Martin: The big split on the left *
Posted on 03 September 2008 by Jack
In a wily move, Stephen Harper labelled Stéphane Dion a Trudeau Liberal last week. There was a touch of method in his badness when he said, “He is certainly the Liberal leader who’s taken his party furthest to the left, at least since Pierre Trudeau.” For good measure, the PM added: “I think this is not a time to go back to Trudeau-style economic policies.”
That Mr. Dion has tilted the party portside is something many in his own party agree on - and some lament. An adviser to one of the contenders in the leadership race said in a recent e-mail. “Dion’s moved left, the party hasn’t followed. And I suspect that will become clear in the campaign.”
Locating the Liberals in left precincts could play comfortably into Conservative plans. It opens up more of the moderate middle for Team Harper, pushing the Grits into crowded territory. It bunches the Liberals not only with the NDP but the Green Party, which has moved leftward under the direction of Elizabeth May and is registering double-digit support in the polls.
On the federal landscape, the left is now divided to an extent rarely seen. Though the changing dynamic has not received much attention, it could undermine the Liberals in the way the right was hobbled in the 1990s because of the split among the former Progressive Conservatives and the Reform (later Alliance) parties.
Any comparison with their last electorally glorious decade can only make the Liberals cringe. The NDP was then the only other national party in their ideological orbit - and at that time was supported by about 10 per cent of the electorate. Today, the combined NDP and Green support in the polls is about 25 per cent.
On top of that, there’s the 10 per cent that usually goes to the Bloc Québécois. And on top of that, there’s now a unified right side under one party. Add it all up and the obstacles to a Liberal resurgence become stabbingly clear.
Note: 6:30 pm and I’m gone.
Goodnight.
Popularity: 18% [?]
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Harper is to the Liberals like a Predator drone is to Al Queida. By the time they know he has arrived it’s already too late.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I was beginning to think I had lost my mind…”preaching to the converted”…but perhaps not. It never hurts to air the obvious once again.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Your right Jack as there are many undecided voters out there and the lieberals wrote the book on ’scare tactics’ and many of their foot soldiers are out there already spreading their lies.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
The greenshaft has been changed. From what I get is, if farmers, truckers, fishermen spend thousands of dollars to buy new machinery they will get a tax credit. Anyone heard of the Investment Tax Credit that has been in place for years. Also, if one goes out and spends over 200,000 for a new tractor, truck, combine, the depreciation will reduce their tax bill by megabucks. Considering Dion does not know what car pooling is, do you think he has any idea of the cost of the machinery he is telling them to go out and buy. And he certainly has no idea of what it costs to repair said equipment, plus labor costs, plus gst. I would not be afraid to bet that Dion, Iggy and Rae have never read a farm paper, or farm auction flyer to have any idea of the money involved.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Dion was asked once if he’d be interesting in joining a car pool. His reply…..but my car can’t swim.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Good for Harper.
It’s funny reading the media accounts of the Dion and Harper’s meeting where Harper asked for Dion’s support. The sad part is Dion didn’t realize he would have been better off to support the PM instead of mocking his offer as a joke.