Media turned Green

Vancouver Burrard is going back and forth these hours. Tim Stevenson says he got a call from Elections BC saying some ballots not counted on election night now have him up by 12 votes. This one will be recounted carefully with a room full of lawyers for sure.

The media hype around the Green party chances in BC and some green party workers in Vancouver Burrard suggesting to voters that wanted to turf Mayencourt that they could vote Green as Stevenson had a enough votes to win proved a bad strategy.

The Green vote around the province likely cost a couple of seats for the NDP and in some areas likely helped the NDP to defeat the Liberals where it was clear the NDP member had the best chance.

The Greens in BC fell back to a more traditional place in voter support this last time out. 2001 was an anomaly. Many voted Green because they were ticked at the NDP or they felt no one else is voting NDP so they might elect a Green MLA.

Media hype about the chances of Carr in Powell River-Sunshine Coast was the result of drinking the Green Party's recycled bathwater being poured into reporters coffee cups or manufactured by the reporters themselves after reusing that recycled bathwater. Reporters forgot the first of the three "R's" - REDUCE.

Anyone who happened to spend time in the Powell River riding could have seen this. Anyone that had taken time to study the 2001 election could have come to the same conclusion, that Carr could not win.

Still they ran story after story stating the Green party could elect one or more MLAs. The West Vancouver-Garibaldi race was reported in the same way after the poll put out by Robbins Research indicated the Green candidate could win. It did not happen, not even close. The Green candidate finished 5,000 votes back of the winning Liberal.

Many voters were hoodwinked by this media hype. Many people that thought a genuine chance existed to elect a green MLA in place of a Liberal got took.

The Green party has grown and maybe one day people will choose a green MLA. It was not possible even in 2001, it was certainly not going to happen in 2005.