Friday, December 19, 2008

Masters of the Oblivious

The moment the Grand Coalition Grandé© was announced, the Liberal polling numbers went south and stayed there. So much for parliamentary global warming.

The Liberals quickly changed leaders. They simply brought the existing process to conclusion, much to nobody's surprise. Professor Dion's late contribution to Canada's Worst Video Award demonstrated that everything the Conservative attack ads had insinuated about his lack of leadership ability was, well.... totally true.

Of the two primary challengers for the job, Bob Rae's expressed support for the coalition, his failure to attract new memberships, and deep memories in Ontario for his time as premier was combining for a not so successful leadership bid.

Seizing the moment, the party pushed the Tourist Ignatieff into the top spot. The penniless, led by the unknown; a Pied Piper redux.

Liberals have a new leader but an empty bank account. Their fund raising is pathetic. The ever increasing voter subsidy is rewarded with ever decreasing votes. Just the threat to eliminate the subsidy is enough to panic their bankers. Their enthusiasm for Unite-the-Left has been a popular disaster.

And for all of this it is Stephen Harper who is perceived to be weak. Party knives are out. The Conservatives have lost Quebec.
Their management on the economy is dismal. They have abused Parliament. Fluffy bunnies and tiny kittens are starving.

Santa Stephen will not bring me a pony for Christmas. Boohoohhoo!

If an election was held today, Harper and the Conservatives would emerge with a large majority.

Liberals would be wiped out, west of the Manitoba Quebec border.

Merry Christmas to Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. May the coming year be as successful as this last year has turned out.

(Oh and Jack Layton, all that coal Santa was to put in your stocking was returned due to the immediate CO² threat. The elves replaced it with hot air, something they knew you and the media masters would appreciate.)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

What's your Credit Score?

The media has failed to notice a secondary impact on Liberal party funding from the economic update.



By simply by suggesting the elimination of the voter subsidy, Harper
has effectively stopped the Liberals from BORROWING. They now have to
convince their banker that they can WIN an election in order to use the
voter subsidy as collateral.



Bankers can read polls, too.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

I Welcome Our Iggy Overlord

Irrespective of all the bravado on his first day, the question that remains is: Can the Liberals afford an election?

Apparently they could not afford a leadership race. The parliament crisis became a convenient smokescreen to resolve that issue. The May convention will simply disappear.

Ignatieff will continue to talk tough; talk is free and the media will soak it up and it should improve party donations. But come January 27th, if the poll numbers are still south, Iggy will vote with the Conservatives knowing full well that the Liberals cannot fund a quick election or ever win a later one after being carried by the coalition for any period of time.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Oopps

In my previous post I mistakenly transcribed an interview between Mike Duffy and Tom Clark. My bad, the actual interview was between Mike Duffy and Ken Shaw. My apologies to both tom Clark and Ken Shaw.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The Bottom Line: "Liberals couldn't fund it, even if they wanted to."

Mike Duffy's comments on Bob Rae dropping out of the Liberal leadership race....

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip120231#clip120231

Tom Clark and Mike Duffy on CTV News at 6:00;

Tom Clark: I know Bob Rae did the math, he knew that he could not win, but when he believes in something he speaks so eloquently, so passionately about it, yesterday arguing so vociferously about the need for grassroots democracy, about the party members picking the party leader. Today, exit stage left?


Mike Duffy: The Nation executive said "OK, Bob, yes we'll have a vote of riding presidents and so on and we will do it next Wednesday or Thursday". So there was no time for Bob Rae to go out coast to coast and meet all kinds of grassroots liberals and bring them on side, no time to sell memberships; a big part of his winning strategy, had he had four or five months to do it, was bring new people in, environmentalists, social activists, trade unionists, to bring them into the Liberal tent because he is a popular figure with those people, and have them become Liberals and vote for him. He didn't have the time to do that, so he recognized today he better get out.

Clark: One of things he spoke to the media today about, and I'm sure you heard it before, but he reiterated that regardless of what is in the budget on Jan 26th, he wants it voted down. I've heard same thing from NDP, but is that really the message the coalition wants to put out because then it looks like it's only about grabbing power, and then, by the way, is there any point in the Government consulting the Oppositon for budget input, when that is the answer?

