Crosbie Aims Broadside Against Harper

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Harper finds the Rock a hard place

As Stephen Harper's warm-and-fuzzy barbecue tour winds down with the defining image being that photo-op disaster of him squeezed into a comical cowboy outfit, the last thing the Conservative leader needs is a deadly burst of friendly fire.

But sniper shots are coming from the top floor of St. John's tallest office building where Conservative father figure John Crosbie looks out at the Rock's political landscape ... and cringes at what he sees happening.

A "pessimistic" Crosbie is predicting hard times in the next election for his party, warning that Harper is scaring voters by linking his leadership to the campaign against same-sex marriages while heeding lousy advice from his inner circle.

There is no question the Cons are in freefall. I guess the question on a lot of people's minds is how far can they sink. The problem in politics is once you have sullied your reputation, it is almost impossible to rebuild it. I would say right now the Cons are probably in the 50 -75 seat range possibilities for the next federal election.

Now the Liberals are starting to act cocky again according to the latest media reports. The one thing we don't need in Canada right now is another majority Liiberal government. If Harper can't cut it, and it sure does not look like he can, at least in federal politics, people might want to seriously consider having a serious look at the Layton New Democrats who it growingly appears, are the country's best alternative to preventing the Liberals from forming another majority government.

[August1991]

On Harper: "I supported him as leader and continue to support him, but at the moment he's a politically endangered species which makes us all politically endangered."

On Harper's personal charm: "Among our friends, the women think he's scary. Christ Almighty, Paul Martin is 10 times as scary. But they believe Harper's cold. And he IS cold. He doesn't have human warmth. He's not able to even work a room. He

doesn't want to meet people. The thing that saved the Pope (John Paul II), who had some pretty reactionary policies, was that he genuinely wanted to meet people. Unfortunately, Harper needs that, but he hasn't got that at the moment."

Good artilce. Thanks for the link, mirror.

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One Conservative at least thinks Crosbie has lit the bomb on the fuse.

One thing about Crosbie is that he is colourful. I'll always remember him for his tangling with Sheila Copps.

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Adler blasts Harper:

Harper fails to hook GG issue

A citizen of the Adler Nation writes: "There are two very happy political campers in Canada, and their prospect for continued happiness is underwhelming. These guys of course, are Alfred E. Neuman -- whoops, I mean Gary Doer and Paul Martinique. Why are they happy? It is because Stephen Harper graduated from the Murray School of Political Suicide & Ineptitude. When Michaëlle's term is over, Paul should appoint Harper GG. He could then take this useless office into the oblivion that he has taken the Conservative Party to."

The small-c conservative grassroots are not a happy lot these days. They have filled my e-mail inbox with messages like the one above. It's one thing when they feel insulted by the prime minister. But when they feel abandoned by the opposition leader, it becomes the desperate dog days of summer. I had a feeling that desperation would set in when my www.charlesadler.com poll revealed that a serious segment of the population wasn't just unhappy with Paul Martin's dumber than a bag of hammers response to the revelation that the new GG had been coming across like an old FLQ groupie.

People didn't expect Paul Martin to change his mind. Insecure men rarely do. But they did expect Stephen Harper to do something other than accept the paper-thin gruel that appeared on two press releases, one from the prime minister's office and the other one from the PM's new sidekick Michaëlle Jean. Stephen Harper took one look at the press releases and went belly up like dead pickerel.

In playing the dead fish hand, Harper abandoned his troops and gave the prime minister and his teaming school of minnows the fish food they wanted. They were now able to say that only wingnuts, and knuckle draggers oppose the GG appointment. After all, even Mr. Harper is unopposed to it. While Harper was doing the barbecue circuit, trying to change the subject to gas taxes, the grassroots were thinking about turning their Conservative membership cards into kindling.

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Yet again proving the exact opposite of what an unnamed poster set out to do.

Harper moderates stance. Gets praised for his mature handling of the situation in the Toronto Star. As a result of his statesmanlike behaviour the hard-core Reformers are pissed off.

Hmmm, Harper is starting to appeal to mainstream Canadian voters.

Too bad certain posters lack the capacity to scrutinize anything outside their myopic "I hate Harper" view of the world.

You truly realize why this column is another positive sign for Harper, in spite of your posturing on the message board. Don't you?

[kimmy]

Indeed. Harper would gain nothing by rejecting Ms Jean's assertion that she is a committed Canadian. What good could come of it? He could only make himself seem like an ally of hard-core sovereigntists, which is the exact opposite of what Harper needs. Saying thank you and letting go of the issue when Michaelle Jean made her statement was the only smart thing for Harper to do.

If Charles Adler and the TorontoFreePress people think that means Harper has sold out "real" conservatives, I guess that's a cross he'll have to bear.

-k

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Saying thank you and letting go of the issue when Michaelle Jean made her statement was the only smart thing for Harper to do.

If Charles Adler and the TorontoFreePress people think that means Harper has sold out "real" conservatives, I guess that's a cross he'll have to bear.

-k

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Indeed. Thankfully the hardcore anti-Harper rantings, that try and spin everything as negatively as possible really come off bitter when they are as weak as these are.

Besides, where are the likes of Adler gonna go?

A big tent may make them feel uncomfortable, but that's what is necessary to propel Harper into the PMO.

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Unfortuately for Harper he is now in a dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't situation. But when the public attacks from within, such as Crosbie start going public, the Conservative leader is probably are going into a political party crisis, from which it is almost impossible to recover. I actually believe the PCs and the Alliance merging was a mismatch from the beginning, and I think what is happening now confirms that in spades.

Bernard Lord is salivating waiting for the Conservative leadership, and if the Conservatives were wise they would dump Harper and replace him with Lord immediately. But I doubt they are that wise. The other problem for the Conservatives is that I am not sure there is an appetite for their brand of politics in Canada, at least not enough support to form a majority government.

Conservatives need to be a bit more realistic and start seriously looking at changes that could help them. Leadership is definitely number one. But apart from that there are some other changes in policy from which they would benefit. Conservatives should stop looking at the NDP as their enemy. It is the Liberals that is their enemy. Conservatives should consider supporting the Layton New Democrats with PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION from which the Conservatives will eventually benefit. And they need to lower the decimal level about scandals. No one cares anymore about Adscam. The Gomery commission and the courts are doing their thing and PM Martin is coming out unscathed, otherwise he never would have made that commitment to call an election for 30 days after Gomery's report is made public..

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Unfortuately for Harper he is now in a dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't situation.

Let's be realistic. You will never support Harper and will always go out of your way to paint him in the worst light possible. When credible national voices like Chantal Hebert write positive pieces about him how can you honestly say he is damned either way?

But when the public attacks from within, such as Crosbie start going public, the Conservative leader is probably are going into a political party crisis, from which it is almost impossible to recover.

Do you mean the party attacks him from within?

I actually believe the PCs and the Alliance merging was a mismatch from the beginning, and I think what is happening now confirms that in spades.

Your point being?

Bernard Lord is salivating waiting for the Conservative leadership, and if the Conservatives were wise they would dump Harper and replace him with Lord immediately. But I doubt they are that wise.

Again, nice attack on the lack of wiseness (?) of the party.

Lord burned a lot of bridges within the party with his waffling on running for leadership. He had assembled a solid team with which to run for the leadership and pulled the plug within 24 hours of when they were supposed to announce. He needs to make a serious commitment to leadership.

If you really want to see an end to Canada's one-party state quit playing into the Liberals hands. It only helps the Liberals for the CPC to change leaders at this late stage in the game.

The other problem for the Conservatives is that I am not sure there is an appetite for their brand of politics in Canada, at least not enough support to form a majority government.

Valid point. The party needs to make a concerted effort at putting a much more moderate face out to the public. The rise of MPs like Rona Ambrose are what will help in this regard. The party is moderating, they just need to be more forceful in showing this moderation publicly.

Conservatives need to be a bit more realistic and start seriously looking at changes that could help them. Leadership is definitely number one. But apart from that there are some other changes in policy from which they would benefit.

Agreed. They need to continue to avoid talking about the SSM thing for one...

Conservatives should consider supporting the Layton New Democrats with PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION from which the Conservatives will eventually benefit.

This was a HUGE tactical error on Layton's part. When Layton had Martin over the barrel on the non-confidence vote that was the best chance he would have ever had to push proportional representation. If the NDs aren't going to take advantage of their golden opportunities, they shouldn't be expecting the CPC to come bail them out.

And they need to lower the decimal level about scandals. No one cares anymore about Adscam. The Gomery commission and the courts are doing their thing and PM Martin is coming out unscathed, otherwise he never would have made that commitment to call an election for 30 days after Gomery's report is made public..

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Tremendously naive analysis about Adscam. People definitely do care. PM Dithers made the commitment to call the election to save his electoral arse. It was a shrewd move and it worked. He was desperate and playing for time. The reason he was so desperate, was Adscam. Adscam is a time bomb. Still has the potential to continue inflicting wounds on the Liberals.

btw you did mean lower the "decibel" level, didn't you?

[Riverwind]

Tremendously naive analysis about Adscam. People definitely do care. PM Dithers made the commitment to call the election to save his electoral arse. It was a shrewd move and it worked. He was desperate and playing for time. The reason he was so desperate, was Adscam. Adscam is a time bomb. Still has the potential to continue inflicting wounds on the Liberals.

I think the CPC really needs to ask why it is depending on the 'adscam' fallout to get elected. I don't think there is a Liberal voter in this country that would not admit they are holding their nose when they vote. People still vote Liberal because the alternatives are more distasteful. I think Harper needs to learn from Layton and work to get his policies adopted by the Liberal gov't instead of working to topple the gov't.

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I'm hearing rumours of at least one more highly placed Conservative party functionary getting the boot. Anyone else hear anything?