With so many EDA's gearing up to either nominate a candidate or to build support for the next election I thought I would provide a few good ideas for door-to-door canvass in your riding.

The GPC has been in the news more often than normal as of late. Much of it has been positive saying that this is a signal of improvement after thequestionable (read bad) decision to run in Central Nova. Most of it has been self appointed experts explaining why they know (read wildly speculate) that Elizabeth will most certainly lose in this or that riding. Finally some of it has been downright negative.

The question however isn't necessarily "why is this coverage bad?" but "where is this bad coverage coming from?"

So I blogged earlier today about a very good book I was reading I just wanted to apply one of its examples to the Green Party message of saving money through energy efficiency.

We routinely tell voters that by simply being more energy efficient they can save up to $x. For our purposes lets say $x is $500.

The idea that by simply being smarter with energy use will gain us $500 is attractive enough but this message is only half as effective as it could be. People respond to loss far more than gain so if we wanted to get a better return from this message instead of saying,

I'm reading a book that often times is and probably always be the policy perspective taken by the GPC. Nudge is the title of the book its by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein.

Yep I said it. Apparently it's impossible for Green bloggers and those who comment on Green blogs to say it.

I just don't understand how these people are so certain that they know what is best and that Elizabeth May cannot make a good decision. For some reason they glance towards outdated polling and past election results and think that they have better information than the GPC. The GPC has access to all the same information they do as well they have been polling in these ridings.

Yesterday I wrote a blog asking Elizabeth to run in Ontario. I do however think that if the polling data shows that running in Saanich-Gulf Islands would be a better choice and if Elizabeth is more comfortable running against a Conservative rather than a Liberal then she should run there.

Either way I hope that even the most critical Greens will understand that once the decision has been announced that it's all hands on deck to ensure she is a elected. Whether you like her or not it is clear that electing her would be a huge win for the party.

Dear Elizabeth May,
Please run in Ontario!
- Dave

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I've mentioned this many times already but will mention it again, last week Elizabeth May announced her short list of ridings where she may seek a seat in the next election.

On this list there are two Ontario ridings (Guelph and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) and while I don't have access to the GPC's polling data (and therefore pretend to know what the best riding is) I do think she should pick one of the two.

Elizabeth May was in the National Post today as well. Again a positive story with their own analysis of where she would have the best shot.

Of course I've learned that when reading National Post articles online that you can't read the comments. Of course people who spend time to comment on NP articles probably aren't voting for us anyway. Ditto for avid Sun readers.

So I've noticed Elizabeth May popping up in newspapers (including two storied today in the Chronicle Herald one about her short list and the other about the tar pounds cleanup) and blogs fairly often lately. As many of you know she announced her short list (of ridings she is considering running in next election) last week.

In the latest EKOS poll the Conservatives have retaken the top spot. While I'm sure these number will fluctuate between now and late September I'm sure this news takes some wind out of the sails of Liberals eager for the 41st General Election.