Harper could be the second Conservative leader in a generation to utter Brian Mulroney’s 1984 election appeal to “Give me four years, and you won’t recognize this country.”
Scary thought given what we see about how Harper is following the George Bush Neo-Republican values. Scary thought given how little we know actually about the REAL Stephen Harper.
In 2003 when Harper "delivered" the now famous cribbed John Howard speech, he was saying Canada should support George Bush in follow his blundering and go to war with Iraq. Harper was obviously a scary guy then. Harper had a hidden agenda then. He has a hidden agenda now.
He was intent on buying into George Bush's many policy mistakes from a disastrous social policy, to the folly of his foreign policy, and an anemic environmental policy. Now we see the devastation from the Bush White House crisis creating devastating economic policy. Harper is totally aligned with Bush on all counts and he will take Canada down the same destructive path as Bush has done to America.
What if McCain becomes President and Harper gets a majority? What if McCain actually does want to "Bomb, Bomb. Bomb...Bomb Bomb Iran"? (Apologies to the Beach Boys and Barbara Ann). If so, will Harper follow him into such a foolish and deadly folly, just as he wanted to with Bush in Iraq, a couple of short years ago. I think so. I think you can count on it.
The facts are that nothing has really changed about Stephen Harper since those scary days ---before Harper had power. And now we know, since he was given political power in 2006, he can't be trusted to tell us the truth. Nor does he keep his word and he ignores his own laws, like about election dates.
Sure Harper is wearing sweater vests to soften his "image", and shifting his share of the blame to underlings. He is also spending a shitillion bucks on television advertising dollars trying to convince Canadians his former mean-spirited and bullying self is no longer a clone of the Bush Republican politician that he was a couple of years ago. There is a new "REAL" Stephen Harper on the political shelf that we are supposed to "buy" and vote for without thinking or questioning.
But it is not working for Harper because the big bucks spent for campaign advertising will not change our values and it merely modifes our opinions temporarily. We are coming to realize that Harper is out of sync with Canadian's values. We are starting to rethink our priorities and looking at voting our values instead of being suckered by slick and conniving advertising campaigns.
When you take a moment to think about it, we don’t really know who the REAL Stephen Harper is, do we? Which masterful manipulation of the truth behind the “REAL” Stephen Harper do you think is the authentic person? Do you know what really motivates the Real Stephen Harper? Can you rest assured that as a politician he is more concerned about your best interests than his personal lust for political power?
Can you really believe in him and trust in him if you can’t depend on him to tell the truth, obey the law, and be open, accountable and forthright with you? Are you confident you know Harper's real intentions as our Prime Minister? Are you comfortable with giving Harper the absolute power of a majority government this election with all these unanswered questions?
Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER. Think twice Canada and be very careful who you vote for. In uncertain times like now we need to be able to trust our leaders and rely on their integrity.
Until we are sure we are being shown the REAL Stephen Harper in this campaign we need to be cautious about how much power we give him. When the Conservative War Room stops selling us a facade and facsimile of a slick and softer Stephen Harper, we just can’t trust in him, rely up on him or believe in him. He is REALLY not worth the risk.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Size Matters - But Do Pollsters Care?
Pollsters who use sample sizes of 243 in Quebec and 384 in Ontario and spin the “results” as being indicative of anything proximiting a degree of accuracy should be embarrassed. Those sample sizes are too small to make a definitive comment on voter stances in Quebec and Ontario with over 7 and 12 million people respectively.
Remember these days pollsters have to phone 15 -20 people before anyone answers their questions. So they are pretty self selecting people and not necessarily very representative. Also they don’t call cell phones so they miss the youth and young adult voter sentiments as well. Take this so called voter intention information with a grain of salt...and don't be fooled into thinking this is more fact than fancy. It is not.
The Pollsters were totally embarrassed in the 2006 election because they were mostly wrong last time, and significantly wrong - except for Nanos. He kept polling over the last weekend in 2006 and caught the shift in sentiment as Canadians got serious as they reflected on the future of the country.
