“Dion has proved to be a one trick pony and not a very impressive one at that. Many Liberal bloggers have claimed that the Tory ads did not work, but polls suggest that Canadians do not trust the Liberals environmental stewardship. The Liberals have been badly outmaneuvered on the file and have offered nothing to fill the hunger for broadly progressive agenda. Harper is slowly neutralizing the environment as an issue and has begun focusing the public debate on issues that he, rightly, feels that will favor the Conservatives, viz., tax cuts and law and order issues.”
Conservatives lauded me for my “honesty” and one Liberal preferred to shoot the messenger. Since then Dion has proved me wrong. He is not a one trick pony. The situation is much worse then that. He played right into Harper's hands. Dion decided to focus on a law and order issue and one very dear to Canwest’s heart, i.e., Israel, err, terrorism. I have said before and I will say it again. The Liberals must not and I repeat must not allow these issue to dominant for long, but that is exactly what Dion let happen. Indeed, rather than talking up a compromise on two provisions, Dion dug in his heels, divided his party and made sure the media forget all about Harper’s smear.
As for Harper’s smear, it was a gift. However, the Liberals never fully capitalized on it. Their pathetic grandstanding made it seem that Harper’s comments were a one off and not business as usual. Not surprisingly, they have still not developed a global critique of Conservatives as having a problem with the truth and have not tied the Conservatives terrorism talking points to the Republican party.
The Liberals need to stop the bleeding. They need to focus the public debate on socially liberal issues (e.g, stem cell research, euthanasia, pot)that will appeal to voters Harper is making hay with, viz., urban and Quebec voters.
4 comments:
(e.g, stem cell research, euthanasia, pot)that will appeal to voters Harper is making hay with, viz., urban and Quebec voters.
Really? These are the hot political issues?
...I'm detecting a wolf in sheep's clothing here.
I fail to see what a commenter or two is upset about. Koby's correct, has a valid observation, and Liberals beat up on him?
Things must be getting very tense in Princess Steffi's World these days. Well, we know they are, from only 1% content on LibBlogs these days (the rest being invective and audible moaning), to "moderated" comments, to outright "invited only" blogs, to full-swearing one-liner trolls at BT blogs from obviously suicidal Liberal supporters.
Welcome to the feeling. "Conservative" (Reform, Alliance, PC, CPC) supporters had the same feeling of desperation for many years. Never did they react the way LibBloggers have, but that's OK, we understand. Hopefully your pain period won't be so long.
Because I'm very squeamish on pain, really, although a good suicide once in a while can brighten up things. (grin)
My suggestion? Stop the "state of denial". Start looking forward to changes you would like to see, be honest, call a spade a spade, beat up the LPC executive and force them to start listening to Liberal supporters in Canada. Because they sure aren't listening to anyone but themselves now.
In brief, take back your party. And next time, choose the best leader, not the prettiest, smartest, hippest, youngest, etc. The best. Proven. Historically.
There's a lot of second-guessing of Dion going around. TDH Strategies seems to be at it, too, for example.
However, I'm not sure what options Dion has.
I'm not nearly as convinced as Koby is that some of those socially liberal issues are political winners. Most of them are divisive and controversial, which contradicts the message of inclusiveness and popularity you suggest Dion needs.
The Tory ads asked Canadians to take a closer look at Dion and tie him to the Liberal past. It's worked.
As Mike Duffy has suggested, Dion's communications skills are a huge liability now, too. Whatever strategy Dion takes, it tends to get lost in the translation somewhere — quite literally.
What makes things worse is that his own party can't stand the idea of Harper as leader, so he finds himself needing to ratchet up the rhetoric as much as possible. That takes away from his image of a sincere man with integrity.
I also have to think that Harper is deliberately making himself a source of resentment within the Liberal party. Canadians don't care why Liberals are yelling and screaming. All they see is the partisan yelling and screaming. That plays to Harper.
My suggestion is that Dion keep it simple. It's what he's known for. It's what his English can handle. I don't know why he's gotten away from that. He must be feeling the pressure of being a Liberal leader right now.
Keep it simple. Attack the government genuinely. Offer your own vision. Tell Ralph Goodale to shut his trap. Exercise some leadership, vision, and judgement — if he has any.
I mean, what else can he do? The deck is stacked against him no matter what, anyhow.
He was everyone's second choice for a job all the A-list candidates like McKenna decided they didn't want. The party is out of power. It's being out-fundraised. It's suffering from the vision-void of the Chretien-Martin years. Dion is an accidental leader in many ways.
Is there really much you can do except hope that Harper gets some really bad luck? I dunno.
“A few weeks back I wrote this: …. Conservatives lauded me for my “honesty” and one Liberal preferred to shoot the messenger.”
I hardly had to read the first line when I began to get a feeling of déjà vu.
>>>>> “your a jerk...keep your negative remarks off liblogs.”
Sigh. Welcome back. Good to see you too.
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