Does anyone actually support Rae?

[mikedavid00]

I've been finding this whole Liberal debate to be amusing... kind of like watching a funny sitcom. We all know that Bob Rae is the lowest of the low political elite in Canada.. from his Rae days, to his skinny dipping.. i mean, does anyone actually take this guy seriously?

Yes I live in Ontario. The general consensus is that he was intallectually unfit to be in any higher level of politics. Some people actually wanted to kill him if I remember correctly and made many written threats..

Rae's latest intellectual masterpiece (because the left is always intelectually superior don't forget) for infrastructure is to have a driving tax on raodways. That's good Bob. Nice one! Therefore, the rich person who can afford it will get to enjoy having less cars on the road and get to look at nice HID lights in his rear view mirror while the single mom in her Cavalier who's strugling to make ends meet can sit on the bus while the rich man drives by.

Nice one Bob. Way to go. He truly is on another planet and I just can't imagine anyone taking him seriously.

[Figleaf]

... Rae's latest intellectual masterpiece (because the left is always intelectually superior don't forget) for infrastructure is to have a driving tax on raodways. That's good Bob. Nice one! Therefore, the rich person who can afford it will get to enjoy having less cars on the road and get to look at nice HID lights in his rear view mirror while the single mom in her Cavalier who's strugling to make ends meet can sit on the bus while the rich man drives by.

Nice one Bob. Way to go. He truly is on another planet and I just can't imagine anyone taking him seriously.

The term 'silver spoon socialist' comes to mind.

[watching&waiting]

I can not say that I support Rae. I have given my thoughts of why I would rather him over the others go against Harper. Many disagreed with my thoughts others agrreed. The way I see this is Harper needs to break into the seat rich Toronto and surondin areas. That should be the area that will be remembered by the people for what Rae did to them. I think that much of the safe seats in that area will come into play and Harper could get his majority right there. Othere feel that Iggy would be better to face and that maybe he will give up some seats in Quebec to CPC. I persoanlly do not want to count on the Quebec voters going CPC when it just may go Bloq instead, which is what I think will happen. Also Iggy is very much a tory blue liberal, and that might muddy the waters just enough to cost us a few seats.

It is my own belief that these are the only real contenders in the leadership race, but I will probably get taken to task on that as well. I do not think any leader will get the liberal bac k into government, as it just has not been enough time for the voters to forget the Lies and corruption. That is going to take at least a decade to shake off.

[gerryhatrick]

Skinny dipping precludes someone from being Prime Minister?

Be an alcoholic coke snorter and you can be POTUS, but do some skinny dipping and woah nelly!

[mikedavid00]

The way I see this is Harper needs to break into the seat rich Toronto and surondin areas.

Then he'll have to be good the immigrant majority in the GTA (no i did not use the word minority). Immigrants sole concern are their free benefits and brining relatives over. They don't want anything to threaten this. Rae or any leader will try their best to egg on Harper to 'say the wrong thing' and paint a picture that he is bad to immigrants.

I think that the Liberals realistically know that they won't win - that's why you aren't seeing serious contendors entering the race and are more or less getting second rate ding-bats filled with scandal. The joke is on them actually. There are people behind the scenes in the Liberal party who will more or less stear the campaing so the convervatives don't get a majority.

The reason why Harper hasn't done any unpopular moves like re-examine our immigration and refugee policy is becuase they do not have a majority gov't and can't afford to make unpopular moves. Look at what happened with the Lebaneese evacuees as an example.

The Liberals know that this is Harpers weak point and will try to exploit the campaign by bringing international issues to the forefront of the campaingn and align him with bush. This will fool the immigrants, but not the Canadians. Bob Rae is a sweet guy on the interviews, but he's messed up in the head and will do what it takes to win. He actually believes for real that he's going to win. He actually dared Harper to call an election and Harper would lose.

When Rae begins to lose his election polls, the Party behind the scenes will launch an immigrant/internation smear campaign against Harper and i feel the seats will stay the same.

God willing he'll get a majority gov't and they will do something about our mass over-immigration which is affecting all of us in so many negative ways.

[Biblio Bibuli]

Also Iggy is very much a tory blue liberal, and that might muddy the waters just enough to cost us a few seats.

In his latest MACLEAN'S article Mark Steyn states that Ignatieff is "far closer to George Bush than to Pierre Trudeau". And we all know how right wing Mr. Trudeau could be when he put his mind to it.

From reading the article it is quite obvious that Steyn likes him.

The Americans and Mr. Bush pretty much put Harper in the saddle in the last ellection, imo, and the ONLY chance the Liberals now have of holding the Cons down to a minority government next Spring is if they stand in front of a mirror and ask ... "mirror mirror on the wall who is the righwingest of all" ... and then vote Ignatieff in.

