Another Liberal Good, Conservative Bad Article

[bigdude]

Survivor: Ottawa

And any suggestion that Stronach's ideas, or even her personal qualities, figured in the bargain is hard to sustain. Martin made much of having discovered over dinner that he and she have a lot in common. But the fact is that the deal to give her a cabinet post was cut before their civilized late supper. Stronach's immediate value was the single vote she represented in the House. Her longer-term worth was any damage her defection might do to Harper's outreach to moderate Ontario voters. Whether Martin ended up liking her or not seemed, at most, an afterthought.

Of course, Conservatives screamed that this was old-time Liberal opportunism at its worst. Even a few Liberals privately wondered if the Stronach manoeuvre didn't look too crass. "Some Liberals can be fairly cynical about it," Smith admitted, "but if you asked them, 'Are you glad it happened?' and you hooked them up to a lie detector, I know what the truth would be."

He's right, of course. By and large, Liberals do sound at ease with where they stand. It's the Conservatives who ended last week less sure of the ground beneath them. The new critical appraisal of Martin is that he looks willing to do anything. But the negative take on Harper is that he appears angry about everything. The two embody, at least for the moment, old clichés about Grits and Tories. That Liberals may be slippery, but they're not really scary. That Conservatives may be principled, but they're not quite likeable. A long history of winning shows why Liberals are willing to live with those stereotypes.

There you have it in a nutshell folks, why the Liberals are in power so much more than anyone else. gotta respect them for at least one thing and that is they never lose track of the ball. Their goal is to get elected and stay elected and they usually accomplish it. It is just too bad the rest of the country pays a huge price for it.

[The Terrible Sweal]

.... after all, Canada is one of the worst places in the universe thanks to them.

[bigdude]

Just imagine how even better we would be with electoral reform and a system of PR securely in place.

Too bad the real democratic deficit is not being addressed.

[I Miss Trudeau]

Just imagine how even better we would be with electoral reform and a system of PR securely in place.

I'm not a big fan of FPTP, but I don't really see how dooming every future Canadian parliament to the type of unproductive nonsense we've just witnessed is any better.

[Riverwind]

Just imagine how even better we would be with electoral reform and a system of PR securely in place.

Too bad the real democratic deficit is not being addressed.

PR would never work in a regionalised country like Canada. You would have to be dreaming if you think the BQ would accept any change that reduces their influence in parliment and any PR system that maintains the BQ strength is worse than what we have now. Furthermore, forcing through any constitutional change that the BQ does not agree with would be just asking for a 70% yes vote in a referendum.

For better or worse we are stuck with the system the way it is and other parties have to make it work. The Liberals and NDP have figured that out. The Conservatives will have to probably be punished at the ballot box once more before they will get it.