Ignatieff calls an election?

[normanchateau]

?? I was challenging the notion that Harper has in some way not supported the military, he has raised the budget and not cancelled previously approved intiatives, and he has resisted Martin, Dion and Layton in their wishes to cut and run..

Who cares what Ignatieff supports, he does not sign any cheques.

I remember you now Normie, you are so hardcore Liberal you make jdobbin look like Stockwell Day.

Next you'll be telling me the Liberals, especially Chretien, always loved the military......

Harper has supported the military and so has Ignatieff. Both favoured the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. If you scroll through the entire thread, you'll see that I merely entered it to counter Mr. Canada's claim that Ignatieff is somehow left wing. I'm still waiting for evidence that Ignatieff is left wing.

Is this the type of statement you expect from a left wing Canadian politician?

"To defeat evil, we may have to traffic in evils: indefinite detention of suspects, coercive interrogations, targeted assassinations, even pre-emptive war." Michael Ignatieff, New York Times Magazine, May 2004.

And how many Canadian left wingers take this view of Alberta's tar sands?

http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/Ignat...8975/story.html

[fellowtraveller]

Is this the type of statement you expect from a left wing Canadian politician?

Is this the type of statement you expect from any Canadian politician?

....we Americans....

I expect, in the Liberal tradition, that Ignatieff is whatever wing is convenient. He'll be the drumstick or thigh too if that is expedient.

Harper has taken a page from the Liberal handbook in this regard..........and it is quite effective so far.

[Michael Hardner]

ft

Harper has taken a page from the Liberal handbook in this regard..........and it is quite effective so far.

Agreed, and it makes the left/right discussions here seem even more ridiculous when you think of that. There are issues that differentiate them, but you have to look for them.

[Sniglet]

Ignatieff would be best to just wait for the next leg of the depression to hit, dragging the world economy to far lower levels than were seen early this year. Things are looking up for the Conservatives right now because there has been a wee economic recovery, just as was seen in 1930 when the Dow had recovered most of it's '29 losses, and the business press was giddy about how the worst was over.

When unemployment hits 20% the Conservatives will be dropped so fast it will make your head spin. The WORST thing the Liberals could do right now is to win an election. That will just leave them with the tarnish of dealing with an impossible economic situation.

[capricorn]

The WORST thing the Liberals could do right now is to win an election. That will just leave them with the tarnish of dealing with an impossible economic situation.

Especially given that they pushed for stimulus spending and in fact called for more of it. This would make it more difficult for them to fully blame the Conservatives for the deficit, in spite of the fact that Harper spent the cupboard bare as the recession unfolded. IMO most voters have a short memory and can be forgiving. Although I would say this does not necessarily apply to the Sponsorship scandal which essentially tanked the Liberals.

It is Harper that is stuck with the bigger dilemma. He must decide whether to precipitate an election while his poll numbers are high, or continue governing while hoping he earns the voters gratitude for a recovering economy and a successful Olympics, and his party remains corruption free such as of the Sponsorship variety.