Jim Travers of the Star writes:
Conservatives were as skilfully swift in positioning Dion as an impotent environmentalist as they were framing him as a weak leader.”
No, Mr. Pro-Liberal MSM pundit, Dion’s position as an impotent environmentalist and weak leader isn’t due to the Conservatives. It’s due to himself.
I went to an all candidates meeting in Toronto Centre last night. The St. Lawrence Theatre takes over 500, and it was packed. At first I thought I’d wandered into a British SitCom.
There was a troop of medallion bedecked grannies singing Songs of Peace.
Various impoverished and earnest activists, looking like Bertie Worster Without Jeeves – handing out flyers insisting that a basic income and house are a Human Right (particularly if both are provided by the Working Taxpayer. A deeply committed 9/11 Denier (It was Bush Who Did It). Others Against The Imperialist USA. Unreal.
Rae, on stage, is smug, smooth and polished. He deals with his Years of Deficit by removing it from criticism..by beginning his comments by a joking reference to it. That acknowledgment, which turns it into a joke, removes it from the table. How does he deal with Dion?
He deftly turns the tables. He accused both the NDP and CPC of having brochures that depict Dion in unflattering images, as weak, as.. The NDP countered that the images weren’t altered. Rae then acknowledged Dion as a ‘nerd’ but continued that it wasn’t ‘nice’ to focus on such personal things.
This ignores that he defines the CPC as The American Republican Party.
I got the impression – but I’m possibly biased as it is actually my opinion – that the Liberal Party is acknowledging Dion as a nerd and leaving him outside to play on his own in the sandbox. They can’t do anything about him. They dare not have an election now (to get rid of him) because their loss in seats would be far more disastrous to the Party.
So, they’ll let Dion make a fool of himself, with his claims that ‘we can’t have an election now because it’s snowing’. Or, ‘because it’s Easter’. But they won’t let him have an election (which he wants) because of that disastrous seat loss.
Therefore, they’ll put up with him, and even, isolate themselves more and more from him. Token acknowledgments as Our Leader. But, I’m saying the Real Leader is going to be Rae. And the image he’s going to present will be Experienced, Wise, Smooth and above all, Genial, Friendly, Open. Above all- open. In contrast to Harper’s shyness and ‘coldness’. Rae is going to be The People’s Man.
Their other strategy is to define the CPC and Harper as Corrupt. Their tactic is endless accusations. All unfounded. But they don’t care; the Public Image promoted by their faithful MSM friends is all that matters.
God help us.
Walking through south Rosedale the last few weeks, I’ve been surprised by the number of signs for CPC candidate Don Meredith, given the type of people who live in the area and the sheer amount of snow on the ground. I didn’t see my first Rae signs until yesterday (oh my eyes!).
Not that Rae is going to lose; the riding is huge and goes I think from Regent Park in the south-east to Yonge Street, but even so it was nice to see that some of the tony Rosedale set are voting CPC and making their intent known publicly.
That is indeed one of ET’s best. I meant to comment but was a bit too busy.
Her desciption of the “medallion-bedecked grannies singing songs of peace” was note perfect for my neck of the woods too — westside Vancouver close to UBC; the land of the $1.5 million cottage on a 33′ lot.
Rae: No way will he be punished for his disastrous economic policies mostly because that class ET so aptly describes has no understanding of the subject. Moreoever, Ray can also say, “heh, look, I was NDP then, but look I’ve learned the error of my ways and have moved to Big Red (over from Little Red).
Brava ET (I learned “brava” from a scandalized fellow audience member while shouting Bravo at Cecilia Bartoli a few years ago). Blush.
‘Bob Rae’ – lol, lol, lol….
I am suspicious that the current Flaherty vs. McGuinty brouhaha is in reality the opening salvos of CPC vs. Bob Rae.
Nothing like attacking the fiscal plan of the current Libs in Ontario to get one re-thinking of the fiscal record of the Bob Rae.
Yes, unfortunately the man that ran Ontario into the ground is about to get the helm of the Official Opposition, and if we’re really unlucky(or Ontarians are that obtuse)he may some day become PM.
What a disaster that will be.:-(
If the CPC doesn’t use “the liberals want Rae-days to go national” they don’t deserve to win.
Rae went after the unions and public sector workers in the second half of his term forcing the unions to take unpaid days off. Of course, that was after shovelling everything they’d ever want at them before he realized that budgeting does so matter.
By the end of his term, I doubt there was a single demographic group that didn’t want him lynched.
