I checked Election Canada’s website and there is still no announcements about a general election. Yet, the conservative party is sponsoring ads to discredit Dion.
What’s going on? It’s not enough that they bug us every 4 years, without counting minority governments, now they want to annoy us between elections!
I think that this might be a very bad tactics because it shows their fear of Dion and thus validates him as a leader of the liberals and as a potential PM.
The ads are being run now because the minute an election is called, the new rules kick in. Every party only gets to spend a certain amount of cash on ads, so they better be good ones.
The ads ran, a poll got done and surprise! Shows the Tories with a 5% lead at 34%, a big gain. But it also shows they don’t have the support to win a majority, you need to poll close to 40% for that.
I think the biggest surprise out of the last poll was that the GREENS bumped the BQ for #4. On environment it went NDP, LIB, TORY showing that all this enviro-fuss helped the Greens most of all.
Layton took 'most charasmatic’
Harper 'most decisive and best leader’
Dion 'milquetoast of the month’
Prtly because of people like me I think. I’d never, ever, in 1,000 years vote Tory. But I grudgingly respect Harper for his ability so far to keep the dinosaurs in check, and still drop the seeds of evil into everything even with a minority.
Agreed. I’ll never vote Tory, but, I’ll concede that Harper is a good leader of his party. The Liberals have their work cut out for them if they’re going to unseat the Conservatives from power.
I don’t know what you guys imply about Harper being a good leader.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
I mean, is he a good leader because he rules autocratically ( which, in my opinion isn’ t what a leader is supposed to do but might be what you think a leader is supposed to do)?
Is he a good leader because he doesn’t appear in a bad way on TV ( thanks ot the press relations people)?
Is he a good leader because the tory ads say that Dion isn’t?
Good leader as he must do what the party wants, but has shown the ability to prioritize. As far as delegating, he sux, but how do you delegate to cavemen who will ruin everything in 5 minutes?
How am I supposed to know if Dion is a good leader, he has only been leader a month?
I mean running ads that he’s not a good leader before the House even sits?
Duhh!
(sums up my whole opinion of capital C conservatives)
He is a good leader of his party. That is, he’s a smart politician who is making the most of his present situation, and he marshals his troops well. That does not in any way imply that I agree with his policies. I don’t. The policies of the conservatives are not in alignment what is is needed for the environment, education, or health care. Furthermore, I am very uncomfortable with Harper’s warm relationship with President Bush ( I find it nauseatingly similar to the Mulroney/Reagan love fest). Harper isn’t tough enough with Bush. Thank God Chretien was in power when Bush invaded Iraq.
I wanted you and herbie to qualify your observations, hence my questions. Political leadership is so much tied to appearances in the media nowadays that I can’t really tell if what we see from Harper is really what is happening. There might be very strong internal fighting within closed doors but we won’t see much of that. Remember when Chretien and Martin were at odds? I bet you that what we saw in the media was the tip of the iceberg.
I guess by those standards, he is a good leader to his party. And the fact that he can also influence greatly the party’s vision can make him a dangerous leader as well. Dubia, until fairly recently, could also be seen as a good leader using this description.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that we put so much importance on qualifying someone as a good or bad leader that this becomes more important that the policies he/she stands for.
Look at it this way: If a reporter from Global is walking the street and asks you if Harper is a good leader, you would say “Yes, but I don’t agree with his policies”. But think about the chances of the soundbite including anything else than “Yes”!
We need another way to qualify leadership, not only in terms of the party the person is leading but in terms of the whole country. Harper is supposed to be our leader. In that light, is he a good leader?
Nope not unless you’re Big C
You aren’t into jailing MiG cuz a computer got a pop-up, banning the teaching of evolution, recriminalizing homosexuality or shooting Grade 10s caught with a doobie, are you?
Yes, that’s why I was very careful to say Harper is a good leader of his party. He is. He is a shrewd politician. But, do I think he’s a good leader of Canada as a whole? No. I will never be a Conservative because I don’t agree with the party platform. Therefore I don’t think that Harper’s policies are good for Canadians.
I like Nathan Cullen, he’s a good man. The NDP is my party.
I remember sending an email to him about the fish farm issue. To my surprise, he replied back with a real reply, not a form letter. Later on, I emailed him a message wishing him Happy Holidays. He replied again and wish me the same.
In my book, that’s a classy guy.
We need more Cullens in this world. Even if they are not NDP, people with integrity and intelligence are needed in politics. I don’t know if it’s because of my left-leaning tendencies but it always seems to me that the Federal NDP has a higher percentage of people like Cullen. So why is it that the party doesn’t succeed more in it’s attempt to seize power? I’ll venture one reason: The Bloc takes most of the potential NDP vote away from them in Quebec.
Agreed. I’d like to see the Bloc’s political fortunes fade. One of the reasons why I think our party does poorly is that we’re not mainstream, middle of the road enough, we are possibly an unsafe alternative (in the eyes of the voting public), which is nonsense. The NDP takes a stance with hot button issues like the environment and we’re not afraid to piss off big business. I’ve voted strategically in the past, but, now I vote for the party that I think will do the best job…the NDP.
I really like the NDP, but, I have as much chance of being the next PM as Mr. Layton.
