Back at the keyboard, however briefly...

Good morning friends!

My apologies for being away from the blog these past few days... real life tends to remove us from the blogosphere from time to time. Unfortunately, it will continue to do so until this weekend.

In the meantime, I leave you with a few things to chew on (sans hyperlinks... I don't know why):

Don Braid nails it re: Kevin Taft in his column in this morning's Calgary Herald. The righteous indignation of Taft and his Alberta-who's-a-liberal?-Liberal caucus is getting pretty unbelieveable. Debunking the opposition has always been a noble cause, in my opinion. If more journalists start calling the Liberals on the things they say and do, look for Graham Thomson to start spinning extra hard for the ALP.

There are also a number of PC nominations this week that I have particular interest in:

-Tomorrow night, the Edmonton Centre PC members will choose their candidate to take on drama queen extraordinaire Laurie Blakeman. Bill Donahue is my guy in this race... he's personable, articulate, and has the breadth of experience to take on the wicked witch of Rossdale.

-On Friday, the Calgary North Hill PC Association will also be choosing a candidate to replace retiring MLA Richard Magnus. North Hill is a hard-working, middle class riding that would be ably represented by Kyle Fawcett. Kyle is a fellow former PCYA member and, more recently, a Calgary school board trustee. Kyle is one of the many exciting young faces looking to shake things up at the Legislature. I hope the folks in Calgary North Hill seize that opportunity.

-Also on Friday, members in my old stomping ground of Calgary Currie will choose their weapon against Alberta-i'm-not-a-liberal-but-i-hate-Stephen-Harper-Liberal incumbent Dave Taylor. The best choice here, clearly, is Arthur Kent. The star power and credibility that Mr. Kent brings to the race are undeniable. And, given that Dave Taylor once said that he understood why some animals eat their young after speaking to me on his radio show, I look forward to his early retirement from politics.

-On Saturday, my very good friend Jonathan Denis will be vying to replace outgoing MLA Denis Herard in a hotly contested race in Calgary Egmont. I remember when Jono first came to Alberta and knew then that he was someone with a bright future in our party. Like Kyle Fawcett, Jonathan Denis is someone who will change the face and tone of the Alberta Legislature. We need more of them.

Races are also happening this weekend in Calgary Buffalo, Lethbridge East, and Livingstone-Macleod. I'm not really up to speed on the candidates in those races, but look forward to learning more about those who will be chosen to carry our torch in the next election.

Again, best of luck to Bill, Kyle, Arthur, and Jonathan. I'll have some follow-up thoughts for you in the next post on Saturday night/Sunday morning, as well as musings about more big nominations happening next week.