Well said, ET. You could get a job as a seer since I think you are a page or two ahead of the Puffins but you have their ‘game plan’ down to a science! It must be embarrassing to be so predictable; then again, the Puffins really do not have any clue of the true meaning of the abstraction shame. As long as it can be covered up; it is all good, in the Puffin world. They have the msm as their ready broom.
The Puffins remind me of myself when I was a kid helping my Mom; I tried to save myself the bother of finding a dust pan by sweeping dirt piles from the floor under the rug. She always found me out and then she made me lug the rug outside and hang it on the clothes line so I could beat the dust out. It didn’t work for me (I did not have a handy msm to cover up for me) and I quit after several failed attempts. Mom, however, was a real investigator; much to my dismay, she would periodically look under the rug for suspicious dirt piles and if it looked too dusty under a rug she fingered me (even if I was not guilty) and sent me out with the rug – based on my past actions. I would have been sooo grateful for a loyal cover-up gang; as I am sure the Puffin/Dipper outfit are; and yes! I would have paid !!!
Kate, I would like to re-post my rebuttal to ET’s theory – a theory that I suspect the LP is to stupid/short-sighted to conceive.:
…It is an interesting theory – sort of like the neutron bomb play – they are trying to kill off SD without destroying any of the party structure.
There are two key impediments:
1. Iggy – the party is still split and Iggy is working just as hard if not harder than Rae to succeed SD.
2. The irrelevance of the LP in Que. Unless they think that the pop changes are sufficient that they think they can win with the urban vote in Que (15 seats?) and toronto and vancouver. (it is ironic that they may be the first federal party to turn its back on QUE) Doubtful, and twits like trudeau won’t let them do it quietly.
And of course no one in the party has an answer to Rae’s ontario legacy. With liberal Dalton working on meltdown #2 – the echoes of Rae’s folly will become increasingly poigniant. As anyone who spend time talking to ontarions can attest, the memory of Rae has hardly faded at all.
And Rae’s laughing it off will be about as effective as Ted making jokes that he no longer drinks and drives….
Peoples Man, style over comtent, utopia, misinformation, hoax propagation, foster controversy, promote discontent, …
Is it a stretch to say the Media is the root of all evil ?
” .. skilfully swift in positioning Dion .. ”
” .. framing him .. ”
Sinister word use by Travers.
Got to hand it to the Media types — they must lie awake at night.
But, thanks to the ET and the Kates of the world, millions now see the snow-job being exposed hourly.
If one of the reasons the Libs haven’t been working harder to bring down the government is to help Bob Rae get into the HoC I think Bob is making a mistake.
Under circumstances where there might be a year or so before the next general election, then I’d say getting Bob in helps him because he has enough time to truly be the “incumbent” in the next general election.
However, if there’s an election forced some time after Easter, as McCallum is now claiming, this could hurt Rae in one of two ways.
1. People anticipating a general election in the very near future may not be motivated to go out and vote in the by-election. If there’s a low turn-out who knows what the election results might be. And if Rae lost the by-election it would be very difficult for him to run successfully in the GE with that bit of egg on his face.
2. People vote in decent numbers not anticipating a GE so soon after the by-election (based on the Liberal track record of abstention). If there’s a GE very soon after the by-election they may be annoyed and not turn out to vote a second time in as many months. Rae could lose in this scenario again due to the low voter turn out.
If Rae has been the architech of the Liberal plan of abstention to wait to get him into the HoC, I think this could quite frankly back-fire against him personally. I think it would have been more strategic for him to be pushing for a GE before the by-elections. If he wins his seat but the Liberals perform poorly then he has a lot more time to carry out his coup from the inside. It would be poetic justice if he lost a GE right after a by-election win leaving Iggy to take the spotlight in the HoC.
And of course the LP lefties attempted the same thing when it percieved it had a lame duck in John Turner:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Party_of_Canada_Rat_Pack
It is actually a three way dustup coming; Rae, Iggy and young Justin Trudeau. Someone with a real knowledge of the inner workings of the Liberal Party should also see how the festering Chretien/Martin thing is playing out down below decks as well……..
Thucydides? (how is that pronounced?)
Travers “FRAMES” things like a goodfella.
DION is the professor with no clothes.
RAE is like a bad TV show in syndication. Can’t get enough of the HoneyMooners? Gotta re-cycle a Dipper as a Libbie? Are the Libs in that bad shape….
Gord Tulk:
1) Iggy is no match for Rae as a politician. Any serious person in the Liberal back-rooms know this – particularly a guy named John Rae. Bob’s the guy Power is backing.
