Gerry Nicholls recommends Conservatives angry at Harper after his Manning Centre conference speech should join "Homeless Cons", a site for those conservative-minded who do not feel at home in conservative parties. I won't.
In every house there's house rules, and Harper is adamant that his rules be respected in his Party. Thus "I am Stephen Harper, thy Prime Minister, and thou shall have no other Prime Ministers before me". No wonder. Small-c and libertarian conservatives should, more constructively, organize within the Tory party and get their own faction leader.
I cite the Tory Reform Group, who can be defined as the libertarian wing of the UK Conservative party. They are notoriously at odds with the rest of UK Tories over Europe, being much less Euro-skeptic than their peers. Yet they remain loyal Tories and work constructively through speeches and publications to promote a more favorable view of the EU within the party. Their influence has dwindled in past years, yet most of them are still Tory members and voters.
That's what we've got to do too. Instead of claiming being orphans we should recognize who is top dog right now (Stephen Harper), organize into a loyal faction and have our voice heard within the party. When push comes to shove a credible faction leader can lay a strong leadership bid. Just because we don't agree with our current leader doesn't mean we're not welcome. In time our effort, loyalty and work can pay off with a leader from our ranks.
Homeless Cons may give some the comfort of knowing they're not alone in their disillusionment. It is not a surrogate for changing Party policy. If the libertarians go, their ideas will be confined to the "Theory" drawer. Between sulking and grinding, I choose the latter.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
House rules
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7 comments:
Nice post, Luca. I wholeheartedly agree. The best way for Conservatives who have problems with the way PMSH runs the party is to be engaged in the process. The alternative is the fractioned right wing which elected successive Liberal governments for thirteen years - yuck.
Remember, whether you're cut from the libertarian, social conservative, or Red Tory cloth, PMSH is far better than any of the alternatives.
What do you think about a more (shudder) American style of party politics in which the primaries have so much more meaning?
We already have them, almost. Our candidates are democratically selected by the riding associations, therefore the PM is kind-of chosen through a quasi-primary system on a day-to-day basis.
I wouldn't say no to the Parliamentary caucus thinning the leadership candidate field to two or three, and then letting the membership decide in a postal ballot. That's how the UK tories go about it, and David cameron is about to walk into 10 Downing Street.
Just a thought
Luca:
It seems to me that the big difference between us and the Yanks is that here there isn't much grassroots participation in the leadership races (see Ignatieff). I think part of that is because the leadership races don't happen at predictable times, but rather only when the current leader steps down. I would suggest a full-bore leadership campaign for each party all at the same time, say, every four years or so.
Not sure if I like your idea of the parliamentary caucus thinning the herd. That may propagate the "old boys club" image of the caucuses.
Have a good one,
Scary
At the same time a ballot with more than three names on it would look fairly intimidating.
If a party gets a good leader then he or she should be able to stay as long as the party wishes. Why would one rally for changes in the party when someone in 4 years time will undo it all?
You have to be nuts or at least borderline liberal to think your going to get a better world leader than PM Harper.Any infighting amongst Conservatives is coming from the likes of Joe Clark and his red tories,still jealous that they stupidly lost power to the Liberals after only what? 5 months.Still some of that group around and guys like Nichols who likes to create the illusion that he is Conservative.You want the country to go down the tubes fast,listen to these crack pots,if you want stable ,honest government back PM Harper and do what he says,he is not doing most of the speaking on the big issue (finance) for the fun of it.He is an economist and i must say is well versed in the finances of the world and how Canada is doing financially compared to other countries.Get away from the MSM fear mongering in this country and some of the supposed big bank money men who still (while making billions in profit) keep repeating the Liberal mantra of fear.Dont forget a lot of these men were appointed by the Liberals and are out to get PM Harper,they are not going to agree with what he says even if we had an increase of 10% gdp,they would say it wont last and we are on the road to ruin if we dont give 12% gdp to the poor countries.They are driven by doom and gloom and the Liberal lust for power.So pick your side carefully.
"Free Thinking"?
Hmm. So, the point is that getting power is job #1, and then, if you have that, then you can "influence" your party relative to any concerns you have.
Ok.. well, I'll say "no".
If the emperor is wearing no clothes, it is only the sycophant or the ignorant dogmatic that will refuse to tell him so. I am neither.
So - I'll go on publicly questioning the things that I believe are wrong - Conservative, Liberal or otherwise.
You miss my point entirely.
Independently of whether we are in power or not, libertarians have more chances of influencing the CPC from within than from outside. I don't think Harper is God Almighty or the only Tory who can win an election. But I surely don't want to undermine his leadership, because so far he's done a good job as PM and he has the blessing of the majority of the CPC caucus.
I question the Government's decisions and its policies, it doesn't mean I am running away claiming I'm a political orphan. I won't cheerlead blindly, and neither will you.
But we shouldn't estrange ourselves just because our current leader doesn't do as we say.
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