Michael Ignatieff is well know all over the world. On Steyn's recent visit to Australia many Aussie bigwigs enquired about Iggy and his chances of becoming PM. Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ... EVERYWHERE you go people are asking about him. He is going to put Canada back on the map, just you wait and see.

[jbg]

The term 'silver spoon socialist' comes to mind.

In New York, we called Mayor Lindsay a "limousine liberal". He sent his children to private schools so they wouldn't have to mix with black children, even though he pushed integration.

[Ricki Bobbi]

In his latest MACLEAN'S article Mark Steyn states that Ignatieff is "far closer to George Bush than to Pierre Trudeau". And we all know how right wing Mr. Trudeau could be when he put his mind to it.

Michael Ignatieff is well know all over the world. On Steyn's recent visit to Australia many Aussie bigwigs enquired about Iggy and his chances of becoming PM. Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ... EVERYWHERE you go people are asking about him. He is going to put Canada back on the map, just you wait and see.

How right wing Trudeau was? wtf are you talking about? The War Measures Act was the only thing that could be stretched to be right-wing. It was necessary given the times and one of the only good things Trudeau ever did.

Top 35 of the world's greatest minds? Man won't it suck when he is responsible for Harper winning a majority.

[Biblio Bibuli]

How right wing Trudeau was? wtf are you talking about? The War Measures Act was the only thing that could be stretched to be right-wing. It was necessary given the times and one of the only good things Trudeau ever did.

Wasn't it Trudeau who bought hundreds of brand spanking new tanks back in the seventies?

On missile defence, wasn't it Trudeau who said:

"Canadians want to benefit from the American nuclear umbrella, but they don't want to hold on to the umbrella's handle. To that extent, the knee-jerk anti-Americanism of some Canadians verges on hypocrisy." ?

I'm positive that if Pierre Trudeau was in power in 2001 it would be him and not Blair who would be Bush's righthand man after 9/11.

Wanna bet??

[Ricki Bobbi]

Wasn't it Trudeau who bought hundreds of brand spanking new tanks back in the seventies?

On missile defence, wasn't it Trudeau who said:

"Canadians want to benefit from the American nuclear umbrella, but they don't want to hold on to the umbrella's handle. To that extent, the knee-jerk anti-Americanism of some Canadians verges on hypocrisy." ?

I'm positive that if Pierre Trudeau was in power in 2001 it would be him and not Blair who would be Bush's righthand man after 9/11.

Wanna bet??

Oh no he funded the military?

What is the context of that statement?

Yes, I'll be you a gazillion dollars that trudeau wouldn't have been Bush's right hand man after 9/11. What a strange proposition that bet of yours is.

[August1991]

Rae's latest intellectual masterpiece (because the left is always intelectually superior don't forget) for infrastructure is to have a driving tax on raodways. That's good Bob. Nice one! Therefore, the rich person who can afford it will get to enjoy having less cars on the road and get to look at nice HID lights in his rear view mirror while the single mom in her Cavalier who's strugling to make ends meet can sit on the bus while the rich man drives by.

The fact is Ignatieff wants to impose a carbon tax and Dion is also in favour market-driven mechanisms to protect the environment. So Rae's road tax idea is a good variation on a theme.

Harper/Ambrose seem to be looking for a big-government/regulatory solution which would be an even more expensive variation. Although to be fair, we still don't know exactly what the Conservatives intend to do. [some people on this board seem to think that a carbon tax will be NEP II while imposing environmental regulations on the industry would be "less costly" to Alberta. Well, some people's understanding of economics is comparable to a 14th century priest's understanding of geography.]

Another fact is that unless Harper comes up with a credible environmental policy soon, not only will he not get a majority, he'll be going back to Stornoway PDQ.

In his latest MACLEAN'S article Mark Steyn states that Ignatieff is "far closer to George Bush than to Pierre Trudeau". And we all know how right wing Mr. Trudeau could be when he put his mind to it.

From reading the article it is quite obvious that Steyn likes him.

Steyn has recently discovered the arcane science of demographics and like many neophytes to the application of mathematics to human behaviour, he thinks he has discovered the truth to the universe and all that.

IOW, Steyn is now obsessed with the Muslim hordes and if he supports Ignatieff, it's only because Steyn thinks Ignatieff will stand up to them.

Michael Ignatieff is well know all over the world. On Steyn's recent visit to Australia many Aussie bigwigs enquired about Iggy and his chances of becoming PM. Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ... EVERYWHERE you go people are asking about him. He is going to put Canada back on the map, just you wait and see.

Luc Plamondon and Margaret Atwood are known all over their respective linguistic worlds yet I wouldn't want either as PM. Ignatieff well-known? There's a strong hint of BBC about Ignatieff which in my mind smells close to CBC.

Anyway, I think Harper by his actions has done more to put Canada on the map in a few short months than Ignatieff's urbane words during a closed-door G-8 summit chat could ever achieve.

