Presumably Harper says this because he is (a) trying to energize his people and (b) trying to plant seeds of grief in the Liberal Party.
Why do I say so?
Because the Tories without Harper are in a wasteland and they know it. For all practical purposes the Conservative Party is Harper.
And if we lose (and we may) a Leadership battle while a minority government struggles through a recession might be divisive enough to hold off a Liberal resurgence.
James Morton
6 comments:
Wednesday morning Dion will be back in the land of fairies, lollipops and unicorns, staring out the window with a blank look on his face while mumbling something that only he can hear.
Its a strange tactic, I would think it would galvanize the anti Harper into action and hopefully vote strategically to get rid of Harper.
IF the Liberals lose I see no need to replace Dion he has grown significantly into the job, how many times did Harper lose before forming a government? (of sorts)
I think the Liberals are going to be in a very difficult position after this election.
They have probably not performed well enough to form the government but, at the same time, Dion did well enough that he deserves another shot.
Like Liberal leaders before him, Dion can rightfully claim that he should get to fight one more election. After all, he seems to have secured the parties' base, likely held on to the Official Opposition post from the NDP and resurrected the party from being wiped out in Quebec.
Also to be factored into this equation is the financial state of the party. Can they mount another leadership campaign right now? How divisive would this be for the Liberals (Iggy-Rae splitting the party just like Martin-Chretien)?
A final consideration, if Dion puts his leadership to a vote of the party faithful, he might do okay. After all, the party base is further to the left than where the party sees itself. Dion would probably have surprising strength with this group after campaigning on the carbon tax, women's representation, Kelowna and poverty.
Do Liberals want him back? Will they go out and vote Liberal knowing that this is the outcome they will be securing?
Interesting times.
If the Conservatives only win a minority government the Liberals would be prize idiots to replace Mr. Dion.
The next government will be lucky to last 18 months. The coming recession will make the next government very unstable as all of its opponents will look for opportunities in its struggles to deal with the recession. It is terrible thing to contemplate but it is politics.
So that would mean the Liberals would probably only have a new leader in at the helm for mere months before an election call.
Here is a simple fact Liberals need to understand.
With the exception of the Pierre Trudeau experience no political party has ever won an election just months after electing a new leader.
So, if Liberals want to lose the election that follows this one then by all means replace Mr. Dion.
Of course, in the unlikely event of a Conservative majority government all bets are off with regard to the Liberal leadership.
Be careful what you all wish for. Harper has been the limiting factor, so far, keeping the Cons from a majority. There are people waiting in the wings (I received a lot of persuasion from a Bernard Lord group prior to 2006, and they are still active). One of the Western MPs sitting behind Harper still calls him an "f'n redneck", and says that he's "gone". Said that Mr. Lord or Prentice will take over.
We are better off dealing with an ideologically charged, extreme right wing Harper, versus a more (perceived) "moderate" Progressive Conservative like Lord - or even Williams (and what do you think William's fight with Harper is over?).
The Lord Team is still active, and ready to roll.
The recession will be tough, and an ideologue like Harper is the best person we can have wear it, since it will make people think twice about ever voting for an extreme right-winger again. Hope I'm wrong about the recession, but it sure looks like it's coming...
You news commentary are clearly taking the Liberals’ side!!!
Any one who studied economics knows that at times of recession, government should cut taxes to increase disposable income. Liberals are promising to do exactly the opposite by imposing the new carbon tax, which will push Canada in a deeper recession. How worse leadership could be?!
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