Can the Conservatives turn things around?
Frankly, I don't think so. Not with the current gaggle of idiots running the show. They have been stuck at about 26% in the polls for what seems to be an eternity, and it doesn't look like things are going to get better anytime soon.
From my previous postings I am sure that you can detect my intense dislike for the Liberals (in both their Provincial and Federal manifistations) - the Liberal party stands for nothing apart from keeping the Liberal party in power. They shamelessly "lead" by sticking up a finger to see which way the winds are blowing - and then proudly charge off to wherever public opinion seems to be pointing them - and damn the costs! They'll spend whatever they have to - out of yours and my pockets, mind you - to keep themselves enthroned. To them there is no problem that can't be solved through endless talk and a huge spending announcement. That nothing ever gets accomplished, and none of the problems they address are ever solved, should be clue number one that this approach is, perhaps, not all that it is cracked up to be - but I digress. Suffice it to say that the Liberal practise of lying with every word they utter, and their mastery of vote buying, both sickens and saddens me - and this mostly because of its continued success.
As much as I dislike (ok, loathe) the Liberals - I can't see the current incarnation of the Conservatives making a run and convincing the finicky Ontario electorate (and lets face it, this is where the next election will be won or lost) that they would make an effective government.
First - I, like many other Conservative supporters, have been waiting for Harper & the gang to get off the corruption issue (we know the Liberals are corrupt lying bastards - we don't really need to be reminded every five minutes - as a matter of fact, the Liberals seem pretty good at reminding us of this on a daily basis), and start to tell us how they will govern. You know, like announcing some actual policies - and not just any policies, but policies that actually differentiate them from the Libs - not just policies that are Lib-Lite. Too often, the Conservatives seem to be running away from their own name, content to announce how if the Liberals are spending X on an issue, why, we'll spend X+another gazillion, and we'll be able to do this because the Liberals are corrupt! This does not raise ones confidence that they will have either the strength or political will to attack the very serious issues facing Canada - all the issues that Martin & the Liberals think can be solved by just throwing buckets of cash around, and which require more thoughtful solutions.
Take health care for instance - surely an issue that requires more thought and creativity than just another spending announcement. Instead, what do we hear from Harper? That the spending deals with the provinves will be honoured, or even bettered. Instead of opening up the debate by talking honestly about options to introduce a greater mix of private delivery into the system (which, contrary to the rhetoric from Jack Layton & Paul Martin, Canadians actually support - anywhere from 30-50% according to many public opinion polls), we get luke-warm announcements that are so clearly designed to ensure that the Conservatives are not seen as "scary", that they have the opposite effect and play into the lefts constant claims about a frightening Conservative "hidden agenda".
Now, to be fair, the deck is stacked against them somewhat, given that any type of honest debate on any issue is nearly impossible in Canada. The daily spectacle of Question period is certainly no place to seriously debate any issue (the whole thing being nothing more than political theatre), and the "debates" during an election are certainly nothing of the sort - they are just a forum for the party leaders to shout at each other to see who can get the best sound bite.
Its clearly time to start talking about what a Conservative government would do - and more importantly what fresh thinking they will bring in their approach to governing - otherwise, I fear we will be faced with another round of Mr. Dithers playing hand puppet to Jack! & the dippers - and since their goal seems to be to spend Canada into oblivion, I am not comforted by this prospect. Start to lead - by opening up the debate, taking it into new directions (although, this has proven to be dangerous in the past - but given the lack of success of the current strategy, would taking a stab at honest debate be any worse??)
Anyway - as this ramble shows, I am not at all happy with the performance of the Conservatives, and come election time, if they keep this up, I am not expecting a breakthrough. They seen to be squandering the opportunity thats been presented to them by Paul "I want to be all things to all people" Martin, and I fear that unless they stop running scared they are going to run themselves right back to where they are now - in Opposition.
From my previous postings I am sure that you can detect my intense dislike for the Liberals (in both their Provincial and Federal manifistations) - the Liberal party stands for nothing apart from keeping the Liberal party in power. They shamelessly "lead" by sticking up a finger to see which way the winds are blowing - and then proudly charge off to wherever public opinion seems to be pointing them - and damn the costs! They'll spend whatever they have to - out of yours and my pockets, mind you - to keep themselves enthroned. To them there is no problem that can't be solved through endless talk and a huge spending announcement. That nothing ever gets accomplished, and none of the problems they address are ever solved, should be clue number one that this approach is, perhaps, not all that it is cracked up to be - but I digress. Suffice it to say that the Liberal practise of lying with every word they utter, and their mastery of vote buying, both sickens and saddens me - and this mostly because of its continued success.
