shoop

Boy that will put him in his place. Guess he'll only win his riding next time by 34 995 votes. Who do you plan on voting for that could ensure no more of "your money" will go elsewhere?

The fight has really gone too far. Harper's got to find a way for the Press Gallery to "save face" out of this deal. Another good test of his readiness to be a majority government PM.

That committee is pretty shy on people representing rural Alberta. Airdrie and Spruce Grove are basically just burbs of Calgary and Edmonton respetively.

Manning will definitely be able to bring in the money to run. How much of an organization can he bring to the table? I don't really see how his Reform backers will translate on that side of things. Good on him for making it a race though. It will put Dinning through the fire instead of a coronation.

Hmmm, weren't you the one who put this forum under 'lockdown'???

No real need to state your dislike for Harper so explicitly. It's painfully obvious in your posts. Hmmm, his access to information plan makes transparent the actions of a number of groups the media coudn't access before. This is simply a different way of doing things.

There's problem more than four measures in the act. Hmm, you think you would have come up with much less tenuous examples if you were going to be so selective.

My bad. I meant Pearson, not St. Laurent. I knew the basics of the rest of the story. I can't really see any circumstance in which this Parliament lasts till 2008. If the polls are looking good for the Conservatives Harper will probably want to strike while the iron is hot, i.e. spring of 2007. (Pulling a Chretien and calling the election before the new OLO gets too comfortable in the job.) If the polls aren't looking good for the Conservatives that's gotta mean they are looking good for somebody in the opposition. Which means an election fall of 2007. Which is a pretty average length of time for a minority government.

It seems like a really nasty battle. Yesterday the reporters lined up, in an order the Press Gallery decided, to ask questions. When Harper tried to let somebody who wasn't in line ask a question the guy wouldn't (despite raising his hand). So Harper left. Very, very interesting little battle going on.

Dude, Diefenbaker got over 53% of the vote in 1958. Mulroney barely squeaked over 50% in 1988. Less than 50.1% IIRC. I do get your point about St. Laurent vis-a-vis Martin knifing Chretien in the back. One of the big errors St. Laurent made was something about calling for the Liberals to be put back in power, without an election, because of a downturn in the economy. That lead to *huge* cries of Liberal arrogance. Clearly a rookie mistake which Ignatieff, Dryden, or whoever else wins could make.

What are you joking on your first point? Casinos in Vegas get caught all the time (very quietly mind you) screwing with the odds. People are greedy all over the place. I've spent a lot of time at tracks and casinos for a variety of reasons. I agree that people should have the option to gamble if they want. However, I have seen a lot of lives ruined in the process. Kinda like booze. There should be good access to programmes for problem gamblers. The information should be posted prominently anywhere. One of the reasons I got out of the casino business I truly did find it karmically bad watching the same people lose money day after day, knowing many of them couldn't afford it.

I read today that the press is *happier* with the access they are getting to Harper now. However, they have been grumbling about the access they have to ministers. Sounds like they are a tough lot to please.

Don't know if I get your point about St. Laurent. It is surprising how well Charest and Harper get along. Maybe Harper could bring Charest back onto the national scene *if* he can win the next provincial election. 1958 appears to be the biggest majority in history, although Mulroney won more seats in 1984. 1958 208/265 seats go PC (78% of the total number of seats). 1984 211/282 seats go PC (75% of the total number of seats). A pretty minor point though. With 308 seat house Harper would have to be in the 231 to 240 seat range to rival those numbers. I don't think anybody sees those sorts of numbers as possible for the CPC in the next election.

The original deal on offshore resources has a time limit on it to allow NS and NL to become more self-sufficient before changing the formula. They will not be able to keep receiving equalization payments long-term. Once they are off the dole who will that leave? NB, PEI and Quebec?

Good point. So far they have done very well. They have handled the early days in Parliament in a very disciplined and controlled manner. The Liberals are a lot weaker in opposition so far then expected.

