KCCC Day 25: Change of plan


  • So, er, what happened? Lots of big changes of course/plan in the past 24 hours for a lot of folks, me included.  Here’s a summary, which may leave you as bewildered as I tend to be most days.
  • Kinsella Kolumn Killed: If you are one of the two or three people who read it, you will notice that my usual Tuesday Sun column ain’t there.  Why isn’t, you ask?  Beats me, says I.  I filed it, my editor got it, and the rest is a mystery.  My suspicion is that the launch of the new Sun TV network, the launch of the new Sun web site, and the paper redesign all had something to do that.  That, or I’ve been canned, and no one’s told me yet. Here’s a snippet of it, in the unlikely event you are curious about the subject matter: “Stephen Harper’s Reformatories, you see, are heading to victory on May 2. And, barring some big upset in the next few days, it may be a big victory, too.  Now, it’s not like that the Conservative leader deserves a majority, let alone re-election. He’s run up a historically-big deficit, he’s run a lousy campaign, and he’s run his promise to clean up government straight into the ditch – with so many ethical lapses taking place, you need a program to keep track.  (My personal favourite? He fires Helena Guergis for cavorting with hookers, when she didn’t – and he then gives a big patronage job to convicted fraud artist Bruce Carson.  Who, er, brought a real hooker to a party at 24 Sussex.)  So if I’m right, and Harper’s done such a crummy job, why is he cruising to victory? Mainly, it’s because those of us on the Left have done a lousier job.”
  • Sun TV rises: Speaking of the TV thing, I wasn’t on the launch show yesterday, either.  I will be on there tomorrow, I think, perhaps as an out-of-work columnist.  Some of the commentary on the new network is here and here.  I watched a bit of the launch with my staff, and I can tell you the following:  (i) I will not be wearing a short skirt, unless you want to pay me scads of money, in which case I will; (ii) I like free speech, too, but you won’t see me yelling “fire” in a crowded Sun TV studio anytime soon; (iii) I have noticed that “political correctness” is usually code for “I want to say whatever pops into my head without getting sued/fired;” and (iv) “Controversy,” is my middle name, so I should fit right in, however much I am a Bolshevik when compared to the rest of the gang.
  • Libs change gears?: So says Ms. Hebert:  “The lines may be different but the basic script is eerily familiar.  For the third time in as many federal elections, the Liberals are switching horses at the mid-way point in the hope of resuscitating a flagging campaign.” Well, not quite.  Reporters may not have noticed it, but the Libs and the NDP have been talking about the subject for quite some time – it’s just that some media outlets find talking about strategy and tactics a lot more interesting than writing about, you know, issues.  And, on health care:  the Libs deftly turned a potential negative (the Harper misquote in that hard-hitting health care ad) into a positive (a fun contest to find the quote with which to replace it). Brilliant.
  • Reformatories target NDP: As Jane points out in her daily take on the daily Nanos:  “Stephen Harper will lose seats in Quebec, is dropping support in British Columbia and will not form a majority government on May 2, according to a new Nanos Research poll.” That’s a lot of bad news for the Con leader – so he’s now changing course, and starting to aim at the surging NDP and Jack Layton. Will it work?  Dunno.  But expect a lot more critical scrutiny of Wacko Jacko by both the Grits and Tories in coming days.
  • Poll changes: Sort of.  You Daily Nanos Crack™ suggests that the Liberal-Conservative gap remains what it has been for weeks (about 8 or 9 points), and that the NDP’s national support is still about half the Liberals’ (30 to 17, respectively).  So one thing hasn’t yet changed – vindication for those of us who were predicting this election will get us more or less what we had when Parliament dissolved: a minority Tory government.
  • Pic of the day: Caption contest!

 


“Whee! Look at me! Look at me! I’m a contender!”

 


KCCCC Day 24: Things get weird



KCCCC Day 23: A Harper majority


  • Will he get one? I don’t know, and neither does he.  But is he close to one?  Yes, yes he is.  Therefore, I figured I’d use my spot in the Sun to (a) speculate as to why that happened and (b) what policies we are likely to see if it does.  Typically, I do those two things in reverse.  Today, I predict what a Harper majority will do, by looking at past Conservative behaviour.  On Tuesday – the start of the new-look Sun, its new network, and its new web site – I suggest a few reasons why he has been winning Election 2011.  Conservatives won’t like today’s column; Liberals (some of them, anyway) won’t like Tuesday’s.  Here’s all of today’s.

What would a Stephen Harper majority government look like?

It’s not an idle question. We’re now in the second half of the 2011 national election campaign, and the Conservative Party remains comfortably ahead of the Liberal Party — and, according to some pollsters, is in (or very near) majority government territory.

Harper’s campaign team has done surprisingly poorly, while Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals have turned in a more solid performance. But poll after poll have shown that Team Harper’s many missteps haven’t really affected voter intention.

That’s why, perhaps, the Conservative leader is doing something in this campaign something he would never have dreamt of doing in 2004, 2006 or 2008 — he’s openly appealing for a majority.

Harper, while strategic, has never really been very secretive about what he would like to do with unfettered power. All of it is on the public record.

This, then, is what a Conservative majority government’s policies should look like.

There are many other issues where Stephen Harper has been clear about what he favours — such as more jails, more government advertising, more baubles for the generals — and what he does not.

He isn’t shy. It’s all there, on the record, for those who want to look.

What is also there is this truth: For good or bad, by the time Harper is done with it, you won’t recognize Canada.

 


KCCCC Day 22: Gloom and doom, this and that


“Captin! Captin! We’ve beamed up three strangely-gesturing men from the planet surface!”