Duffy: Well, the Prime Minister said this afternoon he want to get input, particularly from Liberals, on the budget, and the reason Bob Rae is so hard in favour of getting in to this deal with the coalition, and he signed the paper, was that he was hoping some of those NDPers would come across and vote for him as Liberal party leader. Now that he is no longer in the leadership race I think you'll see Michael Ignatieff growing his own vote, and this whole thing about an election at the end of January, first of February, we've checked all the math: Liberals couldn't fund it, even if they wanted to. It's got to be at least six month down the road before they get their rebates from the federal government that they could consider going to an election.






So provoking a constitutional crisis really is all about the $1.95 subsidy, about returning to the government benches without spending any money, because the Liberals are broke. How desparate can you get?


Monday, December 08, 2008

Class Dismissed!

So Liberals ditch one professor as leader but appear to be ready to hire another.

Academia rules.

They just have not got the tenure part sorted out quite yet.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

The Liberal Dilemma


They have no money to fight an election.

The coalition was a CHEAP solution. Roll right into government where the NDP and Bloc would quickly support stimulus to party funding. Elections are important, so all campaign expenses should be taxpayer funded. Of course. Leaders are important, so .......

They have a rigid set of rules to determine leadership.

The Liberals committed under their constitution to a leadership
convention in May. I read somewhere that the delegate list must be
closed four months prior to the convention. Thus any leadership
contender must be declared by the end of December. No one could foresee fighting an election and leadership race concurrently. Modifications to those rules in the middle of a leadership race become part of the battle.

The current leadership race has become a cage match between Ignatief and Rae.

Think poor Stephane is simply caught in the middle of the leadership
race?

Picture Iggy whispering in one ear "Go, for the love of all
saints, Go!" and Bob in the other "Stay, for the love of Canada, Stay!"


Wonder why he cannot get a video out on time? "Go!", "Stay!", "Go!", "Stay!"

Drives poor Kyoto crazy.

As long as the Liberals cannot decide how to end this race, Dion is going nowhere.


Fighting an election while conducting a leadership battle would be a divisive.

They face a budget vote in early February. Canadians are making it
perfectly clear that a coalition government is not an alternate option.
Defeating the current government will force an election.

If they
manage to pick an "interim" leader by January, then they face potential
election in March. Picture campaigning with one interim leader while
the official leaders are campaigning for a convention vote in May.The
media would have a field day bouncing every campaign promise of the
'other' three leaders. Voters would be understandably confused as to
who is actually speaking for the Liberals.

If they pick one of
the three current candidates, then that individual could be considered
to have the inside track. The other two would be irresistibly drawn to
spin every announcement. Do we think this would work any better?  

Back
in October, none of this mattered. Dion was considered irrelevant to
the leadership process. When the coalition plan surfaced last week,
Dion became a big deal, primarily because Canadians stood up to
criticize the coalition. We had made it clear that Dion was not to be
trusted with the keys to 24 Sussex.

Layton's dance with the Devil.

As I have posted previously, the Magic 86 was toxic to Liberal ambitions. Slipping from Official Opposition to last place would create major image problems. They were drawn like moths to the flame.

All the Liberals would need to justify the coalition with the Bloc would be provocation from the Evil Conservatives. Harper's still 'Secret Agenda' always trumps the Bloc's open agenda, no?

Canadian are not happy with the coalition idea.


The media repeatedly tells us we do not want another election.

We are supposed to accept the Bloc because Quebecois are too sensitive to accept rejection.

We are told that the party leader who received the fewest voters ever for his party less than two month ago is now the right man for the job.

Who would predict that the bully who drove the Liberals into the arms of the socialists and separatists would be polling in majority territory never before seen. How fair is that?


Who would of guess ordinary Canadian would object so forcefully?


Mr Harper, my friend, on January 26th, feel free to introduce the most right wing budget ever imagined. A budget that would make Genghis Khan blush.

Then find me a Liberal that would have the guts to vote it down.





 

  

Friday, December 05, 2008

Memo To the ROC, from Ontario Part Deux

COMPAS: CPC 51, LPC 20, NDP 10, BQ 8, GPC 6

48% have confidence in Stephen Harper as Prime Minister in the current economic climate compared to 14% for Michael Ignatieff in second place, 11% for NDP leader Jack Layton, 8% for Stephane Dion, 4% for Bob Rae, and 3% for Gilles Duceppe;

We remember

Feeling Lucky, Punks?

