Majority of Canadians do not want Dion as PM

[Michael Bluth]

Here is the link.

Overall, only 20 per cent of those polled wanted Dion, who was elected to lead the Liberals just six months ago, to become prime minister.

Fifty-two per cent polled said they didn't want him in the country's top job. Twenty-eight per cent had no opinion.

I guess most Canadian's agree that Stephané Dion is not a leader.

[Shakeyhands]

Dude... the majority of Canadians don't want Harper as PM either. LOL!!

[Fortunata]

Didn't Canadians say that about Steve when he first became leader of the new Conservative party?

[Who's Doing What?]

Dude... the majority of Canadians don't want Harper as PM either. LOL!!

Exactly.

[Michael Bluth]

Didn't Canadians say that about Steve when he first became leader of the new Conservative party?

Yup. He then lost his first General Election as leader but won his second.

Does anybody think if Stephané loses the election next year he'll get another shot?

[normanchateau]

Didn't Canadians say that about Steve when he first became leader of the new Conservative party?

Yup. He then lost his first General Election as leader but won his second.

Despite the long list of electable candidates waiting to replace him...

[Guest chilipeppers]

Didn't Canadians say that about Steve when he first became leader of the new Conservative party?

Yup. He then lost his first General Election as leader but won his second.

Does anybody think if Stephané loses the election next year he'll get another shot?

He would not, they would replace him maybe sooner most liberals I think are realizing they made a mistake.

Same with any leader, if Harper loses the next election he'll goo too. If he wins a majority or another minority with at least the the same number of seats he'll stay.

[Mad_Michael]

Didn't Canadians say that about Steve when he first became leader of the new Conservative party?

Probably.

And they said it the night of the election and they are saying it now. A majority of Canadians don't want Harper to be PM. Our electoral system doesn't quite work that way though. 38-40% is usually sufficient to have majority control and Harper hasn't yet even managed that much support.

[Mad_Michael]

Does anybody think if Stephané loses the election next year he'll get another shot?

If the Liberal party was even a shadow of its tradtional strength, Dion would not even see that one election.

Any party that goes into an election with a leader they know is going to lose doesn't deserve to win.

As I've stated many times, when it comes to Dion, the only question is, will the Liberals replace him before the next election or after he loses it?

I vote dump him now before he causes serious damage.

Anyone willing to take my bet that Bob Rae will be the next leader of the Liberal Party?

[jdobbin]

Dude... the majority of Canadians don't want Harper as PM either. LOL!!

I can remember even before the last election that Harper wasn't a popular choice for prime minister. And now his popularity according to the last Angus Reid poll is falling again.

[normanchateau]

Same with any leader, if Harper loses the next election he'll goo too. If he wins a majority or another minority with at least the the same number of seats he'll stay.

Why would the Conservatives keep him if he does no better than another minority?

[noahbody]

I vote dump him now before he causes serious damage.

Anyone willing to take my bet that Bob Rae will be the next leader of the Liberal Party?

My bet would be on Tobin. My second guess would be Manly. Third guess: McKenna. All three would be good leaders, I think. I have Bob Rae listed right after Finnegan from the Mr. Dressup show.

Harper is a good leader too. He's not afraid to put the country ahead of his own popularity or the popularity of his party. This quality, though admirable, likely won't ever win him a majority. Just the other week he saved the country $10-20 billion, yet he was only criticized for thumbing Kyoto.

I assume you meant 'serious damage to the Liberal party.' My worry is that he could possibly become PM. We'd be trading our billions for credits while he passionately promoted the destruction of our resource-based economy in order to save the planet.

[Bonam]

Dion was a terrible choice. I don't know how the liberals managed to hamstring themselves so completely by picking him instead of one of the much stronger candidates.

[ScottSA]

I see the Liberals hereabouts are gloating themselves into an American-style Democratic mindset, so they can express shock and awe when Harper wins a majority, and set up an interminable wail about "stolen elections" for the next few years...

[normanchateau]

Harper is a good leader too. He's not afraid to put the country ahead of his own popularity or the popularity of his party.

Not a political bone in his body...just sheer altruism.

And the billions he handed to Quebec at the expense of other provinces in the last budget? It was to save us from the spectre of separatism, not to get votes in Quebec and not to get another fellow altruist, Gilles Duceppe, to vote for the budget.

[capricorn]

As many pundits have said, Dion was the compromise choice over Ignatieff and Rae last December. I think the Liberals would be making a big mistake by dumping Dion before the next election. This move would only reinforce the appearance that the party is deeply divided. In addition, they don't have the bucks to hold a leadership convention. IMO the Liberals will lose the next election. That would give the party an ironclad reason to dump him. It really souns like the Liberals would want an election soon in order to do just that.

I believe Ignatieff will succeed Dion. I mean, the fact that Iggy spent so many years in the US could be touted as an asset in terms of his understanding of its government and citizens. This knowledge would be very beneficial to a party leader. The memory of Bob Rae's gaffes as Premier of Ontario would alienate Ontario voters. Can the Liberals take such a chance? I don't think so.

Dion is not showing any signs of trying to improve his English. If I was anglophone, this would rub me the wrong way. He knows this is a huge problem but it does not appear he is doing anything about it. I wonder why he doesn't make this is number one priority in order to raise his popularity with anglophones. I am a francophone and he doesn't even connect with me.

[Michael Bluth]

I think the Liberals would be making a big mistake by dumping Dion before the next election. This move would only reinforce the appearance that the party is deeply divided. In addition, they don't have the bucks to hold a leadership convention. IMO the Liberals will lose the next election.