2) Rae could turn around fortunes in Quebec by demagogueing on identity politics, and promising a new Liberal Party under himself, an outsider. Not sure if it will stick, but it’s got a much better chance than Dion’s strategy of home province self-immolation.
3) Rae’s Ontario mess is not a problem. The media will cover for him, and in fact pin all of Ontario’s problems on his successor, Mike Harris.
Bob Rae could prevent a Conservative majority. Stephane Dion will guarantee one.
Great analysis ET. How did Don Meredith do or did the rabble even allow him to speak?
Bob Rae went after the unions only after he gave them huge increases in salaries, in particular the Ontario Civil Service Opseu and Cupe. I’m sure there were more but I can only speak for the Company I worked for at the time a non profit funded by MCSS.
Not only that, his lackeys in the party Shelies Martel and Red Floyd actually intervened in a strike by bypassing their own Treasury Board going to a picket line and telling the union leader that their increases would be there shortly. Of course this was all behind the scenes. All this while telling management to hold the fort and stay the course (of not giving in).
When confronted in the House of course they evaded the issue and Big Boob himself hid out until the brouhaha died down. When he did show up he demonstrated his art of obfuscation. Bob Rae is and always will be a Socialist. Goes to show how far left the Liebs have gone.
flaggman:
With all due respect, I think Iggy is more capable as a politician than you assert plus he is backed by abour 1/2 of the party just because he is not bob Rae – see Thucydides comment re: the Martin/JC split.
2. such a move would enrage the trudeauites further dividing the party.
3.The press can try as they may but millions of Ontarions can bear witness to what happened – enough to weaken the LP in the 905 to the point that they would be swept throughout. (see some of the comments above)
First may I add my praise for ET’s savvy analysis to that of others already posted—ET is one of our treasures!
Rae is a cardinal example of the Eastern Establishment at work—his connections (Power Corp etc.); his education (Upper Canada College, U of T, room-mate of Iggy’s); the riding selected for him, and so on. And let me add his government experience, his flexible beliefs, his glibness
and his media connections.
The LPC is the Eastern Establishment as government. If Rae were to become Prime Minister the anger in Ontario arising from the Rae Days’ time would be as nothing to the rage that would rise in the West. In Alberta there are thousands and thousands of ex-Ontarians who remember Rae Days with the same fervour as The Battle of the Boyne is remembered in Northern Ireland, or the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. Rae as Prime Minister would put this country irrevocably on the path to disintegration. It would truly be a tipping-point.
I have had official contact with Rae in the past. He was as cold, arrogant and condescending then as he appears still to be when the mask slips.
I think that the LPC and the backroom boys are under some time pressure. Kyoto 2. I believe that they will want to maneuver so that their guys will be at the table to negotiate the successor agreement.
Rick – “Bob Rae is and always will be a Socialist.”
Yes Rick, a silk stocking socialist.
Or better yet as Barbara Amiel said of Rae many years ago – ” Crypto-Communist!”
And yes, of course, the Canadian MSM as ET correctly points out, helping out by trashing and smearing Harper as corrupt.
Re: Rae’s legacy in Ontario
Combine the shortness of collective memory, with Rae’s cutting his connections with the NDP, and he’s quite innocculated from his legacy. The only demographic with any lingering ill will towards Rae would be 40+ economic conservatives. That’s not to say that it won’t hurt him, but it is reality. He’s a savvy guy, and uninformed average people will fall for him despite his past.
God help us indeed !
Rae was an absolute catastrophe for Ontario , and I can only imagine what he could do for Canada !
Rae is another traitor to the NDP who was bought by the Liberals,like Dosanjh. He is socialist through and through and will eventually move the Liberals much more to the left.
Rae is another traitor to the NDP who was bought by the Liberals,like Dosanjh. He is socialist through and through and will eventually move the Liberals much more to the left.
Actually there may be a benefit to Rae being the leader of the Liberal party. Rae’s views are undoubtedly further left than Ignatieff , and if Dosanjh also stays , there is a significant possibility the Liberal party will move to the left , which may actually benefit the Conservatives.
I can thank Bob Rae for my fantastic wife if not for him I may never have meet her. She left Ontario during his rule, in order to find work, and found it here in BC. She hates him and what he did to her home province.
Flaggman,
I think you forget how much the unions hate him for his alleged treason. The teachers, public service, cops, health care workers… the list is long. They will not forget nor forgive.
Neither will the NDP. The CPC won’t even have to do much. The left will do it for us.
