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Post by riley on Jun 8, 2004 5:55:00 GMT -5
Doc - saw a round table on ATV with the three Halifax proper candidates chatting with Steve Murphy.
I was wondering if Alexa was going to have an easy ride this time around, and if perhaps people weren't ready for a change. Unsure what the word on the street is, but if seeing the three in action is any indication, I think the NDP can chalk at least one seat up as certain.
Sheila Fougere seems like her heart is in the right place, and I think she's probably a very good councilor, but her Federal level inexperience is really obvious.
Kevin Keefe seems to be taking a really traditional Torey position, pushing defence and Sea Kings as his main platform, and again the inexperience is blatantly obvious.
Alexa comes off as a seasoned politician who knows how the game is played and knows how to get at the real issues. She talked about removing tax from necessities, removing tax from $15K or less households, and a couple other things that just made sense.
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Post by riley on Jun 8, 2004 6:04:43 GMT -5
One of the things that stuck with me from a convo we had last provincial election was something you described regarding perception of the NDP and how the other two parties play up all the things that help keep them in the background (ie. fiscal policy, Bob Rae, etc etc).
More and more I'm thinking, that this back and forth between two parties (not even the case Federally for the last 12 years) isn't doing anything to put the country further ahead. Canada, to me, clearly seems to be seperating itself more and more from North American ideology (specifically the US who seem to be shifting further right every day), shifting slowly even more left of centre, and what better party to help us align oursleves socially with more countries abroad than the NDP.
Neither the Liberals nor Conservatives have proven they can make a substantial difference, so rather than focusing on what the NDP might do in a negative sense, perhaps people need to consider what the NDP might do in a positive sense.
Just because all things aren't bad, doesn't mean all things couldn't be much better as well.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Jun 8, 2004 6:32:32 GMT -5
I went home with a migraine, drugged myself up and went to bed trying to ward it off in time for the hockey game, Riley, so thanks for the summary cause I missed that. There was some talk early on that Alexa might not have a lock on this seat any more but the campaign is firing on all cylinders so though you never take anything for granted, I think she’ll come through OK. Sheila Fougere is a quality candidate for the Liberals but I don’t know, in a way it seems like her heart is not really in it. She’s talked about running for mayor of Halifax after her federal career is over, which is a bit odd at this point and I love that quote from her to the effect that the only bad thing about running in this election is that she has to answer to the name “Liberal”.
Don’t think Kevin Keefe will be much of a threat. Little surprised to find out just how sparse the Tory organization was on the ground in Metro in the provincial election last summer. I can only think that’ll carry over federally, especially with the fallout from the merger. That in fact, could be the main threat to Alexa – Red Tories deserting the new party and voting Liberal. I know of some who’d served on PC riding associations who are doing that but it’s hard to gauge how far it goes beyond that with people who had always voted PC but weren’t actual card-carrying members of the party.
One of the things that stuck with me from a convo we had last provincial election was something you described regarding perception of the NDP and how the other two parties play up all the things that help keep them in the background (ie. fiscal policy, Bob Rae, etc etc).
Did you happen to catch Rex Murphy’s call in show on Sunday? First thing Conservative and Liberal supporters come up with; just makes me want to scream. No mention of the record in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, just Bob Rae and Glen Clark. As if Liberal and Conservative governments haven’t ever gone off the rails. As if 98% of the general fiscal situation across this country can’t be traced back to the 98% of the time that the electorate has installed Liberal or Tory governments.
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Post by riley on Jun 8, 2004 6:36:08 GMT -5
Yeah, to that point, I just think the NDP should be given the opportunity to do as well, worse, or better than the parties who have dominated office for so long.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Jun 8, 2004 6:42:34 GMT -5
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Post by phil on Jun 8, 2004 9:18:44 GMT -5
Did the Glode and Mail link caused the stretching ... ??
Poor Steve Harper has to scramble everywhere
to douze all the small fires his candidates seem
eager to start almost everyday ...
I predict one day, he'll mistakenly grab a can of gasoline
instead of a pail of water ...
I can't wait !!
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Post by riley on Jun 8, 2004 9:45:30 GMT -5
That's funny Phil.
He and/or his candidates still have the better part of a month to solidify votes outside Atlantic Canada by making some sort of reference to employment insurance and reliance on the system.
Or maybe they've learned just to keep their mouths shut since those sorts of cheap shots don't serve to lose or gain them any votes.
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Post by riley on Jun 8, 2004 9:47:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the link btw Doc. Read a bit and printed to read in a while and so J. can have a look. Ever think of starting Doc Drum's news exchange site?  Personally I would less connected were it not for some the tid bits you pass along, so cheers. With house construction, exams, new dogs, family health stuff, and normal life in general, The Dog's plate's a bit full right now. |
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Post by Dr. Drum on Jun 8, 2004 10:10:38 GMT -5
We’ll have to get Shane in here and have a good old chat about your new dog, house construction, etc. etc. sometime soon, Riley. The Alliance can’t help itself. Harper tries to clarify what Cheryl Gallant said on the weekend and look what he comes up with: globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040608.wxharpert08/BNStory/specialDecision2004/There is a possibility that this is all intentional since social conservatives have apparently been getting a bit up in arms over his attempts to look moderate but still, he can’t help but turn off everyone else with this stuff. Any yeah, I know Phil, another one of those unnecessarily long Globe urls but these days it’s the only right wing paper you can use. You used to be able to reconnoitre what the enemy was up to with the National Pest at one time but they expect you to pay for most of the bilge they spew these days and who in their right mind is going to do that? ;D |
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Post by phil on Jun 8, 2004 12:06:37 GMT -5
I LOVE CHERYL ... !!
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Post by Dr. Drum on Jun 9, 2004 7:59:03 GMT -5
OK, quiz time - which federal party leader is now a member of his fifth national political party?
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Post by riley on Jun 9, 2004 11:43:28 GMT -5
Gotta be Harper.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Jun 9, 2004 11:56:01 GMT -5
'Tis indeed, Riley. From the CBC election website: "He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1977-1979, and the Progressive Conservative Party from 1981- 1986. He was a founding member of the Reform Party (1987), and was named its chief policy adviser." Then of course you have the Alliance after that and now the Conservative Party. www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/riding/249/ |
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Post by phil on Jun 9, 2004 12:15:15 GMT -5
Almost as bad as our own Lucien Bouchard ...Ü...
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Post by Meursault on Jun 9, 2004 14:06:31 GMT -5
I heard through the grape vine somethin about Chretien saying he was gonna have a J in one hand and the 125000 fine in the other sometime.
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