As much as I dislike (ok, loathe) the Liberals - I can't see the current incarnation of the Conservatives making a run and convincing the finicky Ontario electorate (and lets face it, this is where the next election will be won or lost) that they would make an effective government.
First - I, like many other Conservative supporters, have been waiting for Harper & the gang to get off the corruption issue (we know the Liberals are corrupt lying bastards - we don't really need to be reminded every five minutes - as a matter of fact, the Liberals seem pretty good at reminding us of this on a daily basis), and start to tell us how they will govern. You know, like announcing some actual policies - and not just any policies, but policies that actually differentiate them from the Libs - not just policies that are Lib-Lite. Too often, the Conservatives seem to be running away from their own name, content to announce how if the Liberals are spending X on an issue, why, we'll spend X+another gazillion, and we'll be able to do this because the Liberals are corrupt! This does not raise ones confidence that they will have either the strength or political will to attack the very serious issues facing Canada - all the issues that Martin & the Liberals think can be solved by just throwing buckets of cash around, and which require more thoughtful solutions.
Take health care for instance - surely an issue that requires more thought and creativity than just another spending announcement. Instead, what do we hear from Harper? That the spending deals with the provinves will be honoured, or even bettered. Instead of opening up the debate by talking honestly about options to introduce a greater mix of private delivery into the system (which, contrary to the rhetoric from Jack Layton & Paul Martin, Canadians actually support - anywhere from 30-50% according to many public opinion polls), we get luke-warm announcements that are so clearly designed to ensure that the Conservatives are not seen as "scary", that they have the opposite effect and play into the lefts constant claims about a frightening Conservative "hidden agenda".
Now, to be fair, the deck is stacked against them somewhat, given that any type of honest debate on any issue is nearly impossible in Canada. The daily spectacle of Question period is certainly no place to seriously debate any issue (the whole thing being nothing more than political theatre), and the "debates" during an election are certainly nothing of the sort - they are just a forum for the party leaders to shout at each other to see who can get the best sound bite.
Its clearly time to start talking about what a Conservative government would do - and more importantly what fresh thinking they will bring in their approach to governing - otherwise, I fear we will be faced with another round of Mr. Dithers playing hand puppet to Jack! & the dippers - and since their goal seems to be to spend Canada into oblivion, I am not comforted by this prospect. Start to lead - by opening up the debate, taking it into new directions (although, this has proven to be dangerous in the past - but given the lack of success of the current strategy, would taking a stab at honest debate be any worse??)
Anyway - as this ramble shows, I am not at all happy with the performance of the Conservatives, and come election time, if they keep this up, I am not expecting a breakthrough. They seen to be squandering the opportunity thats been presented to them by Paul "I want to be all things to all people" Martin, and I fear that unless they stop running scared they are going to run themselves right back to where they are now - in Opposition.
posted by Steve at
7:46 PM
3 Comments:
you seemed to have forgotten that before any party can govern they must get elected...getting elected by formulating policy can be dangerous and as meaningfull platforms are easy targets that can be twisted by your opponents. Having no platform , only rhectoric is much safer. The electorate can't handle all the BS shovelled upon them at election time and come up with rationale decisions so generally they go with their gut feelings...which one of the party leaders looks and sounds like someone you can trust..so far the liberals have come up with the guy who looks the part...despite the facts..
By
Anonymous, at 2:44 PM
your mother says that you should be in favour of free medical care as your father seems to require more care than we could possibly afford...
By
Anonymous, at 2:47 PM
Oh, I agree, formulating policy can be dangerous, but I believe at this point it can hardly be more dangerous than the vacuum that exists now.
The current situation, which makes the Cons look extremely reactive rather than proactive, just feeds into the whole mythology about a "scary" hidden agenda. Better they articulate some actual policies than allow windbags like Martin to mount their many rhetorical attacks.
Now, of course, I realize that this is also niave, in that articulating policy & positions will in no way kick off any kind of actual debate within the country - as I stated previously, for a variety of reasons, any type of actual debate in Canada is impossible. Instead, we could just expect two entrenched sides to lob verbal grenades at one another. I would HOPE that we could engage in meaningful debate, and that voters would make rational choices based on careful consideration and thought, but I am well aware that this is a pipe dream...
By
Steve, at 3:18 PM
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