punditry.ca — uncovering DSU elections

It’s been a long road to where we are today, and voting starts tomorrow morning.  I’d like to share with you my final thoughts on the election before we move into fun things like predictions and finally seeing the results.

I started out as a pundit with the intention of remaining fully impartial.  I have attempted to conduct balanced coverage of the candidates based on the information I’ve found and what I’ve seen myself.  However, in the end, there is one candidate who has sufficiently impressed me that I have decided I can’t stay silent about it.  And so…

I am endorsing Rob Leforte in his re-election campaign as Vice President (Education).

When the election started, I specifically avoided giving the candidates I knew any special treatment.  I offered to meet with whoever wanted to talk to me, and didn’t turn anyone who asked down.  I didn’t want to show any preferential treatment to any candidates, and that includes Rob, who I’ve worked with a fair bit this year.  Yet, as the campaign has unfolded, I’ve been repeatedly impressed by his dedication, his knowledge of the issues, his willingness to learn and his ability to adapt to changing circumstances.  These are all traits that I believe are essential in a Vice President (Education), and I believe he exemplifies them.

Whether it’s with senior administration at Dalhousie, federal politicians or the Premier and Minister of Education, Rob has proven that he has the skills needed to get things done. Just look at co-curricular transcripts, late night study space, and the review of post-secondary education in Nova Scotia.  This is the guy I want to see at the negotiating table when the Memorandum or Understanding comes up.  And there are already rumours circulating of an informal consensus that Rob will easily become the next Chair of ANSSA if he wins here.

Perhaps most importantly, I believe Rob genuinely cares about students.  I’ve found him to be friendly, approachable and an active listener.  With his passion and skills, I am supporting his bid for re-election unequivocally.  If we can bring someone back who knows the job, has done it well and wants to do it again, why on Earth should we say no?

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As far as the other candidates go, I appreciate the passion they’ve brought to the race.  It is my hope that both Price and Dempsey remain involved even if the election doesn’t turn out for them.  Price has had some great ideas that I think it would be helpful to see through, and his enthusiasm is infectious.  Dempsey has taken an admirable step by putting himself out there and getting into the discussion, something that I think the DSU can and must encourage.  I applaud all of the candidates for their effort in this election.

Check out my thoughts on the other positions after the break.

President

This has been a lot more interesting than I expected.  Where I thought we would have Saulnier cruising to an easy victory, I think Bailey has given him a real run for his money from a different perspective.

Saulnier has certainly demonstrated that his passion and commitment to this position (not to mention his ability to juggle fire and paint himself in assorted colours).  He’s wanted it for a long time coming, and he’s given up a lot to even take a chance at it (notably a co-op term that probably would have paid him more in 4 months than the DSU President makes in a year).  He’s a policy wonk, which I always appreciate, and he’s put a lot of thought into the issues facing the Union.  If you want someone with the knowledge and experience to do the job, someone with a broad range of experiences as a student here, Saulnier is your man.

Bailey is a new kind of candidate.  He’s soft spoken, but compelling.  He’s intelligent, but not overpowering.  He wants to build communities, and doesn’t seem to have any interest in taking the credit.  And don’t let his lack of concrete experience fool you; he’s smart as a whip, and he’s up to date on a lot of the key issues facing the university, even if he hasn’t seen the details of what’s come up in Council meetings.  When he speaks to you, you can’t help but listen, which is a pretty solid quality for a prospective spokesperson of the Union.  And perhaps what has impressed me the most is his willingness to ask for help and just talk to people.  Seriously, who just calls up the university President for a chat?  “Yo, Tommy-T, what’s chillin’, homeslice?”.  Anyone with the cajones to pull that off has what it takes to be President.

I’m going to decline to endorse here.  I think I’ve made up my mind, but I want you all to do the same.  You’re going to get passion and dedication no matter which way you go.  I think one route has more solid experience and concrete ideas, while the other is a more unique perspective and possibly an answer to some of our student engagement problems.  I will say, however, that if you’re planning on voting for Debogorski, you should probably be voting for Bailey instead.  Want to shake things up?  Change the status quo?  See someone from outside of the “DSU insiders” take the reins?  Give it this guy, because 1) he’s not going to alienate everyone who already cares, and 2) he’s not going to get impeached if he wins.