Nik's three day running polls are showing very little variation in voter preferences from the 2006 election results...and it has been that way all through this election so far. In 2006 the Cons had 36.3%, Libs 30.2 and NDP 17.5. Not much has changed but MSM reports breathlessly as if something was actually happening that is different. It isn't!
This election will be decided on the long weekend of Oct 11-13 as Canadians reflect during Thanksgiving in the same way and about the future of the country as well as their own futures in uncertain times and who they dare trust. Many will not make a final decision until they pick up a pencil.
Harper is not a leader. He is a Misleader. I am for anyone but Harper BUT I know he has a very efficient and concentrated rural vote. So he has a real shot at a majority. Unless the rest of us show up to send him a message. We have to vote strategically to be sure to not split the vote either.
Partisanship has to conceded to pragmatism as conscientious Canadians who care for the country and the future for their kids cast a vote. Be sure to show up and vote. And be sure to vote Anybody But Harper.
Remember these days pollsters have to phone 15 -20 people before anyone answers their questions. So they are pretty self selecting people and not necessarily very representative. Also they don’t call cell phones so they miss the youth and young adult voter sentiments as well. Take this so called voter intention information with a grain of salt...and don't be fooled into thinking this is more fact than fancy. It is not.
The Pollsters were totally embarrassed in the 2006 election because they were mostly wrong last time, and significantly wrong - except for Nanos. He kept polling over the last weekend in 2006 and caught the shift in sentiment as Canadians got serious as they reflected on the future of the country.
Nik's three day running polls are showing very little variation in voter preferences from the 2006 election results...and it has been that way all through this election so far. In 2006 the Cons had 36.3%, Libs 30.2 and NDP 17.5. Not much has changed but MSM reports breathlessly as if something was actually happening that is different. It isn't!
This election will be decided on the long weekend of Oct 11-13 as Canadians reflect during Thanksgiving in the same way and about the future of the country as well as their own futures in uncertain times and who they dare trust. Many will not make a final decision until they pick up a pencil.
Harper is not a leader. He is a Misleader. I am for anyone but Harper BUT I know he has a very efficient and concentrated rural vote. So he has a real shot at a majority. Unless the rest of us show up to send him a message. We have to vote strategically to be sure to not split the vote either.
Partisanship has to conceded to pragmatism as conscientious Canadians who care for the country and the future for their kids cast a vote. Be sure to show up and vote. And be sure to vote Anybody But Harper.
Harper's Speech Writer Gone. Guilty of Plagiarism. More Questions About the Conservative's Values.
More situational ethics are coming from the Conservative Party campaign operatives. Yet another one has to resign in disgrace and further humiliate Harper and bring his personal judgment and trustworthiness into question.
An admission of plagiarism by an experienced speech writer working directly for a political leader like Mr. Harper is serious stuff. This speech writer clearly knows better but did it anyway, presuming he would not get caught? This is not an example of the over-exuberance of some amateur blogger getting out of line. This is deliberate deception. It begs the question of if it was collusion with John Howard, the defeated Australian PM who gave the peech first.
This smacks so much of Harper’s hardball bullying political style of doing whatever it takes to get power. This does not look good on Mr. Harper’s judgment and qualities to govern. It shows the deceit and conniving we have seen from the Harper government and political culture goes a long way back - a long way back!
Canadians have not warmed to Mr. Harper since they gave him a minority government in January 2006. His bullying and opportunistic approach to politics has firmed up his base voter support but it has not given him any traction or momentum to break through for the majority government he covets in this election.
Harper’s approach is obviously to get personal political power at all costs and then bankrupt the Liberals in the process. He wants a one-party state, the Harper party. Is this the kind of person you think represent the foundational Canadian values? Is this the kind of person you want speaking for you as Prime Minister? Is this the kind of person you feel comfortable enough with to give the power to make the serious decisions public policy decisions that will impact your life directly?
It’s about character, competence and caring. We need both in our political leadership. We need servant leaders, not power hungry politicians. Harper is continuing to prove has not enough of these qualities of effective leadership. Be careful who you elect Canada. And be very afraid of giving Stephen Harper the absolute power of a majority government.
