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Sure, there’s a leadership death watch – but for which leader?
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| Parent(s) |
Race
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| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Edited | Monsieur Jun 15, 2010 10:43pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Jeffrey Simpson |
| Media | Newspaper - Toronto Globe and Mail |
| News Date | Wednesday, June 16, 2010 04:40:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | It doesn’t seem to matter what the Conservatives do: They cannot win or get into majority government territory. They have spent money, before and since the recession, as no self-respecting right-wing party would ever have dared. They have tried to buy political favour (remember the GST cut, the tax credits for itsy-bitsy things, the “fiscal imbalance”), and backed that spending with enormous public advertising.
They have raised tens of millions of dollars to demonize their opponents and praise their own accomplishments. They jettisoned their own law on fixed election dates and called a premature election, thinking a majority government beckoned. They have controlled messages and gagged dissidents as no previous government has done. In short, they have enjoyed all the advantages of incumbency, avoided scandals (the Guergis/Jaffer business is more a joke than a scandal), yet have fallen short in three elections of a majority – and appear unable to win one the next time.
Which leads to another narrative about leadership: How many times will the Conservatives allow Stephen Harper to fail to win a majority government? If he only wins a minority next time, that would make four “victories” that could also be interpreted as failures – especially, as we keep hearing daily – against a hopeless, dispirited Liberal opposition.
Should we therefore not develop a parallel narrative to the Ignatieff death watch: the Harper death watch? Yes, he is secure for the moment, but his caucus fears, rather than loves him. It would not take more than a fourth failure to win a majority for him, or the party, to say this isn’t working. |
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