‘I told them that they should invoke a culture war. Cosmopolitanism versus parochialism, secularism versus moralism, Obama versus Palin, tolerance versus racism and homophobia, democracy versus autocracy. If the cranky old men in Alberta don’t like it, too bad. Go south and vote for Palin.’Any party that truly stands for these things is half way to getting my vote (attention NDP brain trust). City dwellers have been pushed around for far too long by ignorant, bible thumping, shit kickers. It's time to say "Enough".
Update: Needless to say, Graves is being savaged by Conservative talking heads (He was just smeared by Kory Teneyke on CBC), who obviously want the CBC and other media outlets to blacklist him (though they are strangely silent about Allan Gregg's role on the CBC, I'll note). Bravo to him for telling it like it is. Recommend this Post
May as well. I mean, what have they got to lose in the attempt? Their other tries have them consistently three-to-five points behind Harper. Which, if they persist in this "no coalitions!" mindset, keeps them on the left side of the Speaker forever.
ReplyDeleteOf course, they might lose. Harper could claim enough of the centre-right for his majority.
But in an ideologically polarized election in Canada, I'd still bet on the left even now. (In the States, I'd bet on the right.)
OTOH -- wasn't this Paul Martin's preferred strategy?
OTOH -- wasn't this Paul Martin's preferred strategy?
ReplyDeleteI am not aware that Paul Martin had a strategy.
But, if you read Lawrence Martin today, he takes the opposite view. Paul Martin tried to be all things to everyone and ended up back at the shipping company.
ReplyDeleteAnd the one quibble I would have with Grave is this, the culture war has already started. So far, the Conservatives have been advancing and the Liberals have been running away, fearing they might offend our rural overlords. It is nice to think that at some point, the running away might actually stop.
ReplyDeleteI saw Martin's 2004 and 2006 strategy as the following:
ReplyDeleteYell as loud as possible -- "STEPHEN HARPER WILL DESTROY HEALTH CARE, SHIP YOUR CHILDREN TO IRAQ, STOMP ON THE NATIVES, AND BAN ABORTION!!!! ALL YOUR NDP VOTE ARE BELONG TO US!!!!"
Mind you, it failed because he was, well, Paul Martin.
Is Michael Ignatieff that much better? Dion might have been able to pull it off, minus the Green Shift. Bob Rae almost certainly could pull it off. Can Ignatieff?
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Still worth trying for the left side of it, I know. But is Stephen Harper so very scary anymore?
But is Stephen Harper so very scary anymore?
ReplyDeleteSome days, only to the voices in my head, but other days, yes he is a menace. He is Jean Chretien without the charm.
Chretien comparisons are the highest possible praise. :p
ReplyDeleteI'd still take this tack if I were on the left -- pick issues where you have clear majority support, and run hard on them, same as Harper does with his majority/strong plurality issues -- but I'm very skeptical about how much purchase you'll get on the culture war front.
All of these charges have been tossed at Harper before. Builds a resistance after a while...
Oh, re "Obama vs. Palin" -- salient only if Obama sticks to this VAT madness, and America ends up with "President Palin".
ReplyDeleteI'd laugh so hard if that happened...
Next day: I wasn't annoyed by Graves' original comments. (As you can see.)
ReplyDeleteI am quite annoyed by (1) his claim to be non-partisan, a claim belied by his Liberal contributions, and (2) his next statement in his "apology" that bigots find a refuge in the CPC.
It would've been fine if he'd just said, "You know what? I'm a Liberal. My work stands on its own, because if I don't provide accurate data, people won't listen to me, but I'm a Liberal."
Don't lie and claim to be impartial when you're not.
He is not a member of the party. He has also given to his local Conservative candidate. He has admitted that he is a "progressive" on the CBC. Why should he say he is a Liberal when he is not a member of the party? It is obvious to anyone listening to him that he is not a Conservative. This is just Kory Teneycke and the PMO "working the ref" aka the CBC and the rest of the media. Also, they are sending a warning to other pollsters. "You give advice to the Conservative Party alone or we will bury you".
ReplyDeleteBtw. Ezra Levant did little to advance their cause today on Solomon's show. Paul Wells almost threw up, he was so disgusted. Conservatives should be careful with Wells. He is a good enough writer to really draw blood if he has a mind to.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a dangerous brand of ideologue to look at the divisive and politically destructive conflaguration that's been taking place south of the border and say to themselves "we need that here".
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to find out who the bad guys really are.
Patrick -- I thought Graves gave some pretty good advice to the Liberals: the Tories are vulnerable on those issues, given the geographical distribution of the Canadian population along the ideological spectrum.
ReplyDeleteGreg -- Sure, the protests on television were working the refs, and I thought they were silly.
But I got pissed off by Graves' "oh, I'm an independent" statement. Bullshit. He's an independent the same way the MSNBC anchors are "registered independents". If you're interested enough in a party's inner workings that you're giving money in its leadership races, it's irrelevant that you haven't plunked down the five bucks to pick up a membership card.
It takes a dangerous brand of ideologue to look at the divisive and politically destructive conflaguration that's been taking place south of the border and say to themselves "we need that here".
ReplyDeleteNobody needs it anywhere. Unfortunately, it is already here. Unilateral disarmament will not make it go away.
Ben, Graves is independent, but not indifferent. He is not a member of any party, but he knows what he likes. Also, if his polls were showing the Liberals and NDP in front, in opposition to all other polls, I would I agree there is a problem. But, his numbers are the same as everybody else's. Who cares what his personal politics are, aside from Conservative operatives with a "total war" agenda?
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