Sunday, October 12, 2008

Make Harper's wish come true

HTs to my colleagues Impolitical, Scott Tribe and Accidental Deliberations: Steve Harper mused yesterday that if he loses two days hence he may quit as Con party leader. Couple of points:
  • It's a stupid thing to say this late in the game, especially in a race that is still well within the margin of error;
  • It motivates the base of your opponents even more than your own -- in fact some of your own people may vote against you just to get rid of you.

So I just say, let's grant him his wish. He needs to go back to the boardrooms where he's more comfortable, not the Cabinet room. They're going to need a lobbyist like him to fight tooth and nail against the carbon tax.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the Liberals are going to be in a very difficult position after this election.

They have probably not performed well enough to form the government but, at the same time, Dion did well enough that he deserves another shot.

Like Liberal leaders before him, Dion can rightfully claim that he should get to fight one more election. After all, he seems to have secured the parties' base, likely held on to the Official Opposition post from the NDP and resurrected the party from being wiped out in Quebec.

Also to be factored into this equation is the financial state of the party. Can they mount another leadership campaign right now? How divisive would this be for the Liberals (Iggy-Rae splitting the party just like Martin-Chretien)?

A final consideration, if Dion puts his leadership to a vote of the party faithful, he might do okay. After all, the party base is further to the left than where the party sees itself. Dion would probably have surprising strength with this group after campaigning on the carbon tax, women's representation, Kelowna and poverty.

Do Liberals want him back? Will they go out and vote Liberal knowing that this is the outcome they will be securing?

Interesting times.

Frankly Canadian said...

I believe Stephane Dion is the best leader for the Liberal Party now and in the near future, we need to make climate change our most important issue, not now due to the economy, however going forward we need to address this global situation. When the Liberal leadership race was on, me and many others supported Michael Ignatieff and a whole lot of others supported Bob Rae, but I don't think I'm alone when I say that the more you look at Stephane Dion and the more you see his ethics,dedication,loyalty,tenacity,and over all likability, he really grows on you and as seen in the polls he grows on most Canadians as well. Good luck Mr. Dion, Canada needs you!

Anonymous said...

The best thing for the Conservatives would be to lose this election, because while they have Harper, they can't win a majority. On the other hand, if the Liberals form the government, they are stuck with Dion, and have to deal with a crappy economy. So Conservative voters have a strong incentive to stay home, or vote Liberal.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and, strangely, the best thing for Liberals is to vote NDP or Green.

Then, they can get Ignatieff as leader and return as the Naturally Governing Party of Canada.