Is Harper being Clarked/Mulroneyed?

[Michael Bluth]

If Harper got a majority, I think the major changes we would see would be with regards to the provinces. I believe the federal government would hand over more responsibilities to the provinces, and respect their jurisdiction more than previous governments. I just don't see any religious right faction taking power anytime soon.

You are probably right.

All evidence of everything he has said and done as Prime Minister point to that fact.

However, the left is stuck on *scary* *scary* *scary* thing.

The real scary thing would be if some smart leftists could come up with a credible campaign strategy and we ended up with Stephane Dion in the PMO.

But what are the odds of that?

[Canadian Blue]

My thinking is the Liberal Party will simply use the same platform from the old 2004 election. Apparently all of the strategists are from Paul Martin's old campaign team. I myself will be voting New Democrat, and am a New Democrat. However I fail to see the Conservatives as the equivalent of the Republican Party. My hope is that we don't have an election until 2009, the current minority government is working, if it wasn't we would have an election by now. The best thing the Liberals could do is replace Dion with somebody else, I don't see him improving. He may be able wow me in an election, but once again I doubt it.

I don't even really see the difference between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. Just different logos, but the same old rhetoric.

[August1991]

i may not love Harper, but he at least has a clean history of knowing how to deal with finances.

Dealing with finances?

Harper spends our money foolishly like a drunken sailor. And he does nothing for anything most Canadians care about now.

Harper is a calculating, ambitious man, one or two decades too late. Maybe he'll learn.

----

I still don't really know what Harper stands for. He cut the GST but he raised my income tax. He didn't cut spending - on the contrary, he seems to spend my money. He pretends to be frugal for the cameras, but he's not in fact.

Others in this thread have said that Harper has been "Quebecized". If only.

Stephen Harper and all federal parties should fear what happened in this past Quebec election -it's Canadian politics writ large. IOW, Harper has one chance to understand the ADQ message. If he gets it wrong, he's gone - Charlie Brown.

[ScottSA]

Harper spends our money foolishly like a drunken sailor. And he does nothing for anything most Canadians care about now.

Harper is a calculating, ambitious man, one or two decades too late. Maybe he'll learn.

How ridiculous. Harper blah blah blah hates us all and is drunk and uncaring and doesn't do anything for us because he's bad. He's evilly calculating and archfiendedly ambitious and he wants to rule Canada like a Machiavellian prince, but he's too late. Whatever.

Wait a sec, why is he too late? What is he supposed to learn?

The last demographics I've seen suggest that conservative voters are growing in proportion to enlightened folk, so I don't know what could make it too late, unless of course you know of an upcoming putsch. Harper seems to have effectively lulled Canadians into complacency while he plots the downfall of civilization, so what is he supposed to learn? That he can outsmart Dion while blindfolded and being kneecapped? That the NDP will troll along winning a few customers and losing a few like it does in every other election in the history of the universe? That the bloc is worried far too much about its backdoor support to attack anyone else and is generally happy with CPC philosophy anyway?

[August1991]

The last demographics I've seen suggest that conservative voters are growing in proportion to enlightened folk, so I don't know what could make it too late, unless of course you know of an upcoming putsch....

Precisely.

Is Harper a conservative?

ScottSA, do you understand what happened in the last Quebec election?

[ScottSA]

The last demographics I've seen suggest that conservative voters are growing in proportion to enlightened folk, so I don't know what could make it too late, unless of course you know of an upcoming putsch....

Precisely.

Is Harper a conservative?

Depends on how you define the word.

[August1991]

I'm not going to play word games.

But Quebec voters first and other Canadians also have no patience for BS.

Harper is about two decades too late on the BS meter. He had better catch up fast if he wants a majority.

Tax and spend doesn't work anymore, yet that's what Harper is doing.

Stephen Harper was elected as a Conservative and he's gone Ted Kennedy (under Mulroney's 1980s advice) because he thinks that's how he'll win a majority. The fact is that we're living in the 21st century.

[ScottSA]

I'm not going to play word games.

But Quebec voters first and other Canadians also have no patience for BS.

Harper is about two decades too late on the BS meter. He had better catch up fast if he wants a majority.

Tax and spend doesn't work anymore, yet that's what Harper is doing.

Stephen Harper was elected as a Conservative and he's gone Ted Kennedy (under Mulroney's 1980s advice) because he thinks that's how he'll win a majority. The fact is that we're living in the 21st century.

Well you seem to be saying that he's not conservative enough. Again, whether Harper is a conservative or not depends on how 'conservative' is defined. It's not "word games", it's necessary boundaries. I think Harper is conservative in general outlook, but if you're going to go all purist on me, you'll want to quibble about "how" conservative he is in an effort to show that he wasn't conservative at all, so I really don't know what answer you're looking for.

[M.Dancer]

Conservative enough? In canada, conservative enough is a Red Tory. More than that is too conservative and less than than is PET.

Harper is about 5% too conservative. A little more reeality and he will be a nice Flora McDonald