Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Back and forth

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 12:22pm - 12 Comments

While the Conservatives aim an attack ad at an attack ad that is no longer running, the Liberals release a new spot based on their online poll.

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  • Douglass

    Today's headlines are that Harper would be unwilling to work with the other parties if he is given a minority government in this election. Doesn't sound like he's changed much to me.

    • Patchouli

      Yes, nationalnewswatch is crawling with these articles, so I guess it's something he's been asked this morning.

      What do you think of his stance? Do you think it will have its intended result of making him appear strong and in control? Or, will his stated unwillingness to compromise make voters realize he's not the right guy at this time, when we are clearly so polarized about issues. What's wrong with a little give and take? I don't get it.

      • Stewart_Smith

        My take is that if provided only a minority government, Harper's preference would be yet another election as soon as possible. Crazy?

        1) The Liberals and NDP had enough money to run full national campaigns in this election. If there is a second one in the next 6 months that may well not be true.

        2) Questions from Liberals about Ignatieff's leadership will begin on May 3rd. Although I personally think he has performed very well, his personal numbers still trail the party's by a large margin.

        So following this election, the Liberals will have leadership & financial issues just as they did in 2008. The NDP may be in a worse spot than 2008 since Layton is likely ending his run as leader.

        Of course, the Liberals might stop showing up for confidence votes again (cause it worked so well through 2008-2010). Or the GG might ask Ignatieff to try his hand as PM, although I don't see it if Lib + NDP < 154 seats.
        Even if he does ask, I don't see that government as being stable for more than 6 months.

        If we have another election quickly, it will be the election that is the issue. There is a chance that the public will perceive the Conservative strategy as gamesmanship and give Harper the David Peterson treatment. However, they may plug their noses and give Harper his majority. It's a gamble, but Harper loves a bold political gamble.

        • Patchouli

          You may be right. But before the GG grants harper another election, there may be other offers on the table for consideration. And given that the harpers have used the "reckless, unnecessary election" meme throughout this one, could they maintain any credibility?

          In reality, people don't really think about majority or coalition when they vote; it will be interesting to see if those words bandied about for a month make any difference. For me, I sense the word coalition has a different meaning to Canadians than it did in 2009. And after all the hostility in the HoC, people may just as soon prefer contracted cooperation over trusting harper with any more power.

          • Douglass

            I agree with that. With the British election and the regular use of the word coalition during the recent coverage of Libya there has been a much more positive impression of coalitions.

            That said I think this bullishness of Harper's, declaring he won't work with our elected representatives in a minority situation will backfire. People want their government to work. To work together. His stance smacks of self interest. I don't think Canadians like that look on their politicians. It's exactly why the cons tried to paint Ignatieff with that brush in their pre writ ad campaigns. It was a bad move on Harper's part.

  • Patchouli

    He never had any; he's not even a nice guy in reality.

  • Concerned Canadian

    Man that Barrack Obama has nothing on the Grits when it comes to running a campaign of hope.

    • Niceguy

      I am waiting for the 'Stephen Harper will have troops on Canadian streets' ad…full of dark music and images to make a come back soon. Complete with the media replaying the ad over and over again as part of their 'news' stories thereby giving the Lieberals free media time.

  • tedbetts

    What lying about his intentions?

  • JDot

    Is this ad supposed to be a spoof on the opening of the naked gun?

  • TwoYen

    It is interesting to note that the polls suggest that the public trusts the NDP and Conservatives more on health care than the Liberals. This may seem counterintuitive to Liberals, but that is what was reported in the mefia today. I wonder if the Liberal strategy in pushing health care is actually in their interest or will it just help the NDP hold onto votes that might switch to the Liberals?

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