An admission of plagiarism by an experienced speech writer working directly for a political leader like Mr. Harper is serious stuff. This speech writer clearly knows better but did it anyway, presuming he would not get caught? This is not an example of the over-exuberance of some amateur blogger getting out of line. This is deliberate deception. It begs the question of if it was collusion with John Howard, the defeated Australian PM who gave the peech first.
This smacks so much of Harper’s hardball bullying political style of doing whatever it takes to get power. This does not look good on Mr. Harper’s judgment and qualities to govern. It shows the deceit and conniving we have seen from the Harper government and political culture goes a long way back - a long way back!
Canadians have not warmed to Mr. Harper since they gave him a minority government in January 2006. His bullying and opportunistic approach to politics has firmed up his base voter support but it has not given him any traction or momentum to break through for the majority government he covets in this election.
Harper’s approach is obviously to get personal political power at all costs and then bankrupt the Liberals in the process. He wants a one-party state, the Harper party. Is this the kind of person you think represent the foundational Canadian values? Is this the kind of person you want speaking for you as Prime Minister? Is this the kind of person you feel comfortable enough with to give the power to make the serious decisions public policy decisions that will impact your life directly?
It’s about character, competence and caring. We need both in our political leadership. We need servant leaders, not power hungry politicians. Harper is continuing to prove has not enough of these qualities of effective leadership. Be careful who you elect Canada. And be very afraid of giving Stephen Harper the absolute power of a majority government.
JIm Ford is Still the One for Edmonton Sherwood Park
The “TrueBlueReformer” has a blog under http://www.stopjimmyford.blogspot.com/. He can’t understand why sending an Independent Conservative to Ottawa instead of the “official” Conservative candidate would send Harper a message. I recommended in an earlier post that Edmonton Sherwood Park elect Jim Ford, as an Independent Conservative for those very reasons.
Here is a link to that earlier post with my endorsement.
I have to wonder about these cloak-and-dagger Conservatives and their supporters. Why do they always hide behind anonymity in the blogosphere? Who are these people? Why should we believe anything they say? Why do they have to hide their identities? What are they afraid of – the truth? Who are they afraid of – the public?
I think these true believers of the Harper hypocrisy are guys who are set up to spout off but who are really afraid in their heart of hearts. They fear the political process in a free and open democracy. They fear their party henchmen and they fear their leader.
Hidden identities from party operatives trolling the Blogs means there is also a hidden agenda! Harper does not want power – he wants absolute power. We all know the truth that power corrupts. That is why the Liberals lost the last election and Canadians decided to give Harper a controlled and limited chance to govern by electing a Conservative minority.
That political experiment with Harper is our Prime Minister has proven to be a failure. The power has already corrupted Harper and the Conservative Party in just over 2 years. His record, his manipulation of the facts, the abuse and bullying, the command and control top-down centralization of political power exclusively in the PMO is proof he is not the right stuff to govern.
If he gets absolute power through a majority government one can expect it will corrupt him absolutely in less than 2 years. Harper is not worth this risk! He has shown that he is a risk to our freedoms as citizens by the way he uses power for personal political purposes, and not the greater good of the country.
Here is a link to that earlier post with my endorsement.
I have to wonder about these cloak-and-dagger Conservatives and their supporters. Why do they always hide behind anonymity in the blogosphere? Who are these people? Why should we believe anything they say? Why do they have to hide their identities? What are they afraid of – the truth? Who are they afraid of – the public?
I think these true believers of the Harper hypocrisy are guys who are set up to spout off but who are really afraid in their heart of hearts. They fear the political process in a free and open democracy. They fear their party henchmen and they fear their leader.
Hidden identities from party operatives trolling the Blogs means there is also a hidden agenda! Harper does not want power – he wants absolute power. We all know the truth that power corrupts. That is why the Liberals lost the last election and Canadians decided to give Harper a controlled and limited chance to govern by electing a Conservative minority.