I believe Ignatieff will succeed Dion.

Dion is not showing any signs of trying to improve his English. If I was anglophone, this would rub me the wrong way. He knows this is a huge problem but it does not appear he is doing anything about it. I wonder why he doesn't make this is number one priority in order to raise his popularity with anglophones. I am a francophone and he doesn't even connect with me.

There is no way Dion gets dumped before the next election.

I actually think Kennedy will succeed Dion.

Dion is very slowly improving his English.

He has at least started trying to talk like real folk instead of a perfesser.

He keeps repeating the same phrases over and over though.

[capricorn]

Wasn't Kennedy the one who gave the final push that put Dion over the top at the convention?

If I was a delegate at the next onvention, I would hold him responsible in large part for the Liberals getting stuck with a leader who is essentially a non-starter. That, and whoever else is in the running, would influence my choice.

Dion is into his seventh month as leader. He has just begun serious, concerted efforts to reach average Joes and Janes.

I have serious doubts as to whether he can in fact raise his English language skills to overcome his communication problem.

I think his advisers should be doing a much better job at formulating a plan to raise his personal profile with voters.

[ScottSA]

I think the Liberals would be making a big mistake by dumping Dion before the next election. This move would only reinforce the appearance that the party is deeply divided. In addition, they don't have the bucks to hold a leadership convention. IMO the Liberals will lose the next election.

I believe Ignatieff will succeed Dion.

Dion is not showing any signs of trying to improve his English. If I was anglophone, this would rub me the wrong way. He knows this is a huge problem but it does not appear he is doing anything about it. I wonder why he doesn't make this is number one priority in order to raise his popularity with anglophones. I am a francophone and he doesn't even connect with me.

There is no way Dion gets dumped before the next election.

I actually think Kennedy will succeed Dion.

Dion is very slowly improving his English.

He has at least started trying to talk like real folk instead of a perfesser.

He keeps repeating the same phrases over and over though.

He can learn to talk like John Wayne, but that hand thing he does...the two fists held in front of him like he's about to mince into a torrential sob session, or scream like a poofta...that makes him look about as ineffectual as Neville Chamberlain's daughter.

[jdobbin]

He can learn to talk like John Wayne, but that hand thing he does...the two fists held in front of him like he's about to mince into a torrential sob session, or scream like a poofta...that makes him look about as ineffectual as Neville Chamberlain's daughter.

And yet the Liberals are ahead of the Tories in the polls. He might be like Bourassa and run behind his party but still end up winning.

[Michael Bluth]

He can learn to talk like John Wayne, but that hand thing he does...the two fists held in front of him like he's about to mince into a torrential sob session, or scream like a poofta...that makes him look about as ineffectual as Neville Chamberlain's daughter.

My guess is the hand thing is a conscious effort to stop from doing the Paul Martin windmill.

Could you imagine Dion trying to talk like John Wayne?

Neville Chamberlain's daughter? That's just a really odd reference.

[capricorn]

He can learn to talk like John Wayne, but that hand thing he does...the two fists held in front of him like he's about to mince into a torrential sob session, or scream like a poofta...that makes him look about as ineffectual as Neville Chamberlain's daughter.

And yet the Liberals are ahead of the Tories in the polls. He might be like Bourassa and run behind his party but still end up winning.

Therein lies the problem for those in the Liberal party who wish to sideline Dion. Dion's popularity numbers reinforces their case for the need for a different leader. The scenario of Dion as PM is as distasteful for his Liberal political foes as it is for many Liberal supporters.

Using Dion's own analogy, polls are like tides. I think the Conservatives' drop in the polls is attributed to, among other things, growing sentiment against the Afghan mission, the inept handling of the stand-off with Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces, and the perceived arrogance of the PM.

A lot can change between now and an election. The variables are incalculable.

[jdobbin]

Therein lies the problem for those in the Liberal party who wish to sideline Dion. Dion's popularity numbers reinforces their case for the need for a different leader. The scenario of Dion as PM is as distasteful for his Liberal political foes as it is for many Liberal supporters.

Using Dion's own analogy, polls are like tides. I think the Conservatives' drop in the polls is attributed to, among other things, growing sentiment against the Afghan mission, the inept handling of the stand-off with Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces, and the perceived arrogance of the PM.

A lot can change between now and an election. The variables are incalculable.

At the moment, no one is going to dump Dion when the Liberals are in the lead. I see the situation as no different as all the naysayers on Harper just prior to the election who wanted him dumped because they said someone else would do better.

[Michael Bluth]

Therein lies the problem for those in the Liberal party who wish to sideline Dion. Dion's popularity numbers reinforces their case for the need for a different leader. The scenario of Dion as PM is as distasteful for his Liberal political foes as it is for many Liberal supporters.

Dion's not getting dumped before the next election.

Regardless of the level of support the Conservatives enjoy vis-a-vis the Liberals.

[capricorn]

Therein lies the problem for those in the Liberal party who wish to sideline Dion. Dion's popularity numbers reinforces their case for the need for a different leader. The scenario of Dion as PM is as distasteful for his Liberal political foes as it is for many Liberal supporters.

Dion's not getting dumped before the next election.

Regardless of the level of support the Conservatives enjoy vis-a-vis the Liberals.

I never implied Dion would get dumped before an election. I said above it would be folly on the part of the Liberals to do so. Insiders have reason to be worried about going into an election with Dion at the helm.

My sense is that with Dion as leader, the Liberals will lose the next election to the Conservatives. Unless, of course, the Conservatives commit a whopper which Canadians could not possibly stomach. Possibly, there is enough time for this to happen.