.

Conservative David Yurdiga won this riding in 2019 with 79.9 per cent of the vote. Yurdiga announced this summer that due to health reasons, he would not be running again.

Turnout was 64.7 per cent.

This riding covers northwestern Alberta, including the communities of Beaverlodge, Grande Prairie, High Level andManning.

Conservative Chris Warkentin won this riding in 2019 with 84 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 70.7 per cent.

This eastern Alberta riding includes the communities ofBonnyville, St. Paul, Vegreville, Vermilion and the Alberta portion of Lloydminster.

Conservative Shannon Stubbs won this riding in 2019 with 83.9 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 71.7 per cent.

Northwest of Edmonton, this riding includes the communities ofBarrhead,Peace River, Slave Lake and Westlock.

Conservative Arnold Viersen won this riding in 2019 with 80.7 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 68.6 per cent.

Blaine Calkins (CON)David Ondieki (LIB)Tanya Heyden-Kaye (NDP)Megan Lim (PPC)Matthew Watson (Libertarian Party of Canada)Harry Joujan (Maverick)Joan Barnes (Independent)

North of the David Thompson Highway, this riding includes parts of Red Deer as well as the communities of Blackfalds, Lacombe, Ponokaand Sylvan Lake.

Conservative Blaine Calkins won this riding in 2019 with 79.8 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 71.3 per cent.

South of the David Thompson Highway, this riding includes parts of Red Deer and the communities of Carstairs, Didsbury, Innisfail andSundre.

Conservative Earl Dreeshen won this riding in 2019 with 80.3 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 75.3 per cent.

East of Edmonton, this riding includes Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona County.

Conservative Garnett Genuis won this riding in 2019 with 73.4 per cent of the vote. The NDP'sAidan Theroux and Liberal Ron Thiering received 12.1 and 10.1 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 76.3 per cent the highest of all the ridings on this list.

This riding includes St. Albert and neighbourhoods on the northwest edge of Edmonton.

Conservative Michael Cooper won this riding in 2019 with 60.7 per cent of the vote. Liberal Greg Springate and the NDP's Kathleen Mpulubusi received 19.2 and 15.2 per cent of the vote, respectively.

Turnout was 70 per cent.

This riding includes the communities of Gibbons, Morinville, Spruce Grove andStony Plain.

Conservative Dane Lloyd won this riding in 2019 with 77.5 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 73.2 per cent.

Between Edmonton and B.C border, this riding includes the communities of Drayton Valley, Edson, Hinton, Jasper andRocky Mountain House.

Conservative Gerald Soroka won this riding in 2019 with 82.1 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was 73.8 per cent.

See original here:
Who's running in the federal election in central and northern Alberta's 19 ridings - CBC.ca

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Former WWE Superstar turned Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, Kane, may have once been a stooge for The Authority of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, but when it comes to a Democratic president, it's another story. Mayor Kane unleashed hellfire and brimstone on President Joe Biden, rival of Mayor Kane's fellow WWE Hall of Famer former president Donald Trump, over Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates. According to The Big Red Machine, Knox County Tennesee will not comply with the federal rules.

Mayor Kane tweeted:

He added:

In the letter, Mayor Kane accuses Biden of violating the Constitution with the order. "Mr. President, if we as elected officials ignore, disregard, and contravene the laws which bind us, how can we expect our fellow citizens to respect and follow the laws which bind all of us as a society?" asked The Devil's Favorite Demon while vowing to ignore, disregard, and contravene Biden's executive order.Mayor Kane also went on to take President Biden to task for the war in Afghanistan, which makes sense, since the only time Kane thinks Americans should travel to the Middle East is when they're teaming with The Undertaker to battle Triple H and Shawn Michaels in front of the Saudi Royal Family.

Under the leadership of Mayor Kane, the only Libertarian political figure to receive the endorsements of both Senator Rand Paul and Bryan Danielson, Knox County is currently experiencing a coronavirus inspection spike higher than at any other time during the pandemic, which is no surprise, considering Mayor Kane opposes pretty much every effort to stem the disease's spread. Kane has previously complained about bans on large gatherings after it prevented him from speaking at an event known as the Juggalo Gathering for Libertarians. Kane was later forced to apologize to Knox County's own Board of Health after cutting a shoot promo on them over coronavirus safety protocols. Later, it was reported that 975 COVID-19 vaccines went missing under Mayor Kane's regime, though it was later found that the vaccines were accidentally thrown in the trash and not, as originally reported, stolen.

Continued here:
WWE Mayor Kane Defies Authority, Will Not Comply with Vaccine Mandate - Bleeding Cool News

Call them the anti-ninjas.

Since June,three men with years of election experience have tried to get the attention of the Arizona Senate bysaying they have a way to check the work done by the Cyber Ninjas, the contractor hired to lead the review of Maricopa County's 2020 election results.

But they can't do it without help from the Senate. They would need some of the detailed data produced by the Ninjas as part of the audit andso far, Republican leaders have rebuffed the group's overtures.

On Thursday, the trio, who call themselves "the Audit Guys," renewed their challenge.

Using a method they had developed by obtaining the county's "cast vote" record through a public records request, they released the number of ballots contained in each of 24 boxes of returns without touching a single ballot.

They matched it up against the tally of those 24 boxesdone by high-speed paper-counting machines the Senate had commissioned.Senate audit liaison Ken Bennett shared those results with them in July. It was almost a perfect match:99.9%.

Then, they posted the number of votes on the ballots in those boxes won by Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgenson last fall, again using the records they had compiled from the cast-vote file. In a post on their website, real-audits.org, the trio challenged the Senate to provide the Ninjas' findingsto see how the counts compare.

The goal, said Larry Moore, one of the three Audit Guys, is to get the Senate to release the Ninjas' count of the votes for not just Jorgenson, but also Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Moore is betting the numbers won't be anywhere near close.

They can use that to test out their methodologies," Moore said of the data the three menposted on Jorgenson's votes (a total of 342 votes from the 24 boxes of ballots for which they had data). "Were withholding the Biden and Trump votes because we want them (the Ninjas)to show their totals first.

Hours after the Audit Guys issued their latest challenge, the Senate announced it will release the audit report Sept. 24. Moore said he is skeptical the report will have the detail he needs to check the Ninjas'work.

Instead, he said he and his colleagues are relying on a public-records request they filed last month to obtain that data. Those details include the numbers Maricopa County used to identify each of the 1,691 boxes of ballots that were handed over to the Ninjas under a court subpoena, as well as the totals of ballot counts and vote counts that were recorded for each box.

Moore is the retired founder of the Clear Ballot Group, which created a method to independently audit voting systems. Theother "audit guys" are Benny White, a Tucson Republican who has done elections and voter-registration analysis for the Republican Party and TimHalvorsen, Clear Ballot's retired chief technology officer.

Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, said Thursday that the Senate has received various offers to check the ballot count, but wouldn't consider opening up any of the Ninja's data until their report is finished.

Reach the reporter atmaryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.comand follow her on Twitter@maryjpitzl.

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Trio of election experts offers Arizona Senate another chance to check Cyber Ninjas audit work - The Arizona Republic