Tuesday, November 27, 2012

By-Election Breakdown

- It is up for fair debate whether or not the Trudeau/McGuinty comments cost the Liberal Party the Calgary Center seat.  There is no question Liberals had wind at their back last week, only to hit a brick wall with the damaging quotes.  We will never know the true impact, but with such a slight margin of victory- as well as evidence of a Green uptick in the wake- my opinion is that we had the opportunity and blew it.  That a Liberal victory would have been historic, potentially recalibrating potentials and assumptions, all the more hard to swallow.

-Newly minted Liberal leadership contender Joyce Murray enjoys powerful practical application to support her call for co-operation between the opposition parties.   The Conservatives held Calgary Center by 4.2%, despite the Liberals and Greens combining for 58% of the vote, a fact which should provide sober consideration.  If Stephane Dion can give a speech at a Green Party convention, one has to wonder what all the fuss is really about, once we become colour blind.  I look forward to Murray interjecting the topic into the Liberal leadership race, and hope we examine without the kneejerk reactions, because Stephen Harper is smiling, a shit kicking grin in fact.

-The Green Party are fast becoming a legitimate option in Canadian politics.  In two of the by-elections they were formidable, and came within a whisker of winning another seat.  The biggest hurdle for an upstart party is the credibility gap, the Greens should be encouraged with last night, because by any definition they were real players.  As an aside,  combining all the by-election results,  Greens averaged over 21%  support, as did the Liberals, and the NDP 23%, a testament to how well the party performed.

-Despite almost unprecedented attention, turnout continues to be an issue in Canadian politics, a fact that should be of grave concern to everyone.  Canadians are largely indifferent, apathetic and disengaged, 29% turnout in Calgary, with all the controversy and talk of razor thin results, is downright pathetic and disheartening.  Poor turnout works for the Conservatives most of all, as they do better with the dependable, older voter, which becomes more accentuated with dismal turnout.

4 comments:

Jerry Prager said...

the fuss from Liberals is that a good chunk of the party is corporatist, not liberal democrat, people who think being socially progressive is all you need to be, to be Liberal. People like Warren Kinsella who talk about Chretien's support of part union but who actively does everything in his power to prevent such an outcome.
The only thing a fiscally conservative liberal believes is business as usual. Including Trudea. I like Murray though.

The Mound of Sound said...

The price tag for the Liberals to get Green support just keeps going up. There are genuine and powerful reasons the Greens resist Liberal overtures. The Libs don't deserve Green support, not by a long shot.

Can you imagine the Libs allowing Greens to set the unified party's environmental policy, including a full voice in its economic policy that would require?

I know you need no convincing that climate change is real and quickly worsening. That reality alone underwrites the Green Party's future in Canadian politics. The Libs have to come to grips with that reality and there's no sign of that as yet.

Anonymous said...

I don't find Justin Trudeau and McGuinty nearly as bad, as Harper and his Cons for their demeaning insults to others.

Oliver called Canadians eco terrorists. Even threatened us with his, RCMP anti-terrorist squads. Toews called us, in with the pornographers. Layton was called the Taliban. Harper called the NDP Nazi supporters, right on the House of Commons TV channel.

Canadians will, likely cast their votes for the party that, is the nearest to taking Harper and his so called Conservatives out.

Elizabeth May was the only one who spoke against Harper selling us out to Communist China. Harper has given China the right to sue anyone, blocking their intrusions into Canada. As far as climate change issues? Harper got rid of Canada's top Scientists.

However, in Dictatorship country's, elections are always cheated.

Jordan said...

People should look up the definition of liberal.