Saturday, April 02, 2011

Not Going Away


A new wrinkle on the debate story, one that has breathed new life into the prospect of a one on one:
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has accepted an offer from comedian Rick Mercer to take part in a one-on-one debate with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

Harper has yet to respond to the popular television personality, who mused on his Twitter account on Friday night about moderating a debate between the two leaders.

"Ok hell i will rent massey put the camera's in place and moderate the Harper Iggy smackdown," Mercer tweeted.

He followed it several minutes later with "Ok i'll produce a Iggy Harper debate. 50 grand to a charity of their choice. I'll find a broadcaster or 4."

Michael Ignatieff responded Saturday afternoon, also on Twitter: "I'm in."

The Liberal leader then tweeted that he wanted the charity money to go to the Alzheimer Society. Ignatieff's mother succumbed to Alzheimer's disease in 1992.

Harper was obviously hoping to run out the clock, in this media reality, hard for any issue to sustain itself. However, Mercer has interjected himself and provided another round of EMBARRASSING digestion for the Prime Minister. Let's hope the Liberal war room has some enterprising soul working out the logistics with Mr. Mercer, or Don Newman, or any of the other suggestions presented.

51 comments:

Jerry Prager said...

Got to be Mercer. He is the House Jester, and an astute deconstructionist.
Will Harper do it ? He'll just site CBC conspiracy, Compass issues etc.

Jerry Prager said...

http://canadianinterest.blogspot.com/2011/04/impressive-rise-in-daily-twitter.html?spref=tw

ottlib said...

Remember Mr. Mercer's campaign to have Stockwell Day's first name changed to Doris in 2000?

He managed to do that before Twitter and Facebook.

If Mr. Mercer does give this story new legs things could get very interesting in the coming week.

Steve V said...

I like the charity angle, just puts more pressure on Harper. Hopefully others step forward to offer more ;)

Steve V said...

ottlib

Yes, good point!

Omar said...

Other then the polls, how this election has played out so far must be driving Harper absolutely bonkers. Love it.

ottlib said...

Looking at the picture accompanying this post Steve, have you noticed that the smile on Mr. Harper's face is not reflected in his eyes.

It is there in the mouth but the eyes still look dead.

This is not a criticism. It is just an observation. It is true that there are some people out there whose eyes are just not expressive.

That still does not stop me from being creeped out everytime I see it though.

ottlib said...

Omar:

Polls are lagging indicators. By their very nature they are already out of date by the time they are published.

If the second week of the campaign goes similarly to the first week we will see the polls shift.

Will that happen? We will see but it should be noted that campaigns tends to feed back on each other as they progress so it is damned difficult for a campaign to change, for better or worse, once that process begins.

Anonymous said...

So Harper would go up against 2 Liberals? I don't think so.

Kirbycairo said...

If Harper refuses then Mercer should hold the debate anyway with Ignatieff on one side and a cardboard cut out of Harper on the other. The comic effect would be brilliant and make Harper look like a real idiot, not that he needs any help in that department.

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

I'm surprised anyone thinks this election will hinge upon whether or not Harper has an extra one-on-one debate with Iggy.

Omar said...

Who said that?

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

Why so much attention on it?

Let's not forget, Harper is constantly accused of not being able to defend his own record and policies.

Iggy has come out with a bunch of his own. And, instead of trumpeting those, his supporters engage in this nyah nyah contest over an extra one-one-one debate.

Steve V said...

I'm surprised anyone can infer anyone is saying that from this conversation.

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

That's because you continue to live in that partisan Liberal bubble of yours. Or maybe it's someone else who thinks the Liberal party should go to the trouble of having this debate anyhow - without Harper!Or that Harper really has to worry about any of this. It must be some other Liberal blogger who's writing about all this. Sorry.

Steve V said...

Tool.

Omar said...

Writing about it and inferring that the election will hinge upon it are two entirely different things, Dennis

Omar said...

Oh, that was better.

Tool.

ottlib said...

He maybe a tool but he is reacting to what the Liberals are doing and not what the Conservatives are doing.

If the Liberals can continue to make that happen going forward it will only be a matter of time before non-partisan voters do the same thing.

That is how election campaigns are won.

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

Ah yes, "Tool" indicates that you have the high ground in this election, as does obsessing with this story. lol

Steve V said...

Or it's just true... Zzzzz.

Anonymous said...

Dennis . . . Don't you know by now that when Liberals don't have a good answer they resort to name calling? Happens all the time. Especially by Omar. With the Liberals this far left from where they usually are, all the angry left wingers are coming out of the woodwork.

Kirk said...

Balanced against all our hope coming from not seeing things go Harper's way is the issue of whether Canadians, or should I say Ontarians, just want there to be a majority government so all the news stories will stop and they can go back to sleep.

Kirk said...

Prairie Kid believes his own nonsense and will continue to believe it until the day he dies, all the while believing he's one of those "fair and balanced" people who populate the far right extreme dreaming they are in the center.

Steve V said...

