[Bruce_the_vii]

Liberal support polled at 25% this week. Ignatieff is below Dion’s election results of 28%. Behind Dion. The pundits are saying his message is “unfocused”. The deficit is huge and Ignatieff needs to establish his deficit fighting credentials. Instead he is talking deficit but at the same time talking social programs, Liberal philosophy. And he’d have an election on that basis. For the foreseeable future there’s no money. He's thinking maybe he can win an election with razz ma tazz. However, I have three letters from the shadow cabinet on deficit issues which are something of leaks. Their affected language hints that the deficit is not being properly discussed in the shadow cabinet. Ignatieff is talking deficit alright, but listening - no. He's lecturing. Same old for the Liberals, Ottawa in general. He has already reaped the reward, as the population has some idea of this intuitively and turned thumbs down on the Liberals at this time. He can correct his mistake and recover by spring but if he goes into denial he’ll be a national disaster.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=4562

[Bruce_the_vii]

Ignatieff was brought in from America as a world class intellectual. He promised if not a flashy personality at least some intellectual charisma. The Liberals are tooting their brand as "We can do better". After a year in the job Ignatieff has dropped to Liberal razz ma tazz, social program nation building. There are going to be no smarter ideas, savvy cuts and appropriate hot button issues from him. He is going to continue to bore the pants off of Canadian voters. That's what he's got.

It's odd but the demise of Ignatieff isn't topical on CKA. Now the Liberals will have to stuggle with a dead weight leader until he departs.

[ridenrain]

[Gunnair]

There was a clip of Jack talking in the house. It was surprisingly measured and didn't seem to make a huge amount of political hay.

[Bruce_the_vii]

Good clip, I'm glad I saw that. People diss the CBC and Rex Murphy but that piece hit all the notes.

What the pundits in the newspaper were quoted as is that Ignatieff's message is "unfocused". He's been talking about the environment and that at the expense the emergency the economy represents. Actually it's Ignatieff that is "unfocused", not just his message. What the pundits are not saying yet, but I can make out, is that he's estranged from his own caucus. Ottawa will continue to be an amateur show.

[Bruce_the_vii]

I was thinking about how the politics of the new deficit is going to work out and decided for one there is going to be no discussion of it in public by the politicians.

I read Bill Clinton's memoirs and he describes dealing with a deficit in Arkansa when he was governor. His Finance Minister rewrote the budget 5 times. It's very difficult. Until you are faced with penciling cuts to departments repeatedly you have no clear idea.

Ignatieff is campaigning on the basis the Flaherty made some major miscalculations. That maybe so but he has little idea what he'll do come budget day. The public will be in the dark for the next several years.