New polls show huge Tory gains:


COMPAS: CPC 51, LPC 20, NDP 10, BQ 8, GPC 6


Ipsos: CPC 46, LPC 23, NDP 13, BQ 9, GPC 8




Ekos: CPC 44, LPC 24, NDP 15, BQ 9, GPC 8

Memo To the ROC, from Ontario

There is a simple reason why the Conservatives currently poll 22 points ahead of the Liberals in Ontario.



It is not about Dion, who we just find irritating.

It is not really about the Bloc, who we dislike.

We remember Bob Rae.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Repeating the Mistakes of History....

One message Canadians sent the Liberals on October 14th was they did not want Stephane Dion as
Prime Minister.



From Bourque

Ipsos: CPC 46, LPC 23, NDP 13, BQ 9, GPC 8


Ekos: CPC 44, LPC 24, NDP 15, BQ 9, GPC 8



Do we have to yell a little louder?




62 Percenter

Jack Layton says 62% of Canadian did not vote for Stephen Harper.

Form Bourque

Ipsos: CPC 46, LPC 23, NDP 13, BQ 9, GPC 8


Ekos: CPC 44, LPC 24, NDP 15, BQ 9, GPC 8


Keep talking Jack.

Oh and in case your interested, I have some great swamp for sale.



Bwahahahaha!


Yes, There is a God

Somewhere, Liberals are saying, Yes, there is a God!

Expect Dion to take a quick cold walk.

The Liberals will find an adult as interim leader.

They have six weeks to purge to mess they have created.

The rest of us will enjoy a politics free holiday season.






All I want for Christmas.....

Weeee....no politics till January. Thank You Stephen Harper. Merry Christmas.

Any bets Stephane will take the cold Christmas walk?

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Lights! Camera! Actio...err...where's Dion?


Transcript of missing footage from Dions address to the Nation, found on the CTV studio floor


Anounce: Citizens, the Rt. Honourable Stephanie Dion, Ready to Leed!

"wait...lets start over..."

Honourable Citizens, the Rt. Honourable Stephanie Dion,Ready to lede!

"no, no, start over"

Fellow Citizens, the Rt. Honourable Stephanie Dion,Ready to Lead!

"wait, wait, what do you mean lead? Like tomorrow, or next year, or last week? When do I start?"

Citizens, the Rt. Honourable Stephanie Dion,Ready to Lead Now!

"now? do you mean now today, or next week now?"


Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Magic 86

The current constitutional challenge is all in the math.




As Parliament currently stands, the Liberals have 77 sitting members.

Combined, the NDP and Bloc total 86. If they unite, they become Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Stornoway, baby!

Liberals cannot let that happen. At. any. cost.

Natural Governing Party. Bad being Official Opposition. Badder being also ran. All the perks, privileges, media attention, points of order gone.

Apparently the NDP/Bloc talks have been going on for awhile. Makes a good marriage to my mind. Seperatism is dead, Charest is cruising to a federalist majority, and Duceppe has been tagged to replace Marois at the helm of the PQ. The Bloc needs a new opportunity. Layton, on the other hand, would sell his grandmother to the devil for his 15 minutes. A match made in Heav, er, Hell.

But Liberals panicked when they realized the implication of these nuptuals.

Memo to the Governor General

Governor General Jean,



You need to stop this government charade.



Seven weeks ago the country voted on a new Parliament. We elected a
minority Conservative government. You only delivered the Throne Speech
a few days ago. Your Loyal Opposition approved of that speech and the
plans contained within. Suddenly and without warning, the Opposition
has decided to withhold their confidence. 



The country has not had an opportunity to evaluate the political,
economic, and social impact of the current goverment, or that of the
new coalition. 



We face serious economic troubles. Serious trouble requires serious
decisions. Instead we have the clear losers of the peoples confidence
playing political gamesmanship.



No doubt under constitutional law you  can let them form a government.
But is was only seven short weeks ago when the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc
had the opportunity to present their program and the votors turned it
down. Now, collectively and without the will of the people, they have
decided to impose their ideas on the country. The people deserve to
evaluate the implications of this imposed change.



Send this charade back to the people. If we agree that this sudden
coalition has merit to deal with issues the country faces, then let the
people elect this new government.