[gc1765]

Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ...

Where did you hear this?

[Biblio Bibuli]

Yes, I'll be you a gazillion dollars that trudeau wouldn't have been Bush's right hand man after 9/11.

EVERYBODY starts throwing their money around once it is obvious that a winner cannot be chosen.

How about choosing sombody against my Iggy.

Still wanna bet?

I didn't think so.

[Ricki Bobbi]

How about choosing sombody against my Iggy.

Still wanna bet?

I didn't think so.

At least you had the common sense to try and back of your off-base statements about Trudeau.

I'd take Rae in a bet over Iggster.

(I'd use that whole "if I were a betting man" crap, but I gamble all the time. Just don't see the logic in making a bet with some anonymous random online. How would I collect?)

[Borg]

Sure, lots of folks support him. But Ontario has a long memory - I doubt there wil be many civil servants vote for him. But then again ......

All he has to do is promise money and the doors may open.

Borg

[M.Dancer]

Of the candidates i think Rae would make the best leader.......whether he was the best possible candidate is another question all together....but given who his opponent will be, he will do.

I mean...I mean.....given that the Harperites were fighting an election against a party that enjoyed too long of a stay in power....I mean....Imean....given that the Harperites were fighting an election against a party that was mired in corruption........

......given that the election was basically being given to the Harperites, the best they could do was a minority?

Rawe will do, Rae will do......

[daniel]

I've been finding this whole Liberal debate to be amusing... kind of like watching a funny sitcom. We all know....

Ah, knowledge. A little knowledge? I recall, someone knowing that Iraq had WMDs. There also was a report to back that up.

And who are the people included in "we". Just the exclusive club who thinks this way or everybody in Canada?

I also know of a poll where out of the people that will vote Conservative in the next election, Harper has 100% support.

[Biblio Bibuli]

I'd use that whole "if I were a betting man" crap, but I gamble all the time. Just don't see the logic in making a bet with some anonymous random online. How would I collect?

One SHOULD be able to open up an account at the MLW, so that MLW could guarantee that those who put their money where their mouth is get paid !!!

And the ONLY reason that *I* can think of as to why the MLWBN administrators are NOT providing this service is because they are afraid that it would stifle debate, as the majority of posters would be much less cocksure about their predictions.

I know I would.

[Higgly]

Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ...

Incredible. Just simply incredible.

Ignatieff has next to no political experience, no management experience and has spent half his life showing that he would rather live somewhere else.

As for Rae, I have yet to hear very much about what he stands for. I would venture to say he knows more about the Canadian political process, and running a government, than Ignatieff does.

The fact that Mark Steyn likes Ignatieff should be the kiss of death for your average Liberal. Next thing you know Barbara Amiel will be singing his praises

[Biblio Bibuli]

Ignatieff is in the top 35 of the world's greatest minds ...

Where did you hear this?

Actually, I lied. He came in in the 37th spot.

Still, not bad, eh?

Read it and weep!

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/intellectuals/results.htm

[geoffrey]

The list has Chomsky at the top, it's obviously flawed.

Dawkins? Boorrrring. And a little too sensitive.

Paul Wolfowitz? You can't be serious.

Even I think Ignatieff is smarter than the these people, and I'm not a fan. Either way, Ignatieff likely knows little about the real world outside of a university campus, never having done anything in the real world his entire life.

I struggle with allowing someone that doesn't know anything about business, labour, anything of that nature, to be a contender for the PM spot.

[jbg]

Another fact is that unless Harper comes up with a credible environmental policy soon, not only will he not get a majority, he'll be going back to Stornoway PDQ.

I don't think "Joe Lunchbucket" cares about such arcane issues as Kyoto. If they do care, they probably think, as I do, it's a crook's ripoff of the people.

Anyway, I think Harper by his actions has done more to put Canada on the map in a few short months than Ignatieff's urbane words during a closed-door G-8 summit chat could ever achieve.

Isn't there some tension here with the rest of your post?

[jbg]

As for Rae, I have yet to hear very much about what he stands for. I would venture to say he knows more about the Canadian political process, and running a government, than Ignatieff does.

Rae Days = Ray of Sunshine???

[gc1765]

Actually, I lied. He came in in the 37th spot.

Still, not bad, eh?

Read it and weep!

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/intellectuals/results.htm

Over 20,000 people voted for their top names from our original longlist of 100.

Not bad, BUT it was from a list of 100 people. How did they choose those 100 people?

[Ricki Bobbi]

Over 20,000 people voted for their top names from our original longlist of 100.

Not bad, BUT it was from a list of 100 people. How did they choose those 100 people?

Did nobody else notice that NAOMI KLEIN came 11th?????

Who the f*ck chose the 100 people for this list?

Shouldn't Iggy be ashamed he finished 26 SPOTS below NAOMI KLEIN?????

No bias in that list....no.