Martin warns against importing U.S.-style extreme right
Canada Election Thread 4: January 8 - 21
A Canadian Conservative Majority?
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin warned Canadians on Thursday that his main rival, Conservative leader Stephen Harper, would turn the country into a bastion for a U.S.-style extreme right.
Most Americans are blissfully unaware of this, but Canada (You remember Canada, don’t you?? It’s that large suburb of Fargo…yeah, that one- the one responsible for the oversupply of cold fronts and hockey players in this country.) is in the midst of a national election campaign. Much like the US, the Canadian election is a battle between Liberals and Conservatives. And, also much like the US, Liberals have put forward a candidate who apparently couldn’t articulate an idea to save his life. Yes, If Paul Martin was an American, he would be John Kerry, a man who thinks that he was to the manor born, but also a man who can’t articulate his vision and political philosophy to save his life.
Granted, I am hardly an expert on Canadian politics. When I need clarification on Canadian political issues, I look up the TPRS Canadian political consultant, James Bow. What I do know about politics north of the border couldn’t fill a shot glass. I can recognize a moron when I see one, though, and if Paul Martin isn’t a moron, he’s certainly doing a hell of an impression of one. Conservative Stephen Harper may not be much better in the idea articulation department, but he does seem to have the photo-op-and-sound-bite thing down pat. Harper may not have any ideas, either, but he looks a great deal more composed when delivering his rambling dissertations about nothing.
Yes, it would seem that our neighbor to the north has learned how to play American-style politics…and why not? Canada imports TV shows, consumer goods, music, and just about everything else from us…why not cheap, meaningless politics heavy with symbolism and lighter-than-air debate? Oh, and why not intolerant, judgemental Fundamentalist Christianity as well? If Paul Martin is to believed, Ralph Reed and Pat Robertson have opened a branch office in Ottawa. Hey, if you want our TV shows…well, ya gotta learn to take the good with the bad, eh??
“I really do believe that Canadians don’t want to buy the far conservative right in the United States,” Martin said in a television appearance.
“They don’t want to see (it) imported here and they do understand that a sharing, working together has been the way we’ve built this country.”
The Liberals are trailing the Conservatives in opinion polls….
I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures, and there’s no greater bogeyman out there than the American Christian far-right…which really shouldn’t be an issue, seeing as how this is Canada we’re talking about here.
The problem is that Martin seems to be afflicted with the same problems plaguing the Democratic Party in the US- a lack of vision, the inability to articulate what little vision he does have, and no clue as to how to engage Conservatives on their own turf. How do you think we got saddled with the war in Iraq here in the US?
[Stephen] Harper dismissed Martin’s criticism as not believable, especially after the Liberals released a series of negative ads that seek to portray him as a frightening extremist.
“I’m interested in what credible critics say about me. I think Mr. Martin’s credibility is reflected in the false and misleading ads that he’s running,” Harper said in Halifax, where he visited a low-income family to promote his planned consumption tax cut.
The Liberals had to withdraw one ad that accused Harper of trying to install “soldiers with guns” in Canadian cities, although others are still running, including one that quotes Harper saying the U.S. conservative movement was an inspiration to Canada.
The Globe and Mail took Martin to task for having spoken in a debate on Monday against personal attacks and “drive-by smears” and then launching the ads.
“Mr. Martin, an honorable man, should know better than to stoop so low, especially when he is delivering homilies on civility,” it said.
Martin appears to have played directly into the hands of Conservatives by running a campaign that frankly looks nothing if not desperate…and he’s the incumbent. Devoid of ideas and long on rambling, desperate screeds, Martin seems unable to come to grips with the reality that his era may well be coming to an end. Perhaps if Martin and his Liberal party would spend more time trying to get their own house in order and less trying to blame the US for their problems, they might stand a fighting chance.
I’m no fan on the American far-right, but they certainly are not responsible to the drift and lassitude experienced by Canada’s Liberals. Until, and unless, Liberals take responsibility for their lack of vision and inability to resonate with Canadian voters, they will continue to be on the outside looking in. Trust me on this one; George W. Bush and Pat Robertson, idiots though they may be, are NOT the problem here.
