debate on April 21st in Sidney when the first indications that they might be able to win the riding became appar- ent. Green recalled an excited phone conversation with May and local campaign manager Jonathan Dickie after the event. Both had been overwhelmed by ground swell of sup- port in the crowd at the debate. “It was unexpected to say the least. No specific actions had been taken on our part to stock the crowd,” said Green. “We were able to take that viral support and built on its momentum from there on out.” The significance of electing the first Green to parliament had also taken root in the riding; a riding that always had a strong environmental conscious. As the campaign pro- gressed, May was even able to attract Fraser Smith, a former Reform Party strategist to rip up his Conservative Party membership and a local NDP MLA to endorse her as a progressive candidate of choice.
Polling: Measuring to Make Sure Building on learning from the 2008 campaign, the Greens prepared a massive donation drive during the fight to in- clude May in the debates. Some of the money collected was used to commission two polls that helped to measure where May exactly stood in the riding leading up to the vote. Neck and neck before the election, this poll was going to be significant in measuring where they stood with just over a week left in the campaign. The first poll released on April 27th showed May in the
lead over Lunn 44.5% to 37.8%. The campaign team how- ever, had debated releasing the numbers at all. Like the viral support they had received at the debate in Sidney, they were a little in awe of the lead they had built. A second poll, which was not released to the public, focused on the support in Gary Lunn’s stronghold of Sidney. It also showed a May lead, albeit a more narrow one. It was now down to getting those people polled out to vote on Election Day.
Election Day: The Get Out To Vote Drive On the eve of the election, a large number of fraudulent robocalls were placed to citizens in the riding informing them that their polling station had changed. This became apparent on Election Day as volunteers went door to door and placed thousands of calls into the riding, and people asked them where they should be voting. Without this sort of persistence and dedication, the last minute fog created by the robocalls may have thrown off their voter turnout. As a result, volunteers in the riding and in Ottawa called late into the evening on May 2nd to make sure people ev- eryone eligible had cast their vote. As the polls started to re- port in the riding, the campaign team in Ottawa sat in their offices and cheered as the lead opened from 100 votes to 200, then 300 and on. With a solid lead in hand, they threw on their coats and headed down to Maxwell’s to celebrate.
Aftermath: The Results The poll released on April 27th was very close to the final 46% to 36% (31,890 votes to 24,544) tallied in the riding. The largest change in the riding over the 2008 election was the shift in support from the Liberals to the Green party (33% swing), which proved that May had become the voice of the progressives. But May had also managed to steal a significant number of Conservative supporters in Sidney, Saanichton and Swartz Bay taking 7% of Lunn’s vote away in his apparent stronghold. Mainstream media throughout the election had written off Elizabeth May’s chances of beating Gary Lunn. It was only in the final days after the poll was released that the press started to report that she might win. Certainly the campaign had been no cakewalk. The debate setbacks, the uncertainty of support in Sidney and the robocalls all could have easily derailed May’s campaign. In the end, it was through May’s charisma, social media strategy and incredibly persistent campaign team she was able to achieve a historic victory and deliver the template for future Green campaigns across Canada.
John Craig is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Purple Forge (
www.purpleforge.com) that provides iPhone applica- tions to politicians such as Tim Hudak, Sharron Angle and the UK Independence Party. John was also named to the 2011 Aristotle Dream Team for Mobile Campaign- ing around the Globe.
Draw out the Vote You Tube Video (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHFRdl-U3Bo) June 2011 | Campaigns & Elections 27
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