Harper the Disgrace

[ToadBrother]

Harper's newest best buddies, Rob and Doug Ford, who are apparently organizing a rally for him, are the people he called "a bunch of losers" during the last Toronto mayoralty race.

If I was the Tories, I'd rather have the Trailer Park Boys organize a rally then the Fords. It's like Insane Clown Posse organizing a rally.

[blueblood]

If I was the Tories, I'd rather have the Trailer Park Boys organize a rally then the Fords. It's like Insane Clown Posse organizing a rally.

They are radioactive. Thats when tory brass has to say to them to disappear.

[ToadBrother]

They are radioactive. Thats when tory brass has to say to them to disappear.

For some reason I can't claim to understand, there are a lot of Toronto Conservatives that still take the Fords seriously. I suspect the upper echelons of the CPC have to tread carefully when the subject of Rob and Doug comes up.

Remember when Flaherty and Kenney nearly claim to blows over Rob Ford? I don't often feel sorry for Jason Kenney, but he had to be thinking "What is a bright guy like Joe Flaherty doing defending a crackhead alcoholic like Rob Ford?"

[blueblood]

For some reason I can't claim to understand, there are a lot of Toronto Conservatives that still take the Fords seriously. I suspect the upper echelons of the CPC have to tread carefully when the subject of Rob and Doug comes up.

Remember when Flaherty and Kenney nearly claim to blows over Rob Ford? I don't often feel sorry for Jason Kenney, but he had to be thinking "What is a bright guy like Joe Flaherty doing defending a crackhead alcoholic like Rob Ford?"

I dont know much about toronto politics but apparently rob being a crackhead did somewhat of a competant job with cutting spending and cutting taxes. I may be wrong. Either way rib is still toxic as he is a blowhard and a crackhead.

What small c conservatives have to realize is that there is a proper way of comminicating principles of conservatism that arent scary and do make sense. Once again refer to brad wall of sk. His only skeleton as i know was teaching his young daughter to drive before she was 15. Ooooh!!

[Hydraboss]

...Rob and Doug...

...Flaherty...

I cannot be the only one that has scenes from SCTV running through my head when I hear these names...

And somehow I think Harper's handlers are playing a dangerous game being seen with the Fords. It may win some votes in a few ridings but it could also cost him outside of them.

[ReeferMadness]

I cannot be the only one that has scenes from SCTV running through my head when I hear these names...

And somehow I think Harper's handlers are playing a dangerous game being seen with the Fords. It may win some votes in a few ridings but it could also cost him outside of them.

Desperation, thy name is Harper.

[PIK]

Seems in a trudeau world people like the fords will not be allowed to have anything to do with federal politics. That's nice.

[cybercoma]

Seems in a trudeau world people like the fords will not be allowed to have anything to do with federal politics. That's nice.

Crackheads who threaten to shoot their wives?

Yeah. They're probably best left out of the halls of power.

[blueblood]

Crackheads who threaten to shoot their wives?

Yeah. They're probably best left out of the halls of power.

+1. The ford family is a branding and image nightmare

[Hydraboss]

The Fords are to the CPC are what the Adscam boys would be to the LPC if they showed up at a rally and stood on the stage. Nothing but damaging.

[cybercoma]

What is this, Bizzarro MLW? I thought you guys loved Ford around here.

[Hydraboss]

Are you kidding me? There may be a few wingnuts running around here spouting that, but I've NEVER met anyone who thought Ford was in any way useful, never mind fit for ANY office.

[blueblood]

What is this, Bizzarro MLW? I thought you guys loved Ford around here.

Nope!!

Conservatism is a tough message to sell as a lot of it is saying no which as you know people are less receptive to than saying yes.

To have a fool like rob ford doing his thing and turning off potential voters to what the tory party is selling is beyond frustrating.

Take a look at some clips of how brad wall presents himself and then rob ford and you will see where im coming from

Edited October 15, 2015 by blueblood

[G Huxley]

"I cannot be the only one that has scenes from SCTV running through my head when I hear these names..."

Finally someone else makes the connection. How come the media can't figure it out? What a couple of hosers eh?

[Hydraboss]

It would actually be interesting to see anyone in the MSM write about the name connection. I imagine memes being made and a little levity ensuing.

Now towel off wet-head.

[G Huxley]

Maybe that's the problem with the Air Farce not being around anymore.

[SpankyMcFarland]

If they lose, the Consevatives might ponder why they made this such a personal contest between Harper and Trudeau. Leaving questions of competence etc. aside for a moment, Trudeau is liked way beyond his party and Harper is disliked even by some Conservative voters. It was their biggest weakness and they went with it as one of their central themes. Giving more time to other candidates, esp. women, might have been a better idea e.g. Raitt and Rempel. And what on earth was he doing associating himself with those degenerate Ford brothers who make a mockery of anything he might say about drugs or women's rights? Good grief, as some of my fellow geezers are fond of saying here.

Edited October 16, 2015 by SpankyMcFarland

[G Huxley]

I think the conservative strategy may ironically have backfired. Their 'unite the right' and 'slime the leading opposition' here actually seems to have worked against them this time since they've had to fight two fronts. First they slimed Trudeau then he fell down and the NDP became ascendent in his place, then they slime the NDP and the trend reverses and Trudeau takes the NDP's place. So after all that corporate funding has been spent to slime two parties the only impression the voter is left of the conservatives is negativity, while the other parties have promoted themselves as positive. To be strong everywhere is to be strong nowhere and so all the negativity by the conservatives has merely diluted itself and simply shown the public how negative and ugly they are. To top it off Rob had to come out at the end hahaha.