Let's look at how similar a situation we are in to 1957. 1957 - Diefenbaker was disliked by many people and not seen as a viable alternative to the Liberals. 2006 - Harper - big negatives. SCARY! Scary! Scary? 1957 - The PCs ran one of the most tightly controlled campaigns in history. 2006 - A promise a day. No redneck expolosions from the CPC. Party (almost) always on message. 1957 - PCs win as Liberals are seen as lazy and wanting for ideas after long period in office. 2006 - CPC win as Liberals are seen as dithering. When you have 56 priorities you don't have any... 1957 - PCs win after five consecutive Liberal victories. 2006 - CPC wins after four consecutive Liberal victories. 1957 - PCs win their most seats in QC in over a decade. Setting the stage for massive breakthrough in 1958. 2006 - CPC wins the most seats of any centre-right party in QC in over a decade. Setting the stage for ... 1957 - Liberal loss leads to a new leader who loses badly, in part, to not being a Quebecker. 2006 - Liberal loss leads to a new leadership race. Does anybody really think Dion will win? 1957 - PC win set the stage for the biggest majority win in Canadian history as Diefenbaker cruises to a majority in 1958.... 2006 - CPC win sets the stage for?

Dinning has been running pretty hard for a long time. When Manning enters it will be a race to see who can sell more memberships. Manning in the race guarantees a couple things. It won't be a coronation and it will be a two-horse race. It will quickly become Manning vs. Dinning. Norris will probably end up third on the first ballot as the token Edmonton candidate. Last time around it looked like Betkowski was going to win in a walk, but Ralph put in the effor to get it done.

The GST has been a good tax. Reagan and Dubya haven't proved much. They both missed the key point to supply-side. Cut spending. It ballooned under both, which lead to the huge deficits both ran. Mulroney made some cuts in spending, but not enough.

Sharkman, No use arguing with the likes of Gerry. He makes no sense. He is merely here to attack, attack, attack. Nobody thought Harper was scary???? Hmmm, what exactly was the raison d'etre for the Pinochet ads? Dark scenario, threats of military in the streets, foreboding music. No, that couldn't have been meant to make people feel afraid of Harper...

The Conservative's are working towards a majority with every step. A small minority is possible with the party picking up half 25 to 30 seats in Quebec and basically holding steady in the rest of the country. A bigger majority is definitely possible. If Quebec swings big time CPC, Ontario and the Maritimes could swing CPC big time. The Liberals are in for tough times and are smart in thinking they will be out of power for the rest of the decade.

You would be surprised how many people do take the time to call campaign offices. 1993 and 2006 represented changes in Government. In both cases the winning parties focused on higlighting their platforms in order to contrast themselves with the tried Government's of the day. We'll have to see if this recipe is followed next time around...

The next 18 months of the first Harper Government is critical to preventing Liberals from sneaking back into power next election. From the sounds of the Liberal leadership candidates in Edmonton this weekend the party will definitely try and swing to the left next election. This gives the Conservative's the opportunity to stay where they are. Effective, strong and disciplined leadership will help Harper win his desired majority next time around.

And why they will stay out of power till the end of the decade, at least! Seems to me like Gerry is clearly breaking the trolling guidelines for the forum. Gerry please respect Greg and his rules ... especially this one. Or was there another reason for your first post on this thread?

I have had this discussion with many of the further right members of the party. Politics is about compromise. Better a centre-right Conservative government than a further right Conservative opposition that wins *moral victories* but stays in opposition perpetually. The PM has been single-minded in his goal to win a majority government. Power to him. Sniping from the sidelines does nothing except increase the chances of a Liberal win next time around.

I guess your silence on feeding the world means you concede that point... How again does using grain to make biofuel lead us to burning *all* our grain? Hmmm, there is of course a tradeoff when we create demand for wheat. How much more for bread is worth it for lower gas prices and fewer greenhouse gas emissions???