Let’s recap: In the first ten days of the campaign, the Conservatives have managed to offend the families of fallen soldiers, victims of the Listeriosis outbreak, "sober" Aboriginals, sweater-vest manufacturers, and incontinent puffins. My prediction: The list won’t end there. The reason: the Tories have fallen victim to their own campaign frame.
Dumbing it down… just how simplistic are Canadians?
In response to the slate of announcements by the Liberals and the NDP in recent days, Prime Minister Harper has questioned how the parties are going to pay for their promises. On one hand, it’s an ironic comment from the PM considering he made several spending announcements in the days leading up to the election. On another level, it’s a rather clever ploy, in my opinion, to appeal to Canadians by scaring them. It may prove to be an effective tool given what is happening in the US with its imploding financial system, the persistent hangover from the credit crisis and the shaky economy (not as sound as John McCain would have us all believe). There is talk of a spillover effect into Canada, which means spending announcements might not translate into votes.
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Let Politicians be Politicians
Election campaigns are great opportunities to express outrage and rain sanctimony down on politicians. But I’m a fan of politicians being politicians. I wish that we could allow them to exist in their natural environments and behave in the ways that nature intended them to.
Facebook Politics: Some Misconceptions
We’ve heard a lot about the impact of Faceboook on this year’s campaign. Some of the reports are valid, while others deserve a closer look. Here’s a list of what I consider to be some major misconceptions about the political side of the social networking site.
Income Splitting from the Greens?
Green leader Elizabeth May unveiled her party’s platform yesterday and besides the expected range of environmental policies, there is a promise to bring in income-splitting. For those happy people who don’t follow the nuances of tax policy, income-splitting would allow families to pool their income and report it jointly for tax purposes. If a person makes more than her spouse, she could transfer that money over to him, where it would be taxed at a lower rate. This would mean significant tax savings, expecially for families where one person does not earn any income.
What do Farmers Want this Election?
How about a Minister who isn’t incompetent?
Admittedly, when I relayed the "death by a thousand cold cuts" idiocy to my roommate this morning, he almost spat out his coffee for laughing. What really irks me as a farm kid is that farmers get stuck with moronic Ministers of Agriculture who, among other things, don’t know when to tell, or not tell, gross jokes. It seems to me that avoiding such quips on a conference call with non-political, non-partisan staff would be a no brainer.