Lining Up To Buy Tickets........

NDP, Green, Etc. please use back entrance!

Who do you think can better manage the current economic crisis?
Conservatives
	1437	43%
Liberals
	1222	36%
New Democrats
	224	6%
Green Party
	123	3%
Don't know
	332	9%

Ottawa Insight

Time for the feds to grow up

By MICHAEL DEN TANDT

Prime Minister Stephane Dion?

They have got to be kidding.

Here we are -- on the brink, maybe, of the most severe global economic downturn in a century. The auto industry is imploding. Commodity prices and home prices are in freefall.

Overseas the Jihadist terrorist threat is back, with a vengeance.

It's impossible to say just yet what impact the attacks in Mumbai will have on international peace and security, but the risk of further bloodshed has just increased exponentially.

And now we turn to Ottawa, where our fearless leaders are -- wait for it -- contemplating taking down the government. Why? Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government isn't throwing gobs of money around to stimulate the economy -- nevermind the highly politicized proposal to end the $1.95-per-vote subsidy to political parties, potentially a deathblow to the cash-strapped Liberals.

They've responded like wet hornets. The Liberals have formed a coalition with Jack Layton's NDP and Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Quebecois.

Have they all lost their minds?

Stephane Dion wasn't good enough for Canadian voters. He's been essentially fired as leader of his party.

Let's make him PM! Come on people!

Who's he backed by? Jack and the Bloc.

That's right, the same Jack Layton who wants to cancel all the tax cuts and Duceppe, leader of the party that wants to separate from the country.

We had our election, six weeks ago. Its result was unequivocal.

Political dirty tricks aside, the Tory approach to the economic crisis has been relatively sensible so far.

And the Liberals don't have their house in order. While supposedly contemplating forming a government, the Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae camps are squabbling among themselves about who would lead it.

Enough. Six weeks ago Harper promised to stop behaving like Attila the Hun. He must do so. And the Liberal brain trust must stop behaving like idiots.

As MPs, these people earn, at minimum, $170,000 a year of taxpayers' money. They owe us better than this.

Normal For The Left.....Compete For 2nd Place

Grits, NDP pulling even?

The polls are starting to reveal a new race this federal election – for second place. MORE... Election 2008 - Days 6 & 7 Still No Sun Spots: The Ice Age Cometh. Jackie today was big on platitudes, small on substance. That seems to be the NDP’s matra. He’s going to “take on” big oil, and “watch your backs”. He’s also going to “oversee” gas prices. As usual, no talk on exactly HOW he’s going to bring down gas prices, HOW he’s going to stop big oil. Oh erwingerrits.com

It Is Early In The Campaign And This Is Not Scientific But....

...let's keep our eye on the ball and don't make too many promises. Which political leader is performing best so far in the campaign?
Elizabeth May		10%
Gilles Duceppe		1%
Jack Layton		9%
Stephane Dion		12%
Stephen Harper		67%

If It Was Just About Leadership Harper Is The Winner

Harper Vs Dion

Election poll shows that Dion is the big loser

....the above poll that is self evident and while I believe Harper will make inroads in many areas I take the following poll with a grain of salt.

Conservatives have edge as campaign starts: poll

Tories seize lead in key ridings, poll shows

Liberals Don't Have The Smarts To Use A Tory Strategy

Polls consistently show that while the public acceptance of the conservatives is lukewarm there is no question that Harper's leadership ability kicks butt when it comes to voters opinion of him.

Best to bomb the other party's weakest link TheStar.com - Opinion - Best to bomb the other party's weakest link

September 07, 2008

Angelo Persichilli

According to media reports, it looks like the Liberals have changed their electoral strategy against the Tories. Convinced that the challenge over policies was taking them nowhere, they are now focusing on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a strong leader with some weaknesses. Canadians respect his leadership but he still has to gain their trust. And for the Liberals, that "trust" is the Conservative weakness to exploit.

It's the "bomb the bridge" theory. This is not new. It consists of identifying the weakest link in the adversary's chain, and then "bombing" it. This tactic was devised by then Conservative strategist Allan Gregg and used during the federal campaign in 1988 by Brian Mulroney. They identified the weakest link in the Liberal chain, John Turner, and they hit him hard. It worked.

In this case, however, the context is different. First, Harper is not the Conservatives' weakest link. Indeed, he is by far the strongest one. And the leader of the party attacking the "bridge" is Stéphane Dion, not Brian Mulroney. This pits the weakest link in the Liberal chain against the strongest link of the Tories.

More

,,,,,,the other guy

Car Pools and Corpses

Saturday, September 06, 2008 at 08:09 PM Comments: 18

Stephane Dion seems to live in another world from the rest of Canadians.

He has no idea what a car pool is. The man who wants us to believe that he knows the secret of how to lead Canada to an environmental Nirvana doesn't know what a carpool is.

Of course, he probably thinks Nirvana is reached through the yoga poses he practices every day.

I hope he's working on Shavasana. The Corpse Pose will be very appropriate for Stephane Dion's political aspirations unless he figures out how to connect with real Canadians.

Read more...

Opposition Running Scared And Race Hasn't Even Started

Here we go again....the hidden agenda

Fearing Harper could win a majority, rivals sound early alarm

CAMPBELL CLARK AND DANIEL LEBLANC

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

September 6, 2008 at 1:35 AM EDT

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper's opponents are breaking out sharp early warnings as polls suggest the Conservatives are rising toward majority-government territory, with the Bloc Québécois already saying the Tories are close, and the Liberals planning to start the campaign on an attack footing.

Even before the campaign begins Sunday, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe issued the kind of stop-a-majority plea that is usually a last-ditch tactic. The Liberals, reluctant to follow suit because it implies they are ceding their chance at power, nonetheless hinted that the prospect of a Tory majority might shake up voters.

In Montreal on Friday, Mr. Duceppe used the Conservatives' boost in the polls to argue that Quebeckers must elect Bloc MPs or Mr. Harper will have free rein.

“His objective is to enact his hidden agenda in its entirety, in a majority government,” Mr. Duceppe said at a news conference.

More

It's About Time

Harper to ask GG to set Oct. 14 as election date: sources
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will ask the Governor General to set Oct. 14 as the date for the next federal election, senior government officials said Monday

Harper Tories on the brink of majority, poll finds

• Article
• Comments (417)

BRIAN LAGHI

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

September 1, 2008 at 10:21 PM EDT

OTTAWA — The Harper Conservatives will enter a federal election campaign with a polling lead that puts them within striking distance of winning a majority government, according to a new survey taken on the eve of an expected vote.

More

Liberal blogger's brilliant carbon tax analysis

Monday, September 01, 2008 at 06:35 PM Comments: 14

Steve V at Far and Wide has a brilliant analysis of the support for Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

I urge you to read it, top to bottom, then consider what it means.

Read more...

Stephane Dion plays chicken by himself...and still loses!

Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 11:14 AM Comments: 36

Liberal Party Stephane Dion has a remarkable ability to take something as simple as a meeting and turn it into a battle of wills.

A battle of wills between himself and no one else.

And then Stephane Dion still manages to lose.

Read more...

Liberals Blame Tories, And Anyone Else They Can Think Of....

....for their failings and as John Geddes points out they can solve the problem by bringing down the government which the Liberal leadership, an oxymoron at best, is reluctant to do. Personally I think Harper should say to hell with it and call an election.

'This is not your fiefdom, sir'