Kid

Don't flatter yourself, it's not because we can't answer your mental prowess, its really really is because we think you're TOOLS. I love a good debate, let me know when your capable of it. Waste ot time...

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

Give me a break. When confronted with arguments you can't deal with, you resorted to name-calling. You did it on Twitter, too, with your "LOL". This is all you have in this election. Obsessing about this debate nonsense and calling people names who dare disagree with you. This is why we needed a fourth $300 million election in seven years, is it? For people who are so sure you're right, this is all you have. Nonsense.

Anonymous said...

Bury your head in the sand because Fox News North is coming and you don't want to be corrupted by anything other than your beloved and balanced CBC.

Steve V said...

If you guys can snag a bearded lady, you could take this on the road!

Omar said...

Only west of Quebec though.

Filcher said...

When the truth dons on you, that Great Leader asked for a debate, and then backed off from having one, let us know. If Harper does not debate, how can you trust that his policies are actually worth voting for, when he does not believe they are worth defending?

double nickel said...

I love it when tools like Dennis and Prairie kid troll the webosphere and get their fingers scorched. It makes me happy.

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

Oh, I'm sorry for not seeing your "truth." lol

For the record, Harper has agreed to the standard debates between all the parties, just as every other prime minister has since these things started.

Yes, he' been embarrassed by having to back off his one-on-one debate suggestion.

And?

double nickel said...

And...he's a coward and a typical bully. Or to put it more bluntly, he's a chickenshit asshole who's full of hot air. Back to you, dickhead.

JohnH said...

Steve not to change the subject and all (hopefully Mercer shows up at a Harper event to extend the invite in person!), but I've been reading the platform details that have leaked and you had my expectations set very high for a real democratic reforms package that goes beyond what they've already put out there.

But what I'm reading is that the Liberals' platform basically only includes stuff they've proposed several months ago like their open government initiative (www.liberal.ca/open) and the restrictions on prorogation.

Now I'm a big fan of those plans, but I do really think the Liberals could go a lot farther in terms of democratic reforms such as restricting the powers of the PMO and enhancing press access, more transparency in how MPs spend their expense accounts, amongst many other possibilities. If the only thing new is this "peoples question period" where cabinet ministers take online questions (which leaves the possibility of pre-screening which ones get answered) and the PM "may" (in Ignatieff's words from his interview with Post Media) sometimes answer questions, I will say that this democratic reform package is a missed opportunity for an election that was, at its essence, supposed to be about democracy.

If it does go beyond this stuff I'll be back here tomorrow to praise them but if not then well I guess I expected too much. I will say the rest of the leaked parts of the platform (despite my quibbles with how pse plank could have been better) look quite solid and I would enthusiastically support it.

What are your thoughts Steve? If what's been leaked is all there is on democratic reforms does that meet your expectations?

Jerry Prager said...

Harper is the one backing away from the debate, so the only name that needs be called here now is that good old fashioned word chicken.

Everything is spin-counterspin, chicken is the message, the fact the Stephen Harper is afraid to debate Ignatieff, and until the cluck says he'll debate Ignatieff, he's all just waddle and bravado, Mr. "I make the rules." cock of the walk chickenshit.

It matters because the Canadian people will see it every day he hides. They will see that he is like a boy who has done wrong, knows he's done wrong, and is afraid to say so in front of adults, only he's not a boy, he's a chicken.

The majority of voters know it, it's the same the majority who have voted anything but Harpercon three elections in a row now, the majority, in fact, in Harper's denunciation of the "tyranny of the majority", the majority who stacked the contempt hearings against the Cons, the tyranny he has so much contempt for, is that of the majority of Canadian voters who are going to think much more strategically this time fourth election when we will once again vote anything but Harpercon.

It's not a coalition of parties Stephen needs to worry about, it's the majoritarian coalition of liberal democratic voters in Canada.

Jerry Prager said...

JohnH I'll be waiting to see what that package is to, and will likewise be disappointed if they are conservative in approach.

Kirk said...

This is why we needed a fourth $300 million election in seven years, is it?

Dennis, it's when you post talking point comments like this we know you have nothing to offer.

4 elections?

Well, Harper caused 2 of them. 2006 when he brought down Martin with the aid of the "socialists and separatist" after 18 months of trying beginning with trying to defeat Martin on hos throne speech just weeks after the 2004 election. 2008 when he called an election in spite of his own fixed election date law.

So when you bring out such empty rhetoric we know we are right about you... nothing to offer.

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

Oh, so now we haven't had four $300 million elections in seven years. That's made up, I guess. lol

I don't utter talking points. I don't have to. As this thread has clearly shown, the only people terrified of a sustained debate are those intent on resenting Harper.

Ignatieff said he was going to change this culture within the party. He clearly hasn't. He and his supporters are clearly more intent on lashing out than offering a principled alternative.

Scott MacNeil said...

@Dennis (Second Thots)re:"Oh, so now we haven't had four $300 million elections in seven years."

Hey you numb-nutted bag of hammers; remember who it was that opportunistically called the last election in 2008, thereby breaking his own fixed election law? Uh? Who was it again? .... (silence... nothing but silence).... TOOL!

