Conservative Candidate Chris Reid Quits over comments on blog

[JaysFan]

Chris believes that..

So there was a bus stabbing on the Prairies. A man with a knife was able to go on a murderous rapage decapitating a fellow human being. The rest of the bus was unarmed and helpless. What was the generous Canadian thing to do? Help a fellow human being? No. Flee in terror. Passengers and the bus driver stood by and watched another person being butchered, and couldn't muster up any courage or self sacrifice to intervene. This is where socialism as gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population.

This is a perfect example of why we need concealed-carry handgun legislation in this country, so we can defend one another and deter horrible events such as this. But what are our politicians talking about? More government regulation and security.

CBC coverage

Read more of Chris's comments here

The Conservatives must have really been dragging the bottom to come up with him as their best choice for a candidate in Toronto Centre.

[kengs333]

I think it's pretty clear by now that these kinds of problems are being experienced by all parties in this election. That's what politics has become in this country, and one should no longer be surprised that Parlaiment behaves as it does.

[maldon_road]

The Conservatives must have really been dragging the bottom to come up with him as their best choice for a candidate in Toronto Centre.

I believe this is the fifth withdrawal under a cloud. Two Dips, two Libs, now a Tory. Seems that there is a lot of "dragging the bottom".

[capricorn]

I believe this is the fifth withdrawal under a cloud. Two Dips, two Libs, now a Tory. Seems that there is a lot of "dragging the bottom".

Don't forget Rosamond Luke who stepped down as a Conservative candidate in Halifax. The three main parties are now tied at two apiece. Looks like all parties need lessons on how to properly vet potential candidates.

[Argus]

Don't forget Rosamond Luke who stepped down as a Conservative candidate in Halifax. The three main parties are now tied at two apiece. Looks like all parties need lessons on how to properly vet potential candidates.

It's funny how we all bemoan the machine-like way politicians talk, how everything is scripted, vetted, overseen by spin doctors and speech writers, and the like, how there's no personality involved, but then the moment some politician says something a bit dumb, in any capacity, on a blog, before a camera, or even over the phone, we bay for their blood and demand they be fired/expelled/executed.

Hands up those of you who have never said or written anything stupid which offended people unintentionally.

Do you even KNOW of anyone who has NEVER said anything stupid?

I don't.

[capricorn]

Hands up those of you who have never said or written anything stupid which offended people unintentionally.

Argus, all I can say is thank God I don't intend to run for office. I probably wouldn't last 24 hours once all my politically incorrect comments were made public by my opponents.

The pool of individuals who hasn't said something that offends someone, someplace, sometime is shrinking rapidly. The internet truly has become a weapon for those who know how to use it to their advantage. I'm afraid there's no turning back now.

[Argus]

Argus, all I can say is thank God I don't intend to run for office. I probably wouldn't last 24 hours once all my politically incorrect comments were made public by my opponents.

The pool of individuals who hasn't said something that offends someone, someplace, sometime is shrinking rapidly. The internet truly has become a weapon for those who know how to use it to their advantage. I'm afraid there's no turning back now.

I was talking to a very liberal friend the other day. All he ever does, when we talk politics, is mock Conservatives as rednecks and homophobes, etc. But he agreed that if he ever ran for office he'd quickly be forced to resign due to all the politically incorrect, racial, ethnic, insensitive things he's said.

The only people who can run for office in this kind of environment, where one strike and you're out, are whey faced, dull-witted people who never spoke about anything to anyone.

[capricorn]

The only people who can run for office in this kind of environment, where one strike and you're out, are whey faced, dull-witted people who never spoke about anything to anyone.

....and has never been near a computer.

[Who's Doing What?]

Do you even KNOW of anyone who has NEVER said anything stupid?

Kind of a rhetorical question for these boards.

[August1991]

Kind of a rhetorical question for these boards.

Giggle.

The comments were revealed on Saturday, when M.J. Murphy, a Torontonian who runs the blog bigcitylib.blogspot.com, posted several of Reid's writings under the headline: "The Tories Run Gay Nutter in TO!" He had retrieved them from an online cache after public access to Reid's blog was apparently removed.

Murphy said the swift reaction has shown the power of blogs in elections, but he said it also revealed something about the vetting process for candidates.

"This guy was never gonna win," he said. "And so one of the things that I've been doing is looking at the no-hopers on the premise that they're not vetted that deeply. But if they're not vetted deeply, and something comes up, it's going to embarrass the campaign on a national level."

Vancouver Sun

So these comments were taken down from the web but this blogger (bigcitylib) went and found them in google's cache. Indeed, the blogger seems to be looking for such comments.

[Riverwind]

All major parties need cannon fodder to run in ridings where there is 0% chance of a victory. No one should be surprised that less than stellar candidates end up on the roster.

[capricorn]

All major parties need cannon fodder to run in ridings where there is 0% chance of a victory.

I refer to them as sacrificial lambs.

No matter, all candidates need to be properly vetted or parties end up with negative press that can be very harmful to them. And yes, that's when it detracts attention from the issues and the "meat" of the campaign.

[cybercoma]

Once again, the candidate resigned, so how is this a problem for the Conservative Party?

I'm not condoning what he said by any mean, but implying a conclusion that people should not vote for the Conservative Party, because someone who is no longer running made some absolutely ridiculous comments, is pretty dishonest.

[DrGreenthumb]

Once again, the candidate resigned, so how is this a problem for the Conservative Party?

I'm not condoning what he said by any mean, but implying a conclusion that people should not vote for the Conservative Party, because someone who is no longer running made some absolutely ridiculous comments, is pretty dishonest.

A lot of cons secretly believe that we would be safer if we could all walk around packing concealed guns, another conservativew idea that most Canadians do not agree with. We would just have a lot more people getting shot to death in the heat of the

moment confrontations. Canada is FAR safer than the US largely because a lot LESS people are walking around strapped. as more conservative candidates get caught speaking their minds we will probably see a lot more shots of "apologetic Harper".

[cybercoma]

The Conservative Party does not have any sort of policy advocating concealed gun legislation. If you're going to make it appear as though this is something they're going to do, please be kind enough to cite your sources and give references.

[DrGreenthumb]

The Conservative Party does not have any sort of policy advocating concealed gun legislation. If you're going to make it appear as though this is something they're going to do, please be kind enough to cite your sources and give references.

I'm only saying that there is a strong pro-gun sentiment amongst conservatives I know. I actually don't think Chris reid was that bad of a candidate, one of the better conservatives. His Libertarian leanings would have been a nice offset to the plethora of authoritarian types in the party.

[cybercoma]

Well, now that you've limited it to the conservatives that you personally know, that changes the scope entirely. Too bad you didn't define that originally.