Debogorski has done more this year than ever before to win, and at this rate, by the time he gets to his PhD, he may actually have a shot at winning.  But there are enough moments in debates and conversation with him to demonstrate for every compelling, solid thing he has to say, there are at least two more ideas that are absolutely nuts.  I suppose you can consider this my Anything But Debogorski (ABD) statement.  It just doesn’t quite have the ABC ring to it…

Still, to all the candidates, I’m impressed by the work that you’ve all put into this campaign (even if in one case, it’s because the bar was set so low).

Vice President (Internal)

I could write a thesis on this topic.  What a mess.  You can find a lot of my thoughts here, at least the preliminary ones.  And I didn’t even know about a lot of things at that point, including the issues that went down on Sexton Campus.  I’m actually going to leave this one for now, though.  I will say that my opinions are as follows, at least for the moment:

Best Platform:

1) Blake, 2) Kurin, 3) Whitfield, 4) Hiltz

Best Campaigner:

1) Kurin, 2) Whitfield, 3) Hiltz, 4) Blake

Most Honest Campaign (least mudslinging, rule-breaking, or loophole-exploiting):

1) Blake, 2) Hiltz, 3) Tie for Kurin and Whitfield

Most Likely to Play Nice with the Rest of the Executive:

…none of them have really sold me on this one.

Make of this what you will.  My mind’s not made up yet.  I don’t think the DSU will fall apart under any of them, but I also haven’t felt that any of them have blown me away with their qualifications.  I think I know who will win, but I’m not decided yet on who I’ll vote for.  Since we’ll hear letter from who people think will actually win, I’d love to see in the comments who people think deserve to win.  I’m not convinced they line up.

I will say this, though: I voted “No” on Blake last year when he ran for Senate, and didn’t have any second thoughts about it.  Now, I’m seriously considering voting for him.  He’s come an awfully long way in a year, and he’s done an awful lot to impress me.  I strongly advise others to avoid dismissing him off-handedly.  Read his platform.  Talk to him.  I think he’s caught more flack than some of the other candidates with less tangible justification for it.  This isn’t an endorsement, but it is a suggestion that you take a second glance.

Vice President (Student Life)

Vote no on Dahn.  The balloonigans must end.

In all seriousness, VPSL has always been a race I follow less closely because it doesn’t line up as much with my own interests and involvements.  But to the extent that I’ve seen Dahn, I’ve admired her dedication and I hope that her willingness to listen and work on issues that are brought to her continues after the campaign ends.  I’ve seen no reason thus far to vote “no”, though if you disagree, let us know in the comments.  But seriously, this helium thing?  I’m worried about it.

Senate

Wedge has run his campaign as if he were running for Executive (which, on a side note, I fully anticipate him doing in a year’s time).  He’s built a team, put together a strong platform and he’s worked to get his message out.  Honestly, I think he has some of the strongest ideas out of any candidate in this election (get rid of consecutive exams, sir, and you’ll win my love for life).  I fully expect him to claim one of the seats.

Lovett has impressed me in ways that I didn’t anticipate.  She’s got a great head on her shoulders, she thinks before she speaks and she isn’t shy to speak up.  She called me out after my post on the DAGS meeting and said she wished she could have gone, so I sat down and talked with her about the Senate and graduate student issues.  If she can take things up with the university the way that she’s taken things up with me, then she’ll do a great job.

I haven’t seen Nicholson as much on the campaign trail, but I’ve heard about her, and admittedly, if you’re seeing too much of me, you’re probably spending too much time in the SUB.  In any case, I’ve seen her at ANSSA and on Council and I know that she’s dedicated and hardworking, and probably has the most relevant experience of any candidate.  She’s also the only candidate whose platform can compete with Wedge’s.  I’m not sure if the bursaries thing will really fall under her perview, but if she can make it happen, it’s an admirable goal.

Browne has probably done the least to impress me of the four candidates, but he’s still done an impressive job compared to Senate candidates in some other years (such as 2006 and 2009).  I’m judging mainly based on his knowledge; he’s made more slip-ups in debates on the details of how things work than the other candidates.  What he does have going for him are excellent branding (I think he has the overall best poster in this election) as well as an imposing presence; I don’t think he’d be that easy for the Senate to ignore, as long as he chooses to speak up.  I’m not counting him out of this race yet.

Well…

That’s all for now, folks.  Don’t forget to vote.

While this may not be my last post (in fact, it probably won’t be), I’m calling this “Final Thoughts” in the hopes that I can actually get enough work done to avoid failing out of grad school.  At least if I do, I’ll be content in the knowledge that I gave the Peanut Gallery here at Punditry something to do for awhile (and by do, I mean come up with creative anonymous nicknames).