08.10.2015 11:02 AM

Who is winning the campaign so far?

[polldaddy poll=9019410]

63 Comments

  1. davie says:

    On my tv, Harper looks confident and on the offensive. He speaks firmly.
    JT looks cool and determined.
    Mulcair looks a tad tight.

    I figure Harper is winning…although, for me, he presents horse apples in a forthright way.

  2. Alex says:

    I would call the first week a draw which = advantage Harper. For a change of government to occur either the NDP has to beat up the liberals, or vice-versa. What we are seeing instead is the centre-left beating each other up. (The Greens are too far behind to be a true threat to the Harperites). While I would rather gag on a hairball then see the Cons win again, if the next 10 weeks are like week 1 then we will one again have to deal with our Dear Leader Stephen. Fortunately a lot can happen in 10 weeks.

    • GFMD says:

      Harper needs to increase his lead significantly if he doesn’t want a change in government. Canadians won’t stand for ANOTHER Harper government.

      • The Doctor says:

        I hadn’t noticed that the latest polls show 0% support for the Conservatives. So thanks for bringing us up to date.

      • The Doctor says:

        I don’t think anyone is clearly winning. But if I were a Dipper, I would be concerned about the bozo/loony left eruptions from the likes of McQuaig and that now-ex-candidate from Quebec. Very speculative, of course, but if the Dippers end up blowing this election, it might be because they didn’t really have an effective strategy for dealing with what happens when the spotlight turns on them — as opposed to the spotlight being on Evil Lord Harper. For decades, the federal Dippers have gotten away with having certain MPs and supporters say pretty much whatever the hell they want without facing much critical scrutiny, because nobody saw them as a serious contender for power. Those days appear to be over now, and the problem for the NDP is that that is a sharp double-edged sword.

        • Lance says:

          Did you see the crop of candidates that won for the NDP in Quebec the last time out? Those are the people that are campaigning for them this time out, too. Only this time, the Tories (and hopefully the Liberals) are ready for that and are releasing every foot-in-mouth comment, Tweet, and bozo eruption that they have and will find. This is only the FIRST week, and look at everything that has come out so far. This isn’t over, not by a LONG shot.

          • Lance says:

            By the way, it is no wonder that they kept their powder dry on the NDP and stuck with Trudeau. It looks like there is a LOT of “powder”. Can you imagine the damage a daily Tweet or bozo eruption can inflict. It has the makings of a campaign farce.

        • The Doctor says:

          Correction to my post, BTW — yesterday’s anti-Israel eruption was in Nova Scotia, not Quebec.

          • Mf says:

            That “anti Israel” stuff sounded like fact me.

          • The Doctor says:

            Mf, perhaps you could explain to us whom Israel is ethnically cleansing and from which territory. Because that’s what that doofus from NS accused Israel of: ethnically cleansing the region. Please enlighten us.

          • MF says:

            Doctor, so what do you call building Jewish settlements on disputed and Palestinian lands? Have you taken a look at the difference between the 1967 maps and today? What do you call that? Netanyahu’s statements on his election night say it all…

          • The Doctor says:

            First of all, MF, I disagree with the settlement movement, vehemently. I agree that the settlements shouldn’t be there and as I understand it they’re also illegal at international law. But that’s different from there being an Israeli government policy of ethnically cleansing the entire region of Arabs. I agree with opposing the settlements. But I don’t agree with calling it “ethnic cleansing,” because that’s an extremely loaded term, which derives from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Israel, and the settlers, are not doing anything close to what happened in the Balkans in the 1990s. In the Balkans, really really bad men with guns and ammo came into entire regions and forced people out at gunpoint, literally frog-marched them, while often killing many of them in the process. That is not what’s happening in the occupied territories, however much I object to the settlements.

            It’s the same thing with the gross overuse of the word “genocide” these days, which correctoids constantly use now to describe just about anything they don’t like.

      • Jason says:

        I want to believe this, and my social circle similarly says ‘no way can Harper win this time’ – but all the same people said it in 2011.
        So far he seems to be controlling the narrative and I just don’t see how he doesn’t win. I’m betting he wins a majority, although I would love to be proven wrong.

        • GFMD says:

          He needs about 50 more seats than he’s currently projected to win for a majority. He can climb from where he is but I doubt he can climb that much. Anything less than a majority, and the other parites will yank him out on the morning of Oct. 20th.

  3. Mom says:

    I don’t know if this means anything or not about the youth vote, but my 29 year old daughter seems dismayed that Trudeau cut his hair.

    • bobbie says:

      I have more concerns over your 29 year old daughter’s voting based on hair than I do with Trudeau cutting it. I hope she’s not a typical Canadian 29 year old voter?
      Not tell me if she is…that’s just sad.

    • eric weiss says:

      The “youth vote” doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist because they don’t vote. Remember how Rich Mercer and his flash mobs were going to mobilize the kids in 2011? How well did that work out?

      I know, I know, JT isn’t Ignatieff, he’s the chosen one. Yadda yadda yadda….

  4. Christian says:

    The “Fuck-Off-Its-Summer” Party.

  5. MississaugaPeter says:

    Until the polling tells differently, Mulcair.

  6. Joe says:

    What there is an election on? Musta missed the memo.

  7. KenzoS says:

    I have a harem of porn stars and star-f*#!ers. Plus, I’m still alive.

    I’m winning!

    signed,
    Charlie Sheen

  8. Al in Cranbrook says:

    Harper is holding his own.

    As more and more light begins to fall on the NDP and Liberals regarding their actual (non) policies on national security and Canada’s energy development, things will begin to trend favorably for the CPC.

    Much the same as it did for the Libs last election here in BC.

    Big challenge for Mulcair is to keep a lid on the socialist/Marxist/separatist candidates within his ranks. (see: Linda McQuaig)

    So far, all the two main opposition parties have to offer is higher taxes, not the least of which is a carbon tax on everything. (see: PM Abbott, Australia)

    Neither of them has one thing to offer on how they would have avoided the effects of low oil prices…because there isn’t anything to offer, God forbid they were honest about it.

    • Al in Cranbrook says:

      …I should add: Slapping “Happy Faces” all over the place does not constitute policy on international affairs or moving Canada’s energy sector forward by getting some pipelines finally under way.

  9. smelter rat says:

    Any Prime Minister who has to screen reporters using sniffer dogs, and who requires non disclosure agreements from supporters attending his events can’t possibly be considered “winning”. Except maybe in N. Korea

    • Al in Cranbrook says:

      If the MSM were honest, I suspect there are serious concerns regarding the personal security of Canada’s Prime Minister, particularly given what we’ve witnessed over the last year. Sniffer dogs in that venue certainly aren’t looking for drugs. And it’s now basically taboo for those responsible for security to operate by profiling. So, just like in airports, everyone gets treated the same, and as a potential threat…including little old grandmas. Or in this case, reporters and journalists, whom should suck it up like the grown ups they expect everyone else to be.

      Not to mention, whatever security measures go on around our Prime Minister, they pale in comparison to what a President of the US has to live with every single moment of his life.

      Believe it, there aren’t going to press releases every hour to report the latest threat, real or imagined, to our Prime Minister.

    • eric weiss says:

      The RCMP is responsible for security, not the PMO. They have no say in the matter.

      • Al in Cranbrook says:

        Precisely, the RCMP are in charge of security, and will take a back seat to nobody over it.

        The PMO sure as hell didn’t bring in the sniffer dogs.

    • GFMD says:

      Conservatives just aren’t like Canadians on these issues. Their fascist tendencies run deep, and they love the gestapo stuff when its their side. It’s the
      Canadians that are getting sick of it.

      • Lance says:

        “Conservatives aren’t like Canadians”? Do you really believe that this kind of laughable claptrap sells?

        • The Doctor says:

          Oh, that’s long been the position of many in the prog/left spectrum, i.e., that if you’re Conservative, you’re not really a Canadian. Thus it follows that John A. Macdonald was not really Canadian. But Wilfrid Laurier was. Isn’t partisan politics fun?

        • GFMD says:

          As Canada’s political right gets more and more disconnected from reality, I’m afraid its simply the case. It makes Canadians sad and we hope they break out of their bubble.

  10. Liam Young says:

    Unfortunately, as long as Harper continues to believe his own lies, people will believe the lies as well … and the media will regurgitate them mindlessly.

    Here’s our first look at the compilation of lies told in the first debate ALONE:
    http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2015/08/09/the-lies-harper-told-during-2015-election-call-first-leaders-debate/

    So … my gut is that it’s Mulcair’s election to lose.

    • Al in Cranbrook says:

      Oh, my! The government weaned some people off the government teat! Oh, woe, woe is me!!!

      Lies? Like the $36,000,000,000 the government supposedly cut from health care spending, as advertised by the unions? What a crock of unmitigated s**t that is!

  11. Mark says:

    Winning? Not Canadians.

  12. Oh for crying out loud, look … everyone knows what they’re getting with Stephen Harper. I am so freaking tired of the whole shrill GAH!! GAH!! OMG DID YOU HEAR WHAT HARPER IS DOING NOW? GAH! GAH!

    Whatever. The guy has been doing this paranoid, stay on script, crypto control freak paranoid shtick for a decade now and everyone needs to TAKE A FRIGGING CHILL PILL because there is nothing new here. Nothing. Nada. Zip. This is who he is. Jesus. Move on.

    If Canadians are ready for a change, they will vote for a change on October. If Canadians elect Harper with a slim majority, then that’s how it’s gonna roll people. If they punt him out of office, that too is how it’s gonna roll. Governments defeat themselves.

    If the voter turnout is less than last time then we’ll know that increasingly, Canadian voters are tuning out of the GAH GAH GAH … OMG DID YOU HEAR WHAT HARPER IS DOING NOW?? GAH GAH! Crap they’ve been hearing for, again, a decade.

    Who is winning? Nobody.

    I think, though, the more people see of Thomas Mulcair. the more they’re going to wonder when his head is going to explode or when he loses his sh@t in front of a group of reporters. There is nothing … NOTHING … to like about that guy.

    And Canadians vote for the leader, don’t they.

    Bring back Chretien. Hell with it.

    • Warren says:

      THIS IS MY FAVOURITE COMMENT OF 2015.

    • AK says:

      If you read other political fora have you noticed that all the Harper haters will never tell you who they will be voting for; they only know how to spew hatred like a bunch of psychopaths in a circle jerk. When will forum commenters stand up for their choice for PM in an open and transparent manner and stop all the useless GAH!! GAH!! GAH!! piling on? If Harper wins another majority I suspect we shall see an increase in seppuku deaths in Canada particularly media mavens!

  13. Al in Cranbrook says:

    Well, Harper certainly was in fine form for this Q&A; pretty much hit ’em all out of the park.

    http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/election/harper-dismisses-critics-of-proposed-travel-ban-1.2509949

    He finished with a crushing smack down of the NDP and Mulcair over McQuaig’s position on energy and resource development.

    He keeps this up, he’ll increase his majority.

  14. Winners will be those who vote! Hopefully, this time, it will include First Nations, youth, new canadians and anybody else who’s not a member of the old boys club. If it’s the case, the NDP will win. Otherwise…

  15. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Call me both boring and predictable. Mulcair had the momentum until his unfortunate candidates turned the campaign into Animal House…

    Justin is winning if polls quickly show him moving off the dime that is third place. Harper can’t win because of that CPC glass ceiling in the low thirties.

  16. BrianK says:

    It’s still early days and no non-political nerds are going to care about any of this until after Labour Day. But the news today about Mulcair dismissing a candidate in NS over an old anti-Israel social media post is interesting for at least 2 reasons: 1) I’m sure this ex-candidate is not the only NDP candidate to have said something like that online and 2) A lot of people in the NDP agree with the ex-candidate’s point of view. Remember last year in the Ontario race when some old guard NDPers chastised Horwath for abandoning the party’s traditional ideology in favour of centrism? I can imagine the same thing happening to Mulcair. He wants to turn the NDP into the Liberals and a lot NDPers will be having none of that. Anti-Israel, pro-Islamist social media outbursts will be to the 2015 NDP what anti-choice, anti-gay outbursts were to the Canadian Alliance and Conservatives prior to 2006. It took several cycles for Harper to purge the party of the extremists (at least, the publicly extremist) and make the party palatable to moderate voters looking for change from the Liberals. I’m not sure Mulcair’s grip on the NDP is strong enough for him to do the same thing, not when the rank and file are still wistful for the days of Saint Jack.

    • The Doctor says:

      McQuaig alone could provide more fodder for that mill. First of all, I wonder whether she’ll stay silent about her unvarnished views on certain issues as this campaign goes on, now that she’s been given the gag order by the NDP Central Committee. But aside from that, there are her past comments, such as her admiration for Hugo Chavez, an egregious human rights abuser, and for George Galloway, who has called Israel a “cancer”.

  17. Ab Wassermann says:

    The Cons enjoyed good hunting today:

    “The Anti-Colonial, Colonialists. NDP wunderkind Morgan Wheeldon has been booted from the Party after postings surfaced accusing Israel of a “calculated effort to commit a war crime.” This is standard NDP fare. Sid Ryan, socialist superman, leader of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, chummy with IRA members, leader of the unanimous vote in support of the “international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination.” Ryan openly wants to bankrupt Israel – and Canada.

    Sid Ryan was awarded the Canadian Arab Federation’s Social Justice Award in Toronto. Question: are Arabs native to North America? Are Irish people native to the Americas? The answer is Sid Ryan and his Arabs have entered into and are enjoying the fruits of the greatest colonial project in the history of the world. If they really believed “settler colonialism” was such a great evil, they would immediately turn their assets over to the Aboriginals and board the first flight back to Dublin, Cairo, or Riyadh. Vile hypocrites. May they burn.”

    • davie says:

      We haven’t heard much about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations thus far. Two recommendations that caught my eye were the ones asking all levels of government to repudiate the ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ and ‘terra nullius.’ Recently reading about Captain Vancouver circa 1794, concerned with Spanish and American activity in Straits of Juan de Fuca, and sending a longboat ashore to plant a flag and declare the entire area for his monarch on the other side of the planet. One of the founding slogans of the European state in Palestine was ‘ A people without a land, for a land without a people.’ We do, as you say, have similar legal land claim experiences as does Israel…and other past European empires and their colonial ‘discoveries.’
      The fellow in Nova Scotia resigned. Here in BC we had a fellow who was ready to run for NDP in an area where his father once was NDP MP. But, a few years ago, his dad was arrested by the Israeli military for trying to bring medicine and food to Gaza, and challenging the Israeli blockade of those people, and the son criticized the NDP for saying nothing about that arrest. NDP HQ in Ottawa blocked the son form being a candidate for the NDP.
      The Tel Aviv pr offensive is ramping up in USA to encourage a war on Iran right now, so I think this is not the last we in North America are going to read and hear stuff in our election campaigns supporting the Israeli regime, and attacking everything Muslim, especially Arab Muslims.

      As for Canada, and TRC, I would be surprised if anybody even came close to repudiating the doctrines I mention above.

  18. AK says:

    Currently, the election campaign is in a state of positioning. The Cons are positioning themselves against Justin with their ‘just not ready’ attack meme ads. They are somewhat holding back their attacks against Mulcair perhaps until they feel satisfied they have destroyed Justin in the subconscious minds of lemming Canadian voters.

    The NDP is positioning themselves around Mulcair to make his appear more prime ministerial even though he looks like somebody’s dumpy grandfather with a fuzz face that looks like he’s off the Smith Bros. cough drop box. Soon the NDP will have to cope with the Duceppe/PKP attacks in Quebec because both of them dread the thought of a PM Mulcair. Both of them want a PM Harper so they can attack the federal government led by a non-Quebecer. The BQ/PQ must destroy both Justin and Mulcair in Quebec and somehow boost Harper as their separatist target.

    The Liberals must be looking at the long picture and positioning themselves for survival after the election. They can barely survive now so they must aim to hold on to the 39(?) MPs they now have and hope for a small increase… and above all not to get squeezed out of existence by the NDP and CPC trying to split the Red and Blue Grits between themselves.

    Favourable positioning as they launch their campaigns for the next 10 weeks. We are only witnessing the initial rolling out of campaign strategy with more to come. Hold yer hats and gonads !!!

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