11.28.2011 08:54 AM

Good news

It’ll help with fundraising (I hope) and membership (I expect), and it’ll generally boost morale.

Could it be an outlier?  For sure.  But good news is good news, and you take it when you get it.

46 Comments

  1. Michael Bussiere says:

    Like him or not, Bob Rae is the best politician to be leading our party, interim or not, since ti-Jean himself.

      • AP says:

        Warren, what would you need to see to be convinced that a Bob Rae led Liberal party just might be able to work? Just curious.

        • Philip says:

          Please count me in.

          • Warren says:

            Here are the problems, circa 2015:

            1. He’ll be nearly 70 at the time of the next election.
            2. The subsidy will be gone by then.
            3. If Rae is a factor, the CRG will unveil the research/attack material they’ve already put together. It will have the same effect as the Dion/Ignatieff attack stuff – as in, it can be expected to work.
            4. The Cons and Dippers will continue to have caucuses that are, comparatively, younger and more diverse.
            5. Economists expect the economy will have fully, or nearly fully, recovered by then.

            Anyway, nobody needs to convince me. I’m just one person, and I volunteer for candidates when I like the candidate as a person. I don’t particularly like Rae, and he really, really doesn’t like me.

            Life’s too short, etc. I wish them luck, but I won’t be there as things stand now.

          • Ken says:

            1. He’d be a few months older than the Liberal leader was who led us at the time of the 2000 federal election.
            2. The subsidy will be gone no matter who the Liberal leaders is.
            3. Retaliate, retaliate, retaliate. You should read that book, “Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics”.
            4. Which they will no matter who is Liberal leader.
            5. Don’t bank on it, but if so, the economy will be recovering (or suffering, or stagnant) no matter who the Liberal leader is.

          • Pat says:

            I didn’t want to criticize you, Mr. Kinsella. I just wanted to hear your rationale, and I agree with it. The LPC would be much better served by a new generation of leaders – it would just be nice if some of them had some of the political skills that Rae has built over the years – particularly his ability to communicate.

          • AP says:

            Warren all your points are fair. I really wasn’t asking a gotcha question(TM) (apologies to Sarah Palin) I really was just curious. By the way when you wrote, “I don’t particularly like Rae, and he really, really doesn’t like me” I couldn’t help but think there is a great story in there somewhere. Maybe one day you’ll share with the rest of us.

          • Ken says:

            Pat, you cut to the heart of the matter.

            I agree generational change and renewal are good, and needed. But so is battle experience and wisdom that comes with time and trial. There are too many Liberals in the past who have been too eager to toss experience overboard. There are too many of that minset even today. Institutional memory is a good thing.

          • Philip says:

            Thanks for your quick response on this one Warren, completely appreciated. I would love to see fresh faces and new blood but all I can see right now is Rae.

    • MississaugaLibPeter says:

      Bob is a good guy and is articulate.

      Unfortunately, the same way Harper will not sell inside the GTA, Rae will not sell outside the GTA.

      It is what it is.

      Hoping differently does not make it so.

      • frmr disgruntled Con now happy Lib says:

        Rather Ontariocentric of you, dont you think?……I believe Mr. Rae’s appeal can help rebuild the party right across the country(including perhaps those 80 odd Liberal EDA’s that are lying dormant at the moment) ……and quite frankly, I get tired of listening to those who say he’s box office poison in Ontario…..Id rather look at the big picture, which last time I checked, includes ALL of Canada…..

      • MississaugaLibPeter says:

        Bob is viewed as part of the Toronto establishment, and that outside Toronto is not a good thing. And that is not an Ontario problem only, it is Canada-wide problem.

        Blue Liberals could very easily slide over to the Conservatives before voting for a former NDP premier.

        The Liberal uptick has nothing to do with Rae at the helm and everything to do with the fact that the NDP is no longer being led by a native son of Quebec.

        I repeat: Bob is a good guy and articulate.

      • Ken says:

        How many seats does Harper have inside the GTA?

        How many seats to the Liberals have?

        Consult the latest electoral map if you are not sure.

        • MississaugaLibPeter says:

          Ken, I stand corrected. Harper won Toronto. For those who also don’t want to remember the result: Harper 8, Layton 8, Ignatieff 6.

          How quickly we forget the bloodbath the Liberals took even in Toronto. I guess Rae could improve that result and help the Liberals a bit.

          I will blame the side effects on the nasty medication the doc prescribed. I am trying to find a natural replacement for it. Anyone out there have any experiences with phytoplankton?

    • Philippe says:

      I agree. He’s an impressive leader right now. There may be someone better for us, but if there is, he’d better show up soon because right now Rae is stealing the show and impressing everyone. I think we’d kick the shit out of the Cons with Rae at the helm. Of course they’ll bring up past failures but no matter who the hell we put up, that’ll happen. My only wish is that Warren and Rae would get along so the party could all be on the same wavelength. We need unity without internal snipping going forward.

  2. Finn says:

    Yes but don’t forget, the LPC is dead because writers and pundits declare it so.

    • Ken says:

      Some of the same pundits, I expect, who wrote the obituaries for the NDP and PCs after their 1993 debacle, for the BQ after Chretien carried Quebec in 2000, for Harper after he failed to win in 2004, for Charest almost every week since he became PLQ leader, etc., etc.

      Some of these pundits got their start in journalism “evergreening” stock obituaries for public figures. It shows.

      • Ken says:

        And sometimes it doesn’t.

        (And the current CPC can’t claim the old PC party as its heritage, and claim it to have been oblivionized, simultaneously. Has to be one or the other. Pick.)

        Provincially, too, how many obits have been written, how many results have been inevitible? Both parties have been “dead” in Nfld., the PCs were written off in NS and NB; Bourassa rose from the dead; the PQ was finished after 1985; Lyn McLeod was going to form a Liberal government in 1995, etc., etc.

  3. Pat says:

    Or maybe they should support policies that are actually LPC-type policies instead of offering a green economy platform (which is the Green Party’s turf) or an NDP-lite platform (like Iggy tried). How about fiscal conservatism mixed with a respect for social rights and the use of facts in making policy.

    For instance, a true LPC policy in relation to crime would be to use actual research to determine that the type of approach used in Quebec is most effective, and would be way cheaper than what the Tories are trying to do. Why didn’t Iggy walk into the debate with that bomb? ALL THE RESEARCH SAYS THAT HARPER’S POLICY DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE AND WILL COST YOU MORE MONEY! VOTE LIBERAL IF YOU WANT A BETTER POLICY WHILE SPENDING LESS.

    Easy.

    Hopefully whoever is running the LPC will get their heads out of their asses. I’m a diehard Liberal, but it doesn’t really seem like anyone is listening to me. I seriously considered not voting last election because I don’t agree with the Tories or NDP, and there was NO centre option.

  4. Ed says:

    Or maybe it isn’t. Honestly, though I think that the doom and gloom is over-exaggerated (and of course it is. The press wouldn’t be able to make a story of a party in a slump. But a party on the brink moves ink!) it takes a lot more.

  5. Chris P says:

    Think about this: The party has an interim leader, fundraises ahead of the NDP (with a basic fundraising apparatus and no formal strategy), is disorganized, 80 ridings are dormant, got less than 10% in 100 ridings in the last election and yet we still manage to safley get 25% of the vote in polls.

    Could you imagine if we got our collective sh*t together?

    Don’t confuse liberalism with the liberal party. Liberalism is alive and well it’s just either laying dormant or found itself another home. Their is hope.

    • frmr disgruntled Con now happy Lib says:

      Ahhh…..a kindred spirit!…….well said Chris…..

    • Pat says:

      Please refer to my earlier comment on this post – the LPC has just lost its way. As soon as it starts acting like the LPC again – with honest-to-God Liberal Party policies – they will start their comeback. Of course, they also must get on the bus with the whole organization and fundraising thing, but those two become much easier when you have a focused and Liberal platform to sell to supporters.

  6. Dan says:

    It’s almost all about Ontario. NDP would still keep most of their seats, since the orange wave stopped halfway in Ontario anyway.

    The coalition leader would be whoever the Liberals chose to support: the conservatives or the NDP.

  7. steve says:

    I can not believe there are 35% of Canadians who would vote for Harper, any credible alternative should be a winner. If Jack was still alive the NDP would probably be ahead.

    • Raymond says:

      Why?

      All things considered, Canada is in pretty good shape. Had Harper been as unpopular as you believe, he’d have been buried on May 2nd.

  8. Bil Huk says:

    i’ve read very little that actually proclaims the liberals ‘dead’ (with the exception of mr. newman), and this poll certainly supports that the party isn’t, but is that really news?.

    most of the media material points out the monumental climb that is necessary in order for the party to even be a shadow of its former self.

    not to say the liberals can’t win an election or a majority at some point, its just that so many factors are coming into play now that weren’t there 20 years ago, or 40 years ago.

    to those that think the party is truly dead, this should give them an up-to-date indication its not.

    but liberals looking for good news should base as much enthusiasm on this poll as the ontario PCs did in the ontario election results.

    horseshoes and handgrenades (federally registered, of course).

  9. Kre8tv says:

    I’m holding out for the hope that a good leader is out there who can lead Liberals to win again. I don’t see PM material in Rae, but I’m going to give the guy a little bit of credit: he’s actually doing an ok job of fixing what I call mechanical problems inside the LPC (fundraising and decision making).

    I wish I shared your optimism about economic turnaround, W. As I see things, the road we are just starting down now will be at the “hell to pay” stage in four years.

  10. Mark says:

    Rae, with all his faults, is a masterful communicator (far better than Harper, and light years ahead of Turmel) and alone, in my opinion, is responsible for this increase in poll support for the LPC. There is nobody currently in the caucus, and very few in the HOC, who can match Rae’s intelligence, experience, fluency and general command of issues.

    • Pete says:

      Yes, but is he electable?

      I say no but am happy he is rebuilding liberal morale. If he can take Harper’s numbers down into the 20’s and we get the right new leader things can happen. I THINK WE LIBERALS CAN WIN THE NEXT ELECTION.

  11. Riaz Khan says:

    I know that all of you know this but I am saying it again: it is the economy stupid. Mr. Harper’s fate will be decided by the economic factors and he knows this. As far as economy getting better by 2015, the odds are not that great. This recession which I had predicted in 2003 is not your normal business cycle. We will be in this mess for a long time. The longer this mess continues, the lower the numbers will be for Mr. Harper and the CPC.

    • MCBellecourt says:

      Harper’s foolish spending won’t score him any points, either–and a lot of Afghanistan veterans (and the great many people who support them) are pretty pissed with him right now.

      Just wait until some Consertive supporter’s kid ends up in remand, arrested for passing a joint to his buddy, too.

      Liberals need to bury their hatchets and get on board with the rebuilding.

  12. Sean says:

    I think there are a lot of nervous Nellies in the NDP right now…

  13. Ken says:

    What will be more interesting, are the promises that don’t get checked off.

    How’s that Senate election coming anyway?

  14. Pete says:

    I happily agree he will deliver on his promises. But, he will leave us broke and create enough dissension over his policies and laws that will see him for waht he is, a right wing demagogue. He will try and make himself a moderate but “fool me once” is enough for most people.
    Hopefully, the Libs and dippers will also have had their “come to Jesus” understanding by then and we can collectivity put the boots to this jackel and his lackeys.

  15. James Curran says:

    Sigh.

    I wish I had a quarter for everytime someone uses the word “REBUILDING” when referring to the Liberal Party. Cause I’ve been hearing it since 2002. There’s been the Axworthy Report, The Pink Ribbon Report, The Red Ribbon Task Force, The Renewal Committe, the Change Commission, The Thinkers Conference….etc, etc, etc. All of them have identified tangible issues that required immediate attention. None of them have been implemented. NONE.

    The Liberal Party is the perfect definition of INSANITY. We continue to do the same thing over and over and over and over again expecting different results. We can’t even stick to our own constitutional rules and regulations, yet we expect to govern a country?

    Look at most of the people running for the National Executive. Have a real close look. Most were in places of power in the party already. They are part of the problem, not the solution. But, hey, what do I know.

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