Braid: UCP goes over the top in fundraising pitch

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Members of the United Conservative Celebration are used to fundraising stunts, however they’ve by no means seen one like this – a “TOP SECRET” memo from the social gathering’s marketing campaign supervisor to the manager director.

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It is a spectacular how-to that exhibits how this marketing campaign will carry in additional spending and assault advertisements than any earlier election.

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“I’m dealing with a critical funding shortfall that have to be addressed instantly or our upcoming election marketing campaign (and Alberta’s future) might be in critical jeopardy,” marketing campaign boss Steve Outhouse advised Dustin van Vugt, the VKP’s prime official.

Outhouse is pleading, virtually hysterically, for a fast injection of $250,000 for the crucial first 10 days of the election marketing campaign, which begins on Could 1, or “we’d as properly hand the keys to the prime minister’s workplace to Rachel Notley now.. .”

Van Vugt packaged this memo and despatched it out to social gathering members together with his personal plea to mark the “enclosed confidential receipt type and return it to me directly … to let me know that you’ve acquired the extremely confidential doc that I so adapt despatched you .”

“I do know I can belief you to share this memo,” mentioned Van Vugt and likewise belief them to share their cash.

As anticipated, it leaked instantly. The letter has been circulating on social media for days, with some folks, together with UCP members, questioning if it was a hoax.

However this can be a actual quest for much more cash.

“It is simply fundraising,” mentioned Dave Prisco, the social gathering’s communications director. “Campaigns price loads. Do you watch TV?”

Even New Democrats admired in a backhanded method. It is uncertain, one mentioned, “however I wager it labored.”

And but, regardless of the plea, the UCP shouldn’t be in need of funds. In truth, each events raised greater than $7 million final yr, with the UCP practically $8 million.

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The UCP additionally raised an astonishing complete of $4 million within the first quarter of this yr. The social gathering issued a launch trumpeting the numbers simply because the alleged secret pitch was despatched out.

The NDP raised about $2.7 million in the identical quarter.

The UCP ended 2022 with money belongings of $2.9 million. That is the overall earlier than the $4 million infusion within the first three months of 2023.

Many UCP donors reached their annual contribution restrict of $4,300 throughout the management battles final yr. That does not appear to be stopping them from repeating this yr.

The NDP ended 2022 with $5.4 million in money available. The social gathering spent closely on pre-campaign promotions final yr, however raised a lot it did not have to dip into reserves.

Each these events are spending large sums on operations and campaigns. The VCP had expenditures of $5.9 million in 2022. The NDP studies $7.6 million.

They’re always elevating cash. Outhouse, the UCP marketing campaign supervisor, is simply brighter about it than most. He ran each Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis’ nationwide management campaigns.

“A Nova Scotian residing in Ottawa,” in response to his Twitter feed, Outhouse is a champion for lease with a web site providing his companies.

The NDP marketing campaign supervisor might be Nathan Rotman, who was NDP chief Rachel Notley’s chief of workers when she was prime minister. He additionally lives within the east.

The starvation for money is nearly insatiable this time, partly due to a giant change approaching March 31, 2022.

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In 2019, the events all spent $2 million throughout the 28-day marketing campaign interval. However new UCP laws raised the restrict to $3.2 million.

Relatively than a hard and fast spending restrict, there’s a formulation – $1.16 occasions the variety of registered voters on the primary day of the month, three months earlier than Election Day.

Alberta has 2,765,627 electors, says Chief Electoral Officer Glen Resler, which suggests a per-party cap of $3,208,127.

The restrict applies solely throughout the formal marketing campaign. Each events have been spending large for months with no restrict.

There’s a wild mixture of UCP and NDP advertisements, authorities advertisements (free publicity for the UCP), and partisan advertisements from third-party advertisers (who’ve confronted a $159,000 cap since January 1, with the identical quantity allowed once more throughout the marketing campaign. )

So here is one other TOP SECRET memo – all of them need to choose your baggage.

Don Braid’s column seems commonly within the Herald.

Twitter: @DonBraid