Liberals don't get it

This is one of the funniest articles I've ever read. Den Tandt is praising Harper and the Conservatives? WTF? He (they) faced the least likable Liberal leader, poorest Liberal party and most disorganized campaign probably since Confederation and he gets praise? If anything, this election shows Harper's (and possibly the Conservative Party) inability to ever win a majority again.

Twist n Spin.

This comment sums it up best:

"3 days ago every Liberal in the country was telling us that Dion was the best choice and deserved our votes. Today they are saying that he is not even fit to lead the Liberal party."

Is it about ideas and a vision for Canada or is it just about winning and staying in power?

Like I said in another thread, you tell me. What's Harper's vision? What are his ideas? It's pretty clear his campaign was nothing more than "you don't switch horses in mid-stream."

The green shift was visionary. Whether you think it was salvation or damnation, you have to admit that it would have been a radical departure from the way we do things now, and a reimagining of Canada. What did Harper offer? A removal of taxation on the child care benefit. Oooh, creative. Tax cuts. A steady hand on the economy. Real visionary. Change nothing.

If there is ANYONE in politics today whose sole aim is gaining and maintaining power for power's sake, it's Harper.

Hurley, sounding bitter mate.
Harper is the most popular politician in Canada.
More people voted for him and his party than any other person or party in Canada. Whether it riles you or not, those are the stark facts.

The cons aren't going to make it public but under Harper they had an election loss, a bare minority win, and now against the weakest Liberal opposition in memory a left vote split between 3 parties more then a few people will cast their eyes at Harper.

http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/518343



Thats not spin, thats reality. Other Tories will want their shot and want to get it before momentum swings back to the liberals as it inevitably will.

Most popular politician in Canada compared to whom? Dion? You guys have been tearing him down since he was chosen as leader. Do you really want that to be your benchmark? That's like saying a Porsche is a better car than a Lada or a Yugo. Yea, it's true, but it really doesn't say much. Or are you saying that Dion was a real leader of a viable party all along?

Fact is that in 15 years since the PCs were expunged, 143 seats is still the best you've managed, and at a time where the Liberals were led by one of if not the worst leader they've ever chosen, at a time where the Liberals captured the second worst percentage of the vote they've ever captured (vs. 1984), and the second worst seat count they've ever captured (vs. 1867).

In 1984, Mulroney took over 50% of the popular vote, one of the few legitimate majorities we've ever seen. In 1867, Macdonald won a majority. And yet Harper still has a minority parliament to contend with. THOSE are the facts.

Most popular politician in Canada compared to whom? Dion? You guys have been tearing him down since he was chosen as leader. Do you really want that to be your benchmark? That's like saying a Porsche is a better car than a Lada or a Yugo. Yea, it's true, but it really doesn't say much. Or are you saying that Dion was a real leader of a viable party all along?

Fact is that in 15 years since the PCs were expunged, 143 seats is still the best you've managed, and at a time where the Liberals were led by one of if not the worst leader they've ever chosen, at a time where the Liberals captured the second worst percentage of the vote they've ever captured (vs. 1984), and the second worst seat count they've ever captured (vs. 1867).

In 1984, Mulroney took over 50% of the popular vote, one of the few legitimate majorities we've ever seen. In 1867, Macdonald won a majority. And yet Harper still has a minority parliament to contend with. THOSE are the facts.

Says the Canadians who actually bothered to vote. Chretien did it with 39% of the vote when it was Reform and PC vote splitting. Now it's the left vote being split. Get used to it, it took us a decade to suss it out, maybe you lefties can sort it out quicker?
And worst leader? That's not what most of you guys were saying 4 days ago. Then he was the second coming.

The Tories ran a bad campaign and despite that they got a chunk more seats than last time.
Facts do seem to be bothering some of you these days.
After the partisan crap that was being posted here of late, it's time some of you became more realistic.

