Musings —04.14.2013 09:55 PM
—Tonight
The best part?
I was at the back, and I looked around, and there were all these young people, and I’d never seen any of them before. And they were so excited about what was happening. It was just so, so great.
Also great: having a beer, afterwards, with the winningest Prime Minister in Canadian history.
He says we’re going to win again, and he would know.
Chretien also said Ignatieff would beat Harper.
“He says we’re going to win again, and he would know.”
Not in his lifetime we won’t. This was the best result possible for the CPC and the NDP. I think Mulcair is going to be a bigger problem for Trudeau than Harper will be.
Actually it will be JT who is the biggest problem for Mulcair and the NDP. The NDP cannot decide if they are centrist or social democrats, or federalists or separatists. Their party’s constitutional change just required a 66% majority while their formula for breaking up Canada only requires a 50+1% majority. Chretien nailed that line of attack in his speech because you can’t argue for or defend those numbers.
I remember during the Chretien/Martin years hearing that the Liberals would be in power forever. Now I’m hearing the same thing about the Harper Conservatives. Both claims are wrong. Governments have shelf life. Trudeau’s got time. Stick with him. The Conservatives will not have a never-ending dynasty: the whole country isn’t like Alberta. Trudeau will be PM in due course. Harper will go back to Calgary one day and his successor will have troubles.
I hope that the other leadership contenders stick around especially Joyce Murray and Martin Couchon. They have good ideas.
You had a beer with Mackenzie King? Amazing!
No, with Sir John A.
Macdonald won six majority governments, King only won five.
Good point about two from Quebec vs. one from Canada. The PQ’s constant provocations will play into this theme.
Well, the last time I looked, Quebec was still part of Canada, in fact, historically and culturally, I would say Quebec has a better claim to “Canadianicity” than the vaunted “Texas of the North”. So it’s actually two leaders from Canada vs. one leader from “Canada, you sure about that?”.
The speech from “the winningest Prime Minister in Canadian history” was definitely one of the highlights of this great event – granted, probably not as good as having a beer with him afterwards but it was great to see it live nonetheless. There was great energy in that room and the sense of hope and optimism for the party and the country didn’t feel fabricated as it had been for a while now.
Agree! Still the guy that Canadians of all stripes can relate to.
I think it’s going to be a quick two years.
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/archives/sunnews/straighttalk/2013/04/20130414-192223.html
Mmmmh!
Think I’ll go to a hockey conversation: Oilers have speed and skill; No, the Canucks will win; No, no,no the Flames will spoil both; My goalie is better than your goalie; Your forwards can’t fight; Our defence will knock your…
I’m a young, traditional supporter of the Liberal party (though not exclusively, went orange last time). To me, Justin Trudeau would be the Derek Zoolander of Canadian politics if his father were a coal miner.
Same here in Windsor Warren. We had an event for the announcement and there were a lot of people there who I was meeting for the first time, better yet, they all worked on the campaign for JT.
Warren: You, JT, and the Liberals need to understand that the “young people” angle is a road to nowhere. Their demographic is the lowest percentage of people who vote. You need to think about older people, who are raising families, paying mortgages, and concerned about the economy. Harper understands this. That’s why he keeps winning.