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| quote: | Originally posted by 7-4-7
...and only because of very persuasive american style attack ads and good conservative political posturing have the conservatives been able to capitalise. |
I really don't see what's "American style" about them. Sounds like you're just reaching out with the usual anti-American sentiment.
Aside from that minor detail, I would say that you're partially correct. In the last election, they were largely attacking the Liberals. Many seem to have conveniently forgotten, though, that in the prior election, the tables were turned, it was all about Harper's "hidden agenda" and the Conservatives were out there making daily policy statements as part of their campaign. Of course they pointed out the Liberal scandal but given the circumstances, you can hardly blame them for that.
My opinion - the reality is that it's not a Liberal or Conservative thing and this is just how campaigns are fought, period, in almost any country. The incumbent party usually attacks the opposition and says precious little about their own aims; the opposition parties have to defend themselves and come up with a real workable policy.
Dion didn't really do either of these things. He had to prove that he and his party knew how to keep the Canadian economy running with the rest of the world sinking into a recession, and he had to prove that Liberal corruption and the QPC elite were a thing of the past. Arguably he made things much worse in terms of the latter with this coup, and yes, it was a coup, a coup doesn't have to be illegal. Purporting to be close enough in vision and values to both the NDP and Bloc in order to form a lasting and functional coalition smacks of the same intellectual dishonesty and political expediency that we voted them out for in the first place.
The Conservatives probably will not change their tactics - they will continue attacking the Liberals and generally getting too comfortable. They are in a weak spot right now, and when the Liberals are able to demonstrate that they have the economic aptitude and moral clarity to govern again, they will win. It's a question of when, not if; but stunts like this one are only going to extend the when out further.
Again, remember the Mackenzie King incident decades ago. The coalition failed so spectacularly that he ended up winning a majority government afterwards. Citizens are probably a little miffed with the Conservatives right now but they are downright pissed off at the Liberals. I think a lot of Canadians didn't expressly vote Conservative last election, they just voted against Dion, and the thought of having him as an appointed PM just isn't/wasn't palatable to most Canadians, including Liberal voters.
| quote: | | I'm not entirley sure how and why conservatives always seem to perpetuate the "underdog" image; sure I would agree that conservative doctrines are not the natural persuasion of most Canadians however the fact that the cons have held an origami government for the last while should no less negate your claim that there isnt a conservative movement. |
Of course there are a certain number of political conservatives here, especially out west, but I think the real reason Harper's government achieved and held onto power was not due to any serious conservative steam, but rather due to an anti-Liberal movement. In other words, a loosely-affiliated group of disgruntled voters who couldn't and wouldn't trust the Liberals given the state of affairs at the time, and weren't silly enough to vote for the NDP or one of the Mickey Mouse parties like the Freedom party.
Just because the Conservative party is ostensibly in power right now doesn't mean that conservatism as a "movement" isn't overshadowed by the liberal Big Brother. The mass media and stone-faced corporations are overwhelmingly Liberal supporters, and the union nuts are all NDP but they'll settle for the Liberals if they have to because they really really hate the Conservatives. There was hardly any "big money" that went into the CPC campaign - their donations all came in small amounts from Joe Citizen.
Almost every time I see lavish spending (especially on advertising) it's for a liberal cause. This shouldn't be a surprise, considering that fiscal conservatism is ipso facto lower spending. It's not that conservatives are doing anything themselves to promote an "underdog" image - it's the obscene spending on liberal campaigns and special interests that give them that image.
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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here
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