Edited October 16, 2015 by G Huxley

[ToadBrother]

If they lose, the Consevatives might ponder why they made this such a personal contest between Harper and Trudeau. Leaving questions of competence etc. aside for a moment, Trudeau is liked way beyond his party and Harper is disliked even by some Conservative voters. It was their biggest weakness and they went with it as one of their central themes. Giving more time to other candidates, esp. women, might have been a better idea e.g. Raitt and Rempel. And what on earth was he doing associating himself with those degenerate Ford brothers who make a mockery of anything he might say about drugs or women's rights? Good grief, as some of my fellow geezers are fond of saying here.

What choice did the Tories have? The Liberals are clearly making this campaign the Trudeau Campaign. They were setting this up as a battle of personalities where charisma and energy were going to be at the forefront. Obviously the Tories needed to do what they could to counter the whole Jesus H. Trudeau image, and since they themselves had long propagated the notion of Harper, Political Genius Extraordinaire, they were stuck fighting a battle where there guy would lose automatically. It was Technocrat vs. Sexy Guy, and any of us who were on the nerdy side in high school knows who got the girls at the dance.

[SpankyMcFarland]

What choice did the Tories have? The Liberals are clearly making this campaign the Trudeau Campaign. They were setting this up as a battle of personalities where charisma and energy were going to be at the forefront. Obviously the Tories needed to do what they could to counter the whole Jesus H. Trudeau image, and since they themselves had long propagated the notion of Harper, Political Genius Extraordinaire, they were stuck fighting a battle where there guy would lose automatically. It was Technocrat vs. Sexy Guy, and any of us who were on the nerdy side in high school knows who got the girls at the dance.

Given this late point in his premiership, Harper should have been giving more time to major party figures. If Harperism is to persist, it needs to inhabit other bodies. At the very end, he started saying 'it's not about me' in the ads but it was too late then, probably. Ever since Pierre and Brian, we have distrusted sexy guys in Canada. Chrétien was the absolute antithesis of glamour. Have you ever met anybody who thought he was sexy? I sincerely hope not. Kenney, Clement, Raitt and Rempel are convincing talkers. They should have been given more air time to emphasize the competent team image for the future.

[dialamah]

What choice did the Tories have? The Liberals are clearly making this campaign the Trudeau Campaign. They were setting this up as a battle of personalities where charisma and energy were going to be at the forefront. Obviously the Tories needed to do what they could to counter the whole Jesus H. Trudeau image, and since they themselves had long propagated the notion of Harper, Political Genius Extraordinaire, they were stuck fighting a battle where there guy would lose automatically. It was Technocrat vs. Sexy Guy, and any of us who were on the nerdy side in high school knows who got the girls at the dance.

And here I saw it as "corruption" vs "chance for change". In the beginning I was equally on board with Mulcair and Trudeau. Trudeau got me on his anti-fear message, and after learning a bit more, I preferred his stance on C51 over Mulcair's. There are some things I find annoying about Trudeau on a purely personal level, but overall I prefer their stated vision over the other guys.

In my ideal world, Libs get a minority, we get a change in the electoral system for the better, next time I vote Green, and ultimately all the parties have to learn to work together instead of having a system where if Government says "Black" opposition says "White".. at least in front of the cameras.

Dream on, girl. :-)

[SpankyMcFarland]

My take on things above may be entirely impractical. It may not be feasible to reduce the concentration on the leader in a federal campaign. I just feel he might have picked up more PC and fiscally conservative Liberal votes if he had reduced his own profile.

Edited October 16, 2015 by SpankyMcFarland

[PIK]

I think the conservative strategy may ironically have backfired. Their 'unite the right' and 'slime the leading opposition' here actually seems to have worked against them this time since they've had to fight two fronts. First they slimed Trudeau then he fell down and the NDP became ascendent in his place, then they slime the NDP and the trend reverses and Trudeau takes the NDP's place. So after all that corporate funding has been spent to slime two parties the only impression the voter is left of the conservatives is negativity, while the other parties have promoted themselves as positive. To be strong everywhere is to be strong nowhere and so all the negativity by the conservatives has merely diluted itself and simply shown the public how negative and ugly they are. To top it off Rob had to come out at the end hahaha.

When not in government it is very easy to promise the world. When in government you know what you can do and what you can not do.

[ToadBrother]

In my ideal world, Libs get a minority, we get a change in the electoral system for the better, next time I vote Green, and ultimately all the parties have to learn to work together instead of having a system where if Government says "Black" opposition says "White".. at least in front of the cameras.

Dream on, girl. :-)

I think there's even odds of electoral reform. I don't think the Liberals are going to get even a particularly large minority, so they're going to need solid support to govern. For the NDP, which must now be thinking that the Orange Crash may be heralding a return to historic levels of support, electoral reform is their best chance to have any significant influence.

[ReeferMadness]

So, the story is that Lynton Crosby has ditched the Conservatives as they now prefer the Ford brothers.

Commentators believe that Stephen Harper’s decision to seek endorsements from Toronto’s controversial former mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug, widely seen as a last desperate attempt by the Prime Minister to cling to power, caused Crosby to bail on the Tories.

They've dumped a strategist known for racial politics for a pair of local politicians known for racist statements. Big improvement.