That political experiment with Harper is our Prime Minister has proven to be a failure. The power has already corrupted Harper and the Conservative Party in just over 2 years. His record, his manipulation of the facts, the abuse and bullying, the command and control top-down centralization of political power exclusively in the PMO is proof he is not the right stuff to govern.
If he gets absolute power through a majority government one can expect it will corrupt him absolutely in less than 2 years. Harper is not worth this risk! He has shown that he is a risk to our freedoms as citizens by the way he uses power for personal political purposes, and not the greater good of the country.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Polls Show 51% Oppose a Harper Majority - Let the Strategic Voting Begin
The vibrations about strategic voting are starting to pick up resonance in the land. Harper is “achingly close” to a majority with some poll and seat projector results last week. Harper’s new musing about wanting a majority was to be expected. Why is it reasonable to expect this?
Because at the beginning of the election Harper said just the opposite! He said when he called the election, breaking his own fixed date election law to do it, he said expected and would be “satisfied” with another minority government. We know from past experience that when Harper says one thing he means another…like not wanting a majority. Of course he wants a majority, and it looks like he will be getting it if current trends continue.
Get used to being afraid of your government’s power over you if Harper gets a majority. It could happen. Unless, of course Canadians wake up to that fact and realize what a mistake they would be. Harper is a one-man-band control freak and a misleading master manipulator. Canadians will have to stop him and that will take some strategic voting given the split in the Lib/NDP/Green voters.
The “appetite” for a Conservative majority is also at 40% and 51% would not be happy with a Harper majority and only 11% are not sure. This is according to a new Ipsos Reid poll released Sunday September 28. Harper is obviously a love him or hate him kind of guy. Those who love him are older and middle aged men and those who have him are younger Canadians.
This is a recipe for strategic voting, which will start in earnest after the debates this week. That same poll was showing 39% of us are in favour of strategic voting to stop Harper and 45% are against it. Some 16% are not sure what they think about strategic voting.
The strategic voters will tend to vote Liberal (44%) followed by NDP (26%) with Greens getting strategic voter support from 14%. Only 3% of strategic voters have not yet made up their minds. I expect the Green strategic voters in Ontario and Atlantic Canada will shift Liberal and the NDP vote in Quebec will shift to the Bloc.
The vote swapping websites and the anti-Harper websites and Facebook pages and anti-Harper Premier Danny Williams will all start to turn up the heat, volume and activity for strategic voting. More on how to do this will be in future posts.
Because at the beginning of the election Harper said just the opposite! He said when he called the election, breaking his own fixed date election law to do it, he said expected and would be “satisfied” with another minority government. We know from past experience that when Harper says one thing he means another…like not wanting a majority. Of course he wants a majority, and it looks like he will be getting it if current trends continue.
Get used to being afraid of your government’s power over you if Harper gets a majority. It could happen. Unless, of course Canadians wake up to that fact and realize what a mistake they would be. Harper is a one-man-band control freak and a misleading master manipulator. Canadians will have to stop him and that will take some strategic voting given the split in the Lib/NDP/Green voters.
The “appetite” for a Conservative majority is also at 40% and 51% would not be happy with a Harper majority and only 11% are not sure. This is according to a new Ipsos Reid poll released Sunday September 28. Harper is obviously a love him or hate him kind of guy. Those who love him are older and middle aged men and those who have him are younger Canadians.
This is a recipe for strategic voting, which will start in earnest after the debates this week. That same poll was showing 39% of us are in favour of strategic voting to stop Harper and 45% are against it. Some 16% are not sure what they think about strategic voting.
The strategic voters will tend to vote Liberal (44%) followed by NDP (26%) with Greens getting strategic voter support from 14%. Only 3% of strategic voters have not yet made up their minds. I expect the Green strategic voters in Ontario and Atlantic Canada will shift Liberal and the NDP vote in Quebec will shift to the Bloc.
The vote swapping websites and the anti-Harper websites and Facebook pages and anti-Harper Premier Danny Williams will all start to turn up the heat, volume and activity for strategic voting. More on how to do this will be in future posts.
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