Jarret rightly points out that Ignatieff is now targeting Western ridings in an attempt to rebuild the Liberal party fortunes. The Hill Times article he references is a fairly stark warning, albeit with a couple misconceptions, to the federal Tories.
The days of "Vote for me just because my ideas are good" are no longer, and we have an opponent who is prepared to fire his campaign machine selectively. To make matters more difficult (for us), Ignatieff is the kind of guy who recognizes that the Party has a problem, and has been doing so since Dion's leadership bid."God knows this party has made mistakes out in Western Canada and I know them," Mr. Ignatieff said. "We have to be honest enough with our neighbours and citizens to say, we didn't always get it right. We didn't always listen with respect. We didn't always understand what had to be done'."
I for one welcome Ignatieff's and Goodale's strategies. They show maturity and an appreciation of reality. Tories hold "crackable" ridings, which in the current situation are solely for us to lose. As we expand our reach toward a majority, every riding is precious. The Liberals, on the other hand, stand to gain a lot while risking little.
To borrow a "Yes, Prime Minister" quote, Iggy aims to slice our minority riding by riding, election after election. Keeping the Conservative Party in a weaker and weaker minority will help Grits and Dippers dictate policy and trigger elections when their campaign machines are ready for another knife touch to the Tory support bologna roll.
Am I the only one to see this both as dangerous to the CPC and a welcome change in Canadian political strategy? "Character assassination" as Dion called it has seen its heyday, as has slamming past mistakes and past policy proposals. Sure recalling broken "no-coalition" promises may catch a few people's attention, but if we are to resist the new Liberal selective fire we have to win on our own merits and out of our own skill, not the clumsiness of the Opposition.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Iggy's salami tactics
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7 comments:
'Am I the only one to see this both as dangerous to the CPC and a welcome change in Canadian political strategy?'
We in Western Canada have seem this movie before Luc,
3 times, with 3 different Liberal leaders since 2005.
Iffy says 'previous' Liberals made mistakes in Western Canada.
Yet, the current Iffy Liberals ALL signed the coalition agreement.
To add insult to injury,
Iffy kept the coaltition threat alive after His successful leadership coup,
put our PM on a short leash (the American tourist degraded a man with over 20 years service to Canada, I detest Iffy for that).
Yet Iffy himself, was the father of the Liberal carbon tax, and still wants one (a more Western friendly carbon tax, and Iffy still wants a national energy program, he said so)
You would have to have been here to feel/see the outrage over the coalition.
All new Liberal leaders do the suck up, until the inevitabe, when they have to choose between downtown Toronto/Quebec and the West.
The Liberal response will always be to attack WC to garner Eastern votes.
It's been that way since Trudeau.
A bouquet and chocolates from Iffy following His threat to take government with a coalition,is an insult.
Except when push came to shove and an actual decision was on the line and was his to make as leader, Ignatieff chose to abandon the coalition. Period.
The coalition was not ever going to become the government, as democratic and constitutional as that would have been. Jean showed she wanted Harper in power and would not have just handed over the reigns. Wilson is arguing against a strawman. A useful strawman for CPC fundraisers, but that is all.
The coalition was also useful for Canadians. As Ignatieff said it was the only thing that got Harper to pay attention to the majority in Parliament, to do something about the economy and to stop with the petty partisan BS. It also showed Harper to be just as much a power grabber as Dion and Layton, having to cancel a confidence vote he promised, cancel an opposition day he promised and cancel Parliament altogether just to save his own job.
Like I welcomed a strong credible united rightwing governing alternative when McKay broke his promise (promise breaking is a trend with the CPC) and joined forces with Harper, a strong credible united liberal governing alternative is good for Canada whatever your political stripe.
All that is left now is to squash the separatists and the socialists and see if there is any real conservatives in government anymore.
''Except when push came to shove and an actual decision was on the line and was his to make as leader, Ignatieff chose to abandon the coalition. Period.''
When push came to shove, Iffy chose to keep the coalition threat, and throw it in PMSHs face daily.
2 reasons Iffy backed down and did not defeat the government
1. there was no assurance the GG would NOT give PMSH an election, and Liberals can't afford a free lunch.
Let alone hit the campaign trail with an rookie American tourist.
2. fear of forming government, evidenced by Iffy refusing to contribute to the budget or stimulus package,
He wants PMSH to wear the recession,
later He wants government effortlessly handed to him on a silver platter, like the Roaylty he thinks he is,
just like his seat and the interm learship, swoop in like a vulture.
I believe Iffy would form a LibDipper coalition in a heartbeat.
Just doesn't want the separatist thing to deal with.
It is evident that PMSH is far far far the better choice to run this country,
even the LibLuvin' media are giving PMSH credit.
Perhaps the coalition of losers was what prompted PMSH to come out of his media shell,
and passionately lead Canadians thru these troubled times.
If that's the case, it was an unintended consequence of the coup, a good one.
I agree with Wilson and as a Westerner, Iggy, is not a Canadian.
Ted, can muse all he/she likes but the reality of the situation is, we pay attention to BU!!sh!T, out west.
We are smarter than to let a snake sneak out of the grass and bite us once again.
The opposition leaders, assistant shmoozer Goodale, was an architect of the coalition. He was willing to ignore the voices of Western Canada to gain back power.
Nope, not a chance.
Ted, you are dreaming in technicolor.
Goodale was also the Minister in charge when 6 Western Canadian grain farmers got thrown in jail for selling their grain off-board.
Jailed for doing what Eastern farmers do everyday, freely.
Is Iffy going to make the CWB voulntary?
Is Iffy going to kill the gun registry?
Is Iffy going to vote yes to adding seats in the West,
to limiting Senate terms...
Is Iffy going to denounce a carbon tax, and national energy program?
Iffy is full of that stuff he says he likes to smell.
I think folks like Wilson and Bec will prefer it when they are in opposition because then they can really release the anger and vitriol upon which they are built.
And opposition is coming soon for you, very soon precisely because of Conservative supporters like Wilson and Bec.
Here you have a Luca presenting a reasonable and very objective analysis of the state of Canadian politics and his assessment of what is good for the country. He is as he says "ambitious, stubborn and conservative" and yet he steps out of any kind of petty partisanship because he knows that clear sight and objectivity are what keeps you in power and gets your policies passed.
Wilson and Bec on the other hand are demonstrating exactly the kind of arrogance and disconnect with ordinary Canadians and sense of entitlement we saw with Liberals only three years ago (even more seats for the west? we must impose your preferred unconstitutional version of the senate even though the majority of Canadians oppose that? etc. etc. etc.).
In 2005, all Marin and the Liberals had left was attack and feeble attempts at framing Harper as scary and inexperienced. And we all know how that ended.
Good luck to you Luca. You have your work cut out for you with many in your party who prefer to think they are entitled to power and don't have to constantly earn it from Canadians.
You are always welcome on our side of the fence. That is where the momentum is.
I welcome the invitation but I doubt you will see me on the other side of the fence anytime soon. I am confident that the Tories learned from past mistakes (and buy have they made many since September) and are ready to gear up for a fight with Ignatieff.
It will take a lot of maturity. And despite what we hold almost certain about Westerners, they do not like to be taken for granted (e.g. Edmonton-Strathcona). Iggy isn't taking them for granted at all imho.
The Liberals can't lose downtown Toronto and Montreal anytime soon. Therefore it is safe for them to expand into Tory territory and keep us in check and on our toes. I like it, because this means the campaign will be energetic and fun. I am also hopeful of a third Harper victory :)
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