Actually Chretien did it in 93 with 41.3%, in 97 with 38.5% and in 2000 with 40.9%. Yes he did face a divided right which split the vote also he also faced the increasingly popular NDP siphoning votes from him.

Harper had every conceivable factor favouring him yet failed to produce a majority. Just as Dion will be held accountable for the Liberal performance so to will Harper and I'm sure their are more then a few who feel they may have done better.

I'm willing to bet Peter Mackay certainly thinks so.

Chretien did it even WITH some left-wing vote splitting. The NDP has always been there. And you still haven't "sussed it out." You still haven't won a majority, with no right-wing vote splitting. You'd thing with a left wing split ways, the threshold for a Conservative majority would be down somewhat, but it doesn't seem to.

The Tories won seats, but lost votes. Every party was down. The Tories lost 168737 votes, the Bloc dropped 173636, the NDP dropped 72522, and the Liberals dropped a whopping 849425. The Greens were up 276679, the only party to gain. This election was all about shedding the fewest votes, it seems. Call that spin if you want, but the party that lost the most this time, has the most to win back next time.

Oh stop being so bitter! The Tories were up 1% from last time. As Derby pointed out, the Liberals won large majorities with very similar polling figures.
The least shite party won. Now get over it and stop crying.

I'm not being bitter, I'm simply pointing out that 15 years after the PCs imploded, the right of centre has yet to produce a majority, even with the most fractured left wing we've seen in an even longer spn of time.



Up by percentage, but down in absolute votes. They simply lost fewer votes than the Liberals. Real achievement.



Right, so why couldn't the Conservatives?



Least shite is still shite.



I'm not crying. I'm laughing at the fact that even with your Glorious Leader Harper, the Liberals's non-leader Dion, a sizeable green party tht won no seats but diverted votes away from the Liberals, and teh best NDP showing since '88, you still come up 12 seats shy of a majority.

Far be it for me to disagree with you but when Martin won in 2004 the Conservatives certainly did not just get over it. He faced probably the hardest term of office in recent memory. He was continually attacked by an opposition that smelled blood and made every attempt possible to bring down his govt. political attacks on him from us forum rats and bloggers alike gave him no quarter in the least.

Why is it that now everybody simply expects the Liberals to simply shrug their shoulders, clap Harper on the back, and be on their merry way?

The voters have spoken. The country has decided that no one political party has the nuts to rule with a majority. The onus is now on Harper to make compromises on his platform in order to get support. The onus is on the oppositions to support the modified platform because the have even less public support.

The only question now is who will Harper woo for support? The Libs, NDP, or Bloc?

Bill Casey will be less then enthusiastic about supporting the very man who kicked him out but he will represent his riding with great passion, entirely why he was elected. (I'm sure Harper is regretting that descion).

Actually, that's not correct. The NDP support dropped during the 90's, from an all time high of 43 seats under Ed Broadbent in the 1988 election, to the point they were struggling just to keep official party status under Alexa Macdonaugh a few years later. John Turner could certainly claim that the NDP was a factor in the Liberal struggles of his era, but Chretien didn't have any such problem.




Absolutely right. The Tories and NDP were relentless in their attacks on Martin. It was all he could do to keep his government functioning, let alone enact new policies. But really, that's their job isn't it?



I don't think he'll go to any of them for support. More likely, he'll simply govern as he pleases and force the Liberals to support him, knowing full well they're in no place to fight an election for the next couple of years.

The Libs are in a tough spot. It would have been much better for them had the Tories won a clear Majority. That would have allowed them to go away, lick their wounds, choose a new leader, re-build their finances, all while allowing a pit-bull like Scott Brison or Gerard Kennedy to take shots at Harper in Question Period every day. In four years, they could return with a new platform, an invigorated party, and challenged for the big prize.

Now, they're going to have to keep rolling over everytime Harper threatens them, further destroying Caucus morale, and further eroding their image as a legitimate opposition to the government. How can they legitimately claim to be an alternative government when they've voted with the Cons on every major initiative of their mandate?