Liberals

[maplesyrup]

Will he be the new Joe Who?

Is Paul Martin governing with the deftness expected of him? No, not yet.

Is Stephen Harper ready to fill that void? No, not yet.

PM Martin is going to have to pull up his socks if he wants to get more support. He is going to have to start keeping his campaign promises for one thing.

[caesar]

PM Martin is going to have to pull up his socks if he wants to get more support. He is going to have to start keeping his campaign promises for one thing.

Whaaat. He hasn't been in office long but he has delivered on the money part for our health care. Be a little more specific; what promises hasn't he delivered on that could have been accomplished this quickly with a minority government.

[kimmy]

I had very high hopes when the Martin era began. He said all the right things about running a more democratic government, reducing the concentration of power in the PMO, a larger role for backbenchers, and especially rebuilding Ottawa's relationship with the West.

And, I'm sure that he means well. Like Travers said in the article, Martin is at heart a decent person. After 11 years of having a goon for a Prime Minister, I thought it would be nice to have a decent guy as prime minister for just once. But he just doesn't seem to be very good at the job.

What has he failed to do? Well, aside from the healthcare deal (did that actually put in as much money as they promised during the election, or are people just excited because the Liberals keeping a campaign promise is a first?) what has he accomplished since becoming Prime Minister?

He promised a new deal for cities; that doesn't even seem to be on the drawing board yet. National daycare also not yet on the drawing board. He promised to get to the bottom of sponsorship, but the Gomery inquiry seems to be stuck in quicksand. He promised to "address the democratic deficit", but that has been nothing more than talk; his actions show he's as committed to an autocratic PMO as Chretien was. He's promised less cronyism, and set about putting defeated Liberal MPs in cushy jobs.

I don't see a lot of reason to be excited about the Paul Martin era so far. On the bright side, he's spent more work-time in the West as PM in the past year than Chretien did during his whole reign. That's something positive, I guess. He's delivered on one major campaign promise, which I believe is also one more than Chretien did during his whole reign...

-kimmy

[Newfie Canadian]

Martin has also been a little hamstrung by the minority situation in the House of Commons.

I think that if he had a majority, we may well have seen some of the things that kimmy mentioned, because he would have been able to do it on his terms from a legislative standpoint. With the minority, he has to cater partly to the opposition to get the votes.

Another aspect of the minority is the need for good old fashioned political goodie giving just before an election to help Martin get the majority back. It wouldn't surprise me to see Martin announce the national aycare package or money for the cities a wee or two before the election.

[Big Blue Machine]

Martin is too conservative to be a Liberal prime minister. He had to be conservative when he was finance minister. A Liberal prime minister should be a red heart liberal.

[mirror]

So this is the Liberal game of ethics and integrity:

1 Dithers says he is going to call election 30 days after Gomery

2 As we approach Gomery polls are NOT good

3 Use MSM Liberal ally (read: Globe & Mail) to test waters with trail baloon about changing the date of election

4 Within a matter of a few hours the reaction from Canadians is horrific. The trial baloon went over like a lead baloon.

5 Dithers comes out and says he is keeping his promise.

6 Hero my ass! Con artist, perhaps.

You can fool some of the people some of the time, you can even fool all of the people some of the time, but you certainly can't fool all of the people, all of the time!

[shoop]

Whaaat.  He hasn't been in office long but he has delivered on the money part for our health care.  Be a little more specific; what promises hasn't he delivered on that could have been accomplished this quickly with a minority government.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He bent over and caved to the Premiers' to give them money he never even promised yet....

Hasn't addressed the 'democratic deficit'.

Has done nothing to raise the tone/level of civility in the house.

Has been out West more because the money has dried up in Ontario and Quebec.

Hmmm, he probably could have instituted electoral reform, instituted a review of the GG nomination process among others with no opposition in the house.

He has thrown DFAIT into disarray by attempting to split the department, a split that still hasn't been approved by the House.

[mirror]

Liberals want Rae to join fold

As to his political plans after submitting his recommendations to McLellan, Rae was coy.

"We'll just have to see what happens," said Rae, whose brother John Rae was a senior adviser to former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Sources note the former New Democrat, who publicly broke with the federal party in 2002 over its stance on the Middle East, is well regarded in Liberal circles.

The remaking of the former Ontario NDP premier into a Liberal.

What a farce. This whole country is ruled by elites who change political parties, and principles be dammed as long as you have POWER, eh!

[shoop]

The remaking of the former Ontario NDP premier into a Liberal. 

What a farce. This whole country is ruled by elites who change political parties, and principles be dammed as long as you have POWER, eh!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yawn. The same socialist rants without any viable issues presented or a rational plan for change.

Thankfully Jacko will forever remain in opposition, if he can win his seat again.

[crazymf]

He promised to get to the bottom of sponsorship

Probably doesn't have to step out of his office to do that, just look in a mirror.

What a farce. This whole country is ruled by elites who change political parties, and principles be dammed as long as you have POWER, eh!

Here in Alberta too. ie; Nancy Betkowski or whatever her name is now.

If I'm not mistaken, I thought even Ralph crossed the floor a long time ago?

[Guest eureka]

When Ralph crossed the floor, he was probably in a fog. He did well to make it across without falling down.

[shoop]

When Ralph crossed the floor, he was probably in a fog. He did well to make it across without falling down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ralph never "crossed the floor" in the true sense of the word. As mayor of Calgary he was known as a Liberal, but never actually ran in any election as a Liberal.

Don Getty convinced him to run provincially for the PCs and that was that.

[mirror]

Here is a wonderful current and excellent example of the new Liberal policies of modesty and humbleness:

- from Paul Wells

...not as I do

"MPs were told it was important to appear modest and humble, even as the Conservative opposition seems to be stuck at the low end of public opinion. 'Modesty, modesty, modesty,' they were reportedly told to embrace as their motto."

— Toronto Star (link)

———————————

Senior insiders said David Herle, the national Liberal campaign co-chair and the party's pollster, characterized [winning a majority] as a "daunting task" but said "if I pull it off they won't talk about David Smith any more, they'll talk about me."

— Globe and Mail (link)

And these clowns seriously wonder why they are NOT doing better in the polls. Right!