“…..they must lie awake at night.”
In order to Lie to us all by day!
very well stated ET
I have said for years & on here many times of late, that the liberal of old is long gone. The Socialist have been slowly infiltrating the LPC for years, Why? Because they know that they can’t form the government under the Dipper banner so their best chance is to infiltrate the LPC & slowly change the adgenda to their views, With the distant possibility of a merger. How many dippers do you see run provincialy as NDP & Turn around & run federaly as Liberal. I also believe that you may see somewhere in the future a new party formed that would be more left of center much like the liberal of old.
This would be good news for the conservatives in that they have divided & conquered & should form a Majority much like the 90’s when the conservatives were divided.
“Rae is going to be The People’s Man.”
PLEEZE TO GEEVE ME BREAK!
Ah yes, Buffalo Bob Rae, Buffalo NY’s business man of the year, for having single handedly raised the living standard of many New York residents.
The Librano$ are planning to sell Rae as “The People’s Man”?
PLEEZE TO GEEVE ME BREAK!!!!
Boob Rae “the people’s man”????
He’s a Forest Hill Socialist who’s intimately connected with Paul Desmarais’ Powercorps (his brother’s one of the head honchos there).
As a Librano, the only way he’s “the people’s man” is that he’ll tax “the people” (aka us hardworking, law-abiding, never-able-to-keep-up drones) to the max and give away OUR money to all the homeless, anti-American, lib-left, peaceniks who were at the rally the other night.
How can Canadians be taken in by this BS?
“I think you forget how much the Unions hate him for his alleged Treason” – Warwick
You hit the Nail on the Head warwick, I think if Rae ever did become the LPC Leader the ads would be directed at Ontario With visual Remember Whens.
But what would the Unions do? How do they throw their support back to the NDP who they did not support in the last election as they do not support Layton, Could make for an Interesting scenario. Will the Unions give the Ok to vote for whoever.
eskimo. i agree. i have no words to express my anger at the stupid among us. does anyone want to do for themselves anymore? man canadians are stupid.
brynar. 60% of all canadians are socialists.
The unions will fall into line. What choice do they have? Remember, elections aren’t about harbouring old grudges – they’re about a choice between alternatives.
And remember that Bob’s solution to rising health care costs and an aging society was to reduce the number of doctors allowed into Medical Schools.
Hey, guess what? Ontario has a doctor shortage.
Bob Rae’s solution has denied millions of Ontarians a family doctor.
Make every day a Rae day!
I just posted this Under Readers tips
cbc.ca is reporting that the Liberals are meeting behind closed doors to Mull over whether to go to the Polls over the RESP.
It reports in the article that FM Flaherty say’s that this could cost 900mill & could put the gov’t in a deficit position.
The Liberals say it will only cost $700mill! We are talking a difference of 200 so are the Libs saying that if it goes over their projection then we are in a deficit. Remember the Gun Registry as the Liberals have a way with Mis-Quoting Numbers
once upon a time i was dealing with a union problem and solicited MP svend robinson’s help…this was during rae’s election as premier in ontario…i was suckholing and brownnosing him of course and told svend how THRILLED(yes..i confess …yes i did camp it a titch) i was rae and the dippers won Ontario…
svend’s response was left of lukewarm…HE didn’t seem the least thrilled.
anyone know what happened here…?
Look, I’m no pundit and I only wrote from my ‘fly on the wall’ reactions. I tried to pretend I was an ‘undecided’ citizen..and..who would I like?
As I said, I was stunned by the turnout – the theatre was packed. It’s possible, and I suspect that it is the case, that many are ‘regulars’ at all various political meetings. I supposed it’s better than scrabble.
The Bob Rae camp was very well organized, with lots of YOUNG people, all scrubbed clean shining and eager.
Rae himself on stage; I got the sense that he was working to be ‘one of the guys’ when in actual fact, as an ex-premier, and part of the PowerCorp, Desmarais economic backroom gang of Canada, he is, hierarchically, light years in power and contacts away from the other candidates.
It was a very well organized meeting, with Anna Mc..whatever of City TV as moderator, specific time allotments for each speech, etc. If I were ordinary uncertain Jane Citizen, I might be drawn to Rae. For his urbane geniality, his presentation of himself as open to all opinions, even the ones opposing him. He’s very much at ease on stage – as was the Green Party candidate.
I’m saying it’s part of the New Liberal Strategy of inclusiveness. Include the anger. How?
