.....they should be kicking ass not kissing ass.
Can't lead from a gutter
Harper should act like a PM, while his team has to turn up its professionalism
Steve has me befuddled.
Here's what I don't understand.
Stephen Harper is supposed to be Canada's most powerful politician.
He's the man.
He's the prime minister of Canada.
He is the head of the government.
He lives at 24 Sussex Dr.
He has a lovely wife and two kids.
He has people -- especially during an election.
When you type "prime minister of Canada" into Google, a big picture of a smiling Stephen Harper is found at the second link -- hit number one is confirmation of his position as prime minister from the CIA, of all places.
Harper easily wins key polls that show he's the top leader among the party bosses, while Liberal Leader Stephane Dion languishes well below N-Dipper Jack Layton.
So why is he running his campaign like such a yutz?
Instead of acting like a prime minister, like a leader, Harper so far has come across as a whiny duck, trying to destroy the big, bad Liberals.
All while being undermined by his own underlings.
Flying puffins pooping on Dion? It doesn't matter if that one slipped through the cracks of the Conservative war room. How does even the concept of something that juvenile and stupid get past stage one with Canada's top politician and his team?
It's irrelevant whether it's the Conservative kiddie-corps keystrokers, or his chief of staff, who allowed that website to ever see the light of day. And it's appalling.
Harper's original position of not allowing the Green Party into the leaders' debates -- a group of been-nowhere politicians that pose no threat to the Conservatives -- and threatening to pull out if Elizabeth May was allowed in, played out at a level far below his stature.
Remember Steve, you're the PM. Your name is on George W. Bush's "in case of emergency call this number" list (not at the top, but it's there).
People take note if you do or don't go to the Olympics, wear a sweater or shake your kids' hands. You own Alberta.
So what's with these vicious low blows?
As pollster Nik Nanos points out, more Canadians are choosing "none of the above" when asked to name the Canadian political leader that's the strongest on trust, competence and vision. Right now, the undecideds are at 28% and any missteps might move many of those people away from the Tories.
Enter Ryan Sparrow, the Conservative's chief spokesman, who earned the golden boot in the backside Thursday for spinning comments from the father of a fallen soldier into an allegation the grieving parent was nothing more than a Liberal backer.
Forget about taking the high road, the party of the prime minister apparently can't even find the on ramp.
That said, it hasn't all been cheap attacks and fraidy-cat moves.
Look at the Conservatives' ad called "A Strong Foundation," where Harper -- wearing a vest over a blue shirt with no tie -- talks frankly about economic uncertainty, especially in the U.S.
This is a shining example of how this man is actually running the country, not struggling to get a plane off the ground.
He talks about lowering taxes and continuing to have a balanced budget.
"We've been making sure when we've been spending money, ordinary families benefit.
"This country is going to come through this period in a lot better shape than it's ever been before," Harper asserts.
Sure, the Liberals balanced the budget -- but not these Liberals. Not these Liberals with their hocus pocus Green Shift plan.
But Harper doesn't go there in this ad. Instead, he talks about how he's been running the country.
Who else can say that?
And he did apologize immediately for the pooping puffin, while also suspending his overzealous aide.
Harper's main advantage in this election is that he's the prime minister. He needs to start acting like it and his team needs to turn up their professionalism a couple of notches.
Sure birds gone wild and free shots at Dion are fun and part of politics. You run an election to win. Not to be a nice guy.
But since the public doesn't trust the leadership abilities of the other guy, why haven't the Tories been running Harper as The Man, the PM who's above the fray?
Harper hasn't proven to be a great prime minister, maybe not even a good one. But he is the only one running who has done the job -- and the only one many Canadians feel can do the job out of the current crop of political leaders.
Given that, the gutter is a strange place to find the prime minister of Canada
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