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

You know, from what I can tell in this thread, what Liberals bring to the table in this election is: anger, resentment, name-calling, vulgarity, hypocrisy, and a refusal to apply the same standards to themselves that they bitterly apply to their opponents.

Again, this is why we're having our fourth $300 million election in seven years? This is what you think will replace the Harper government, is it?

You people are so angry and bitter that you can't even see what you're doing to yourselves. Keep it up.

Scott MacNeil said...

@ Dennis (Second (err..No) Thots)

Look, truly sorry you're so thin skinned. Thought my reference to you as a "numb-nutted bag of hammers" was rather benign and wholly fair. As for vulgarity... well given you're too soft and gentile for us to depart down that road -- let's just leave my other two points still standing:

1. Again, who called the 2008 election?
2. And, uh, you're still a "TOOL"!


(Oh, and a query. Are you related to the former disturbed blogger known as the "Raging Tory"? Cause your logic and syntax bears much resemblance to his ranting style. Just curious, any relation?)

double nickel said...

For the price of 1 G20 fiasco we could afford 4 elections. That'd be my choice at any rate.

Kirk said...

I don't utter talking points.

4 elections in 7 years IS a Con talking point and you're "uttering" it.

And a very bad Con talking point since 2 of those elections were caused by Stephan Harper who, like you, repeats that inane talking point.

The only thing clear here is that like Harper you no longer know when you are telling a lie.

Tof KW said...

Dennis (Second Thots) said...
anger, resentment, name-calling, vulgarity, hypocrisy, and a refusal to apply the same standards to themselves that they bitterly apply to their opponents

Actually that brilliantly describes the Reformatards in the nutshell. In power for 5 years yet they're still angry and consider themselves the victims. Sad really.

Omar said...

And because of putting up with all the anger, resentment, name-calling, vulgarity, hypocrisy and refusing to apply the same standards to themselves for the past five fucking years, the moral and the patient have had ENOUGH of this obtuse and very unfunny clown show. Numb-nutted bag of hammers? THAT is being far too kind.

Gayle said...

"When confronted with arguments you can't deal with, you resorted to name-calling."

Only you haven't presented an argument, and therefore there is no basis to your assertion that people "can't deal with" it. You claim this:

"I'm surprised anyone thinks this election will hinge upon whether or not Harper has an extra one-on-one debate with Iggy."

which is not an argument but an assertion, and a fabricated one at that. When it is pointed out that no one says this you start chest thumping about how smart you are and no one can take you on.

So, in summary: you make stuff up and then get upset when no one bites.

And then we get this little beauty:

"You know, from what I can tell in this thread, what Liberals bring to the table in this election is: anger, resentment, name-calling, vulgarity, hypocrisy, and a refusal to apply the same standards to themselves that they bitterly apply to their opponents."

Once again pulling things out of thin air. The type of reasoning that lead to this conclusion could also lead one to conclude that, from reading your comments on this thread, you are a martian and you live in la la land.

By which I mean, your conclusions are baseless. You seem to think simply saying something makes it magically come true.

Finally, if you are going to start claiming that people do not address your comments because they have no answer for them, it is not particularly wise to ignore the comments that counter yours. It has been pointed out to you several times now that 2 of the past 4 elections you are complaining about were triggered by Harper. Simply ignoring this point is not going to make your argument look better.

For the record, as even you should know, the reason we are having this election is because Stephen Harper has decided he does not need to be accountable to the people of this nation, and many of us would like to replace him with a Prime Minister who IS accountable.

It is not that hard.

Steve V said...

Gayle

The conbots always say the same thing. Unless you engage their asinine commentary you are afraid to debate, if you name call, they win. Really, it isn't my obligation to take nonsense seriously, debate people I find absolutely ignorant and childish. I'm done with it, no time, mockery is all you get, and that's really more than deserved. This Dennis comes in and says "uh, don't think the debate will win ya the election", when nobody said anything of the sort, just mindless babbling from a conbot. Why do I have to give that any credit? I only called a tool, because that's how it struck me, then they get all upset and cranky because the truth hurts. ZZZZZ.

Gayle said...

I am not taking issue with the way you handled him Steve. I am pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing.

I just have an irresistable urge to point out why people are wrong. I cannot help myself, even when I know it is falling on deaf ears. ;)

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

What nonsense? You people on here get outraged when anyone tries to call you on your nonsense. Calling people names. Obsessing on Rick Mercer. Why is no one allowed to say these things? What kind of country and society do you want? Liberals talk, everyone else shut the heck up? Why even have these comment boards open if you're going to crap on everyone who dares to poke holes in your Liberal agenda? God. Again, this is why we're having a fourth $300 million election in seven years, is it? To crap on everyone else? Nice.

Steve V said...

Perfect, he reverts back to the Harper talking point. What a lightweight Dennis, a total waste of time. Rant away, but you're not worth the effort. Sorry. I like smart Cons, not my fault you're not one.

Tof KW said...

The smart cons are guys like Rob Harvie or Tomm. Dennis is definitely a lightweight, and that's being generous.