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[Shwa]

Hébert: A Liberal campaign of self-destruction

To follow the 2011 Liberal election campaign has been like watching a plane crash in slow motion.

Even from the sidelines, it has become a stomach-churning experience.

One can only imagine how it feels to be sitting in the cockpit as every manoeuvre fails to at least put the campaign back on a level course.

blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada, wuh, wuh, wuh.

Thanks Chantale, I'll read the article later. What is intriguing about this story is the accompanying photo of Mr. Ignatieff showing off a big, gross sweaty pit stain which will not go over well with a certain segment of society - prisses, grammas, metros, etc.

Now, will Mr. Ignatieff get deodorant endorsement deals once the LPC tosses him as party leader in about 8 months? Who knows. But c'mon man, wear an undershirt at least. Sheesh.

Signs of Nixon in 1960? What has got Mr. Igantieff so sweaty?

Combative Ignatieff says Tories can 'go to hell'

Ignatieff, whose party has fallen into third place in the polls, told the Toronto Star editorial board Wednesday that a lot of the Liberals woes can be traced to the relentless Conservative attack ads.

I am not going to complain about it because it seems to give the other guys too much damn credit. I dont give these guys damn credit for anything, the Liberal leader said, slamming his fist on the table. I am not going to let other people frame me up … they can go to hell is what I have thought basically for two and a half years.

Gimme a break. Mr. Igantieff claims he is "not going to complain about it" all the while complaining about it.

This is why the best thing that could happen to the LPC is to get third place in this election.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Shwa

[Shakeyhands]

This is why the best thing that could happen to the LPC is to get third place in this election.

amen.

[Michael Hardner]

They own the middle ground in a country that is all middle ground. They have such a natural advantage that it's impossible to conceive them ever coming third.

Hopefully, they will reinvent themselves as a party that is practical and lives up to its promises and start anew.

[wyly]

They own the middle ground in a country that is all middle ground. They have such a natural advantage that it's impossible to conceive them ever coming third.

Hopefully, they will reinvent themselves as a party that is practical and lives up to its promises and start anew.

a PR electoral system could restore that middle ground but a FPTP only encourages two party rule...

[Michael Hardner]

PR would doom us to endless minority governments and unending fractiousness and political compromise.

Will the NDP supporters who support PR finally shut up if Layton wins ? Let's hope so.

[Harry]

And why should we not have minority governments when no party has more than about 35% of the vote? The problem has been Harper's inability to work with others.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Harry

[wyly]

PR would doom us to endless minority governments and unending fractiousness and political compromise.

compromise is the essence of democracy...

Will the NDP supporters who support PR finally shut up if Layton wins ? Let's hope so.

nope, that's when we push harder...I love democracy and I'm ok with the party that represents my view only having a minority percentage of the seats in the HoC... and if it has to compromise with another party to agree on legislation that's ok because that's how a democracy should work...

[Michael Hardner]

And why should we not have minority governments when no party has more than about 35% of the vote? The problem has been Harper's inability to work with others.

If you and I both want to drive the car, does it make more sense for you to drive half the time and I to drive half the time, or for both of us to fight for the wheel for the whole trip ?

This analogy is 100% applicable to this situation.

[Michael Hardner]

compromise is the essence of democracy...

Yes, but we always celebrate those leaders who had strength and vision to LEAD.

Not usually those who had to grapple with 3 other leaders the whole time they were in office.

[GostHacked]

Hopefully, they will reinvent themselves as a party that is practical and lives up to its promises and start anew.

Ahahahhahahhahhahahahah ... not gonna happen in OUR lifetimes. Unless we really do something about it.

[kimmy]

Personally, I'm kind of at a loss.

I have long thought the Liberals needed a beat-down to set them straight. What baffles me is the timing of it.

Why now?

Why not 2004, when they won a minority, even right in the midst of the sponsorship scandal?

Why not 2006, when they ran what might be the most inept political campaign in Canadian history?

Why not 2008, when they appointed the Absent Minded Professor to lead them, and he invented The Green Shit, the stupidest platform a major political party has ever come up with?

Dion was a fruitcake. Paul Martin was tarnished by scandal. I haven't even got words to express my contempt for Chretien. And yet Canadians supported those guys to varying degrees. None of them ever received the electoral ass-kicking that polls say Ignatieff is about to receive.

How come? What's different this time? Is it Ignatieff himself? I don't see why. Is it anything the Liberals have done wrong? I don't see that either, really. The "Rise up, rise up" thing was painfully awkward, maybe that was where things started to go wrong for them, I don't know. Is it just that the NDP has done such a good job that the Liberals were completely flat-footed?

Really, I'm at a loss. Of all the times in my life when I've hated the Liberals and wanted to see them steamrollered, this isn't one of those times. I don't think they really deserve the ass-kicking they're about to received, and I'm kind of sad that it's happening now instead of all the times when they really did deserve what they're about to get.

-k

[TimG]

How come? What's different this time? Is it Ignatieff himself?

Quebecers are tired of the BQ. They heard happy Jack say all the right things when it comes to Quebec and promise oodles of cash so they collectively jumped on the bandwagon. This created momentum that has spread to the rest of the country (lots of people love jumping on bandwagons).

This is not about people thinking about NDP policies (if they did they would vote for anyone else). Or even people disliking the Liberals.

I hope Canadians remember what happened the last time a PM promised to cater to the whims of Quebec nationalists. It did not end well.

Edited April 29, 2011 by TimG

[Shwa]

Personally, I'm kind of at a loss.

I have long thought the Liberals needed a beat-down to set them straight. What baffles me is the timing of it.

Why now?

Why not 2004, when they won a minority, even right in the midst of the sponsorship scandal?

Why not 2006, when they ran what might be the most inept political campaign in Canadian history?

Why not 2008, when they appointed the Absent Minded Professor to lead them, and he invented The Green Shit, the stupidest platform a major political party has ever come up with?

Dion was a fruitcake. Paul Martin was tarnished by scandal. I haven't even got words to express my contempt for Chretien. And yet Canadians supported those guys to varying degrees. None of them ever received the electoral ass-kicking that polls say Ignatieff is about to receive.

How come? What's different this time? Is it Ignatieff himself? I don't see why. Is it anything the Liberals have done wrong? I don't see that either, really. The "Rise up, rise up" thing was painfully awkward, maybe that was where things started to go wrong for them, I don't know. Is it just that the NDP has done such a good job that the Liberals were completely flat-footed?

Really, I'm at a loss. Of all the times in my life when I've hated the Liberals and wanted to see them steamrollered, this isn't one of those times. I don't think they really deserve the ass-kicking they're about to received, and I'm kind of sad that it's happening now instead of all the times when they really did deserve what they're about to get. -k

It's Mr. Ignatieff, plain and simple followed by the privledged party elite who don't have a clue what is about to smack them square in the face. They need the beat-down to force a re-evaluation of their fundamental philosophy as a party, what they stand for. And really, who the hell knows?

A real leader would have remade them into capital 'L' Liberals again instead of this... mess. Mr. Ignatieff had the time, he had the resources. He did nothing and is continuing that tradition in this election.

Yes, they fully deserve the ass-kicking they are about to receive so they can get on to remaking the party and that starts with a new leader and that leader is Dominic Leblanc.

[August1991]

Really, I'm at a loss. Of all the times in my life when I've hated the Liberals and wanted to see them steamrollered, this isn't one of those times. I don't think they really deserve the ass-kicking they're about to received, and I'm kind of sad that it's happening now instead of all the times when they really did deserve what they're about to get.

-k

Life just isn't fair! It's like seeing OJ go to jail in Nevada instead of California.

----

This orange surge started in Quebec but I can't really see what is different now than in 2008. Layton's French is marginally better. Mulcair was a sitting MP in 2008 too. I don't believe the decision to leave troops in Afghanistan matters. The decision to spend money on the F35 is beneficial to Quebec.

Maybe Einstein was wrong. Maybe there is someone throwing dice and this time, the numbers just came up this way.

It's Mr. Ignatieff, plain and simple followed by the privledged party elite who don't have a clue what is about to smack them square in the face.

The Liberals got 40 seats in 1984 and the lowest popular vote was 22% in 1867.

It is very possible that in 2011, they will go lower in seats and votes. Simply being Number 3 will be humiliation enough. It will also make it very hard to recruit party workers, candidates.

Edited April 30, 2011 by August1991

[Shwa]

The Liberals got 40 seats in 1984 and the lowest popular vote was 22% in 1867.

It is very possible that in 2011, they will go lower in seats and votes. Simply being Number 3 will be humiliation enough. It will also make it very hard to recruit party workers, candidates.

Correction: it will be very hard to recruit party workers, candidates with a party under the status quo. Liberal supporters from the past didn't just vanish into thin air and I am betting a whole bunch of them are waiting this one out in the wings waiting for the party to do the right thing and go back to the grass roots and rebuild their platform.

But getting rid of Mr. Ignatieff first, as a gesture of good faith.