Harper's negative image hurts positive message.

[hiti]

Harper's negative image hurts positive message

By BRIAN LAGHI

http://tinyurl.com/7nw78

OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, December 2, 2005, Page A4

Canadian voters like Stephen Harper's message. They're just not so sure they like him.

A new survey conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV shows that the Conservatives appear to have hit a nerve with voters by pushing the need for a new broom to clean out the Liberals. However, those same voters are leery about Mr. Harper leading the party that would act as that broom.

This is news? I've finally given up on Mr. Harper. To date, I've always wanted to like the guy and I've given him a large benefit of the doubt. Until a few days ago, that is. Until when he launched his Quebec campaign. He crossed the Ottawa river to Gatineau, where he got up on stage, surrounded by 7-8 Quebec candidates (most of which had travelled for hours to be there). He announced something or other (probably that he was proud of his candidates or some such, but I don't recall). Then he said that an assistant would give a list of candidate names, he turned around and walked out a side door. You could see the jaws drop when the candidates were left stranded on stage without having been presented. Josee Verner, who had come with five points (she got 31% of the vote, three times the average in Quebec!) of winning in her Quebec City riding, tried to recover by talking directly to the journalists present but the damage was done.

Conclusion: the message was loud and clear. Mr. Harper thinks about "things" but not about "people", INCLUDING THOSE WHO MAY BECOME MEMBERS OF HIS CAUCUS. And that is a serious character flaw in a man who aspires to become PM. I wish him well and sincerely hope that the Tories do well in the upcoming election. But he's squandered my reserve of human sympathy.

Along the same line, there's grumbling in the Tory who's-who in Quebec. Basically, they get a sense that Mr. Harper not only doesn't care about them but also that he doesn't like them, period. In particular, one of his principal Quebec leadership-campaign organizers in Quebec has alluded to (while still remaining a Tory) not voting CPC this time. When all's said and done, Tories here tend to think "aahhh, shaddap!" when they're told that winning over Quebec is a priority. If it is one, it's a long-term one.

And no, all this has nothing to do with Mr. Harper having a hidden agenda ... he's just a dink, that's all.

[Canuck E Stan]

A new survey

A new survey from an article from Dec.2 is an old article and an old survey.

[hiti]

A new survey

A new survey from an article from Dec.2 is an old article and an old survey.

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Missing the content of the article........

[Canuck E Stan]

Missing the content of the article.......

Missing the point,how quickly things change during an election campaign.Yesterday's news is just that yesterday's news.

[hiti]

Missing the content of the article.......

Missing the point,how quickly things change during an election campaign.Yesterday's news is just that yesterday's news.

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The fact remains that Harper is regarded as a dink by Brian Laghi and that was the point of the article, not some survey on Dec 2nd. Especially when during an election surveys are done on a daily bases and they change daily but Harper has not changed and he is a dink today as well as being a dink on Dec 2nd and will remain a dink forever.

[Canuck E Stan]

And the dithering idiot is still the same dithering idiot,right?

[shoop]

Hmmm, Laghi thinks Harper is a *dink*?

Appalling lack of professionalism aside, who cares?

A journalist who moved from CanWest to the Globe doesn't like the CPC. Big deal....

This is still a week old article. Clearly the *Harper is a dink* story has no legs.

I like how none of the Liberals hacks are mentioning SES now that the *big Liberal lead* has dropped by six points in a single night or the Margaret Wente "Help Harper is starting to make sense" column.

Thanks for the fair and balanced approach to the board...

The fact remains that Harper is regarded as a dink by Brian Laghi and that was the point of the article, not some survey on Dec 2nd. Especially when during an election surveys are done on a daily bases and they change daily but Harper has not changed and he is a dink today as well as being a dink on Dec 2nd and will remain a dink forever.

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[Canuck E Stan]

Shoop,

Or that close to half of the voters are undecided.Big lead on less than half the voters means little.

What happened to the strong Liberal vote?

[shoop]

I am interested in seeing if Paul Wells mentions the SES Research drop. Twice this week he has mentioned how big the lead *was* that the Liberals *had*!

Shoop,

Or that close to half of the voters are undecided.Big lead on less than half the voters means little.

What happened to the strong Liberal vote?

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[BubberMiley]

It's true that too much weight is placed on a leader's personality quotient; that's why actors are often the most successful politicians. Much as I despise what he stands for, Harper is intellectually competent enough to be qualified for the job of PM. That's what really matters (and something that was obviously forgotten south of the border).

[normanchateau]

The fact remains that Harper is regarded as a dink by Brian Laghi and that was the point of the article, not some survey on Dec 2nd. Especially when during an election surveys are done on a daily bases and they change daily but Harper has not changed and he is a dink today as well as being a dink on Dec 2nd and will remain a dink forever.

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Dink or not, he'll still capture a solid 30% of the vote.

[shoop]

But normie, on December 8th you started a thread about the Liberals commanding lead when the CPC was supposedly sitting at 27% support?

Heck, if they swing up three points, to 33% they probably form government...

ps, hiti, I am pretty sure calling Harper a dink is against the rules of the forum. 'Mr. Dithers' isn't allowed either, so you probably can't claim to *just* be referring to the name given to him by a journalist.

Dink or not, he'll still capture a solid 30% of the vote.

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[normanchateau]

But normie, on December 8th you started a thread about the Liberals commanding lead when the CPC was supposedly sitting at 27% support?

Did I predict that they'd stay at 27%?

[shoop]

Now you are just being obstinate. You didn't say they *wouldn't* stay at 27% either. Why start the thread if you thought the lead wouldn't stay?

Did I predict that they'd stay at 27%?

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[normanchateau]

Now you are just being obstinate. You didn't say they *wouldn't* stay at 27% either. Why start the thread if you thought the lead wouldn't stay?

Did I predict that they'd stay at 27%?

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The lead will stay.

[Montgomery Burns]

I got a chuckle out of the subtitle of this thread "his distain [sic] for Canadians is apparent"

If only he was more respectful of Canadians like the thieving Liberal Party...

[shoop]

Then he *can't* capture 30% of the vote... Why are you contradicting yourself?

Now you are just being obstinate. You didn't say they *wouldn't* stay at 27% either. Why start the thread if you thought the lead wouldn't stay?

Did I predict that they'd stay at 27%?

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The lead will stay.

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[normanchateau]

Then he *can't* capture 30% of the vote...

With luck, he will.