The Anti-Politician Political Dirty Tricks

Ok, I am the first to admit that I don't know what I am saying half the time. However, calling voters "stupid" doesn't seem to me to be a prudent thing to do when you are asking them for their votes. Just as it seems somewhat unorthodox to endorse candidates from another party. Who knows, though? Maybe this a winning formula for a new 21st century politics. After all, who would have thought that choosing a soap opera for a running mate would help John McCain? Maybe the 21st century will be the political bizarro century.

Fake Clip


H/T to Buckdog.

Update: James takes me to task for the video in question. I don't remember the conversation he alludes to, but he is a truthful sort, so I believe him. It just goes to show that editing audio can do all sorts of mischief. I apologize to Ms. May for falling into the trap of believing what I heard. I still want to know why she is endorsing Liberal candidates though.

Update 2: I am leaving the video up but only to let people know it is a fake.

Recommend this Post

Note To Elizabeth May

Now that it looks like you will be included in the debate, you have the following homework assignment. Prepare to answer this question. Ms. May, you have already endorsed Stephane Dion for Prime Minister and you have also endorsed at least two other Liberal candidates in ridings being contested by your own party. Why should we take you seriously as a party leader and potential prime minister? I suspect it will be the first question you face, so start thinking about your answer now.

Recommend this Post

Elizabeth May Is Not Much Brighter Than Junior

I pity the people of Central Nova. Note to Elizabeth May. If you are trying to be included in a leader's debate, as the leader of an independent party, you do not offer to support the candidate of another party. I wonder how Doug Anderson feels this morning? How would you feel, if you read the following?

Ms. May also came under fire yesterday for sending a mass e-mail offering her support to a Liberal candidate running against Conservative minister Jim Flaherty.

It is bad enough not running a candidate against Dion in his own riding, but to then also abandon your own candidate in favor of a Liberal (while in the process of arguing for inclusion in a leader's debate), is just plain stupid. I am sorry you won't be included in this debate now, because I think you are just the agent of chaos this campaign needs. However, you only have yourself to blame for this and no one else.

Update: Gerald Caplan wants May included and I must say, he makes a good case. I can only assume he didn't know about the email to Osahawa-Pickering, which may have changed his mind:

Gerald Caplan ( former NDP campaign manager): Very forcefully yes.

I'm dismayed at the decision to keep Ms. May out of the debate. It's contrary to democracy, common sense and civil decency. I'm hugely disappointed that the NDP is party to this exclusion. I'm shocked that the Conservatives and NDP apparently have threatened not to participate if she had been included. I'm incredulous that Mr. Layton would use the Liberal-Green deal in a single seat to argue that they're virtually the same party. I can hardly believe Mr. Harper's brazenness in saying, without an iota of proof, that Ms. May intends to endorse Mr. Dion.

Now we are left with the spectacle of four men babbling to each other, while another man moderates. Nice work, boys.

Make no mistake: Ms. May is being excluded for no reason of principle. This is all about exploiting an opportunity against a potentially dangerous opponent. Another word for this is opportunism. This is a decision that may well come back to haunt both the Conservatives and the NDP. And they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

Update 2 It seems Elizabeth just can't stop herself from endorsing Liberal candidates. Please let her into the debate. It would be worth it just to have her answer the question, "Why?".

Recommend this Post