Include the anger at the ‘old corruption’. You do that by saying that the Conservatives are ‘also corrupt. That defuses that faster than a torn balloon.
Include the anger at the deficit, by joking about it, as Rae did. And blaming Harris and the feds for all evils.
The Liberal agenda seems to be ‘social justice’ (god, that’s a dumb phrase – what else is a society about, other than the benefits of its people?)..and ‘sustainable economics (what does that mean?)..and..’green’. And – a big one added by Rae – ‘affordable housing’. These are all the usual amorphous rhetoric, but, the public likes them.
I think Gord Tulk’s comments on Quebec are accurate, but I suggest that the Liberals are going to focus on Montreal and leave the ‘rural Quebec’ to the CPC and Bloc.
I think they are going to focus Big Time on Cities, eg Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, where the seats are, and where the voters are unionized, civil service, health services, education, etc..all govt dependent workers.
I think Dion will be left alone to play and talk to himself. I suggest Ignatieff will leave. There is absolutely no role for him. I think the BackRoom Boys have already made that decision.
Ontario? Some may remember, but the team around Bob Rae, young recent graduates, all in the work force of govt, finance, IT, health, education…they won’t remember.
Money? With the MSM as their publicity assistants, that’s a great savings right there.
The opponents to Rae will come primarily from the NDP.
As for signs in Rosedale, the LLL, the Leaside Lexus Lemmings, which is a wealthy, stable area of Toronto, with jobs in the civil service, health care, teachers – they are all Liberal followers and have Rae signs.
I think an election sooner rather than later is the answer, but the Liberals will now do anything to prevent an election. If the NDP have any smarts, they’ll work with the CPC for one asap.
Otherwise, for the next year and a half, we’ll see one new corruption claim every two weeks flung at the CPC. Ungrounded, totally invalid, but great publicity.
And, we’ll see Rae as the Genial Uncle in the back, smiling, open to all points of view..commiserating with the poor, with the people who want guaranteed housing and income (not guaranteed jobs; guaranteed income)…and so on.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Rae will be eaten alive by Dion and Ignatieff and spat back to Ontario.
My humble advice to Liberals.
In the upcoming byelections, it seems reasonable to follow the fine example of the Parliamentarians who represent you.
Just abstain!
As an Ontarian, I can vouch for the fact that Rae pissed-off more people at one time than any other politican in history. His swath was wide-everyone from the “rich” to the “poor” to the union stooges that got him elected. “Rae Days”
hurt everyone, including this family. And it was all so very unneccessary.
The Libs need Ontario to win federally. I personally don’t think, with the exception of the Toronto crowd, he will ever ever gain the confidence of Ontarians again.
IMHO the private unions like the carmakers usually vote conservative as lefties like Sid Ryan always find out. If the CPC holds the line against pouring more money into the car companies even though they make a product that the public wont buy their vote may change.
The public unions especially CUPE, teachers and other government unions are mainly socialist as Lookout knows and will vote NDP/Liberal all the time. Especially to get the Lieberals back in power and get the gravy train running again. The ones who actually work for a living like the police, fire and EMS will support the CPC as they see the damage daily what socialism causes.
In order for there to be an election before the mandated Oct ’09 date ALL THREE of the opposition partys would have to vote for dissolution.
There is no way that all three will feel their chances are good of increasing the number of seats they have all at the same time.
Both the NDs and the BQ if current polls are accurate would be decimated if an election were held.
Ipso facto no election.
No wonder there were a lot of young people at the rally for Bob Rae: They’re the only ones with no memory of the mess Mr. Rae’s political and economic ineptitude made of Ontario.
‘Seeing as young people are notorious no-shows at the polls come election day, one can only hope that “the old folks” (I’m one) will make sure that Boob Rae does not win at the polls if he becomes the LPoC leader.
What is Liberal Citoyen DionRae’s election strategy today?
“”About an election, not this week,” he said”
The LiberalMSM headline:
“Liberals say they have Harper where they want him”
(canwest)
Flaggman:
As many of the comments on this thread show anecdotally, there is a very good chance that enough of the Ontario voting populace remembers what Bob Rae IS that the LP would be decimated in that province were he at the helm. However that may not prevent the LP from making him leader – after all they put PM and SD (and John Turner)in place didn’t they?
gord tulk, I hope you are right. But a lot of people weren’t living in Ontario 15 years ago when Rae was in power (including myself).
There are a lot of immigrants, and Rae appeals to them. There are a lot of children who are now of voting age. So, memories of 15 years ago, aren’t necessarily strong enough to prevent his