11.07.2015 11:26 AM

All this talk about political honeymoons…

…sent me to the pages of The New Yorker, naturally. 

As a rule, they keep going until they don’t.  Enjoy ’em, because when they end, you’ll sure know it. To wit:

  

11 Comments

  1. BillBC says:

    I think this political honeymoon will go on for quite a while. People, some people, have fallen deeply in love with our new PM, and that love should weather more than a few reverses and disappointments. The same kind of people, and there are a lot of them, loved his father in spite of things like “zap, you’re frozen” etc. and other disappointments (tedious to list them all). You see the pictures of the civil servants drooling over him and jostling for selfies…this, along with a Harper Derangement Syndrome that was far stronger than most people realized, should keep the love affair alive for a good long time…

    • Alex says:

      It is interesting that you use the word “love”. While the honeymoon may last longer than usual, don’t be surprised if a big crash comes down the road. Supporters who fall in love with a politician are prone to be seriously disappointed. Remember, Pierre Trudeau took the country by storm in 1968, and then four years later almost lost the election. (The Liberals only beat the PCs by two seats in 1972).

      This craze over Justin Trudeau could be fleeting. Remember, after the 2011 election, some pundits were predicting that Harper would be in power for a very long time. The new Conservative coalition of western reformers and suburban Ontario voters was supposed to herald a new right-wing dynasty. Those predictions turned out to be very wrong. Four years from now, predictions of a new Liberal golden age may end up looking equally foolish.

  2. James Calhoun says:

    Warren –I wanted to ask your take on what you think the Liberals will do about the NDP’s 2.7 million satellite office expenses. Are they going to make them pay it back? It seems to me the Liberals need to keep their foot on the NDP’s throat, and the best time to hammer them with a big bill is in the initial ‘honeymoon’ period of the new government. The PM is less likely to be accused of partisanship at the moment, and can simply say, “they broke the rules and have to pay back the money.”

    As an added benefit, it might even cause a ruckus in the NDP backrooms (surely a good thing for the Liberals), if it’s done before the house returns. Mulcair needs strong performances in the house to distract from the dipper’s woeful election campaign, and hitting him with this ‘scandal’ before he’s unable to gesture to anything resembling strength seems ideal. Thoughts?

    • P Brenn says:

      Hi – also i thought I’d heard that some of this would be clawed back from severance of beaten NDP MP’s ..so was/is it a party liability or at MP level/

  3. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    I don’t believe in political honeymoons. A good government keeps its ear to the ground — and its nose clean. Canadians are easily satisfied, generally speaking.

    Don’t do like Harper, Mulroney and PET and they’ll do alright. It’s my way or the highway that gets a government killed, every time.

    • billg says:

      This new government will have to make decisions that upsets 60% of the Canadian population, its inevitable that the honeymoon will not last.
      This government, unless it takes the same bizarre economical path of the Ontario Liberals, will have to say “no” once in a while to Unions, to refugees, and, basically to the majority of interest groups with their hands out.
      Its why 8 years in government is an outstanding achievement.

  4. Matt says:

    All depends on how many people who voted Liberal did so because they liked/were aware of the platform and who voted Liberal because they were the best option to defeat Harper.

    If Trudeau implements the platform, those who voted for the platform will be happy.

    If he implements the platform and those who voted for the Liberal’s without knowing the platform don’t like what he’s doing, they’ll get angry and the honeymoon will be over sooner rather than later.

    Given the CPC choice for interm leader and rumours of a long leadership race and depending on who the permanent leader is, I think he’s got at least 18 months to 2 years of relatively easy governing ahead.

  5. A. Voter says:

    The last article I’ve seen on the subject said that the premier of Ontario has a twenty-one percent approval rating. A majority can lose it’s honeymoon phase rapidly. However, if the NDP and Conservatives didn’t have the intellectual/political skills to deny the Liberals a majority, they likely won’t dent the honeymoon soon.

    • Rod says:

      In 2011 Tim Hudak and the Ontario PCs were 20% ahead in the polls. The McGuinty Liberals came within one seat of a majority. So I would advise Partrick Brown not to measure the curtains in the Premier’s office just yet.

    • MF says:

      The NDP will do fine as soon as Mulcair realizes who his opponent is.

  6. P Brenn says:

    They should be fine – they will spend on CBC , middle class, civil servants , – people like getting money….as long as liberal friends stopp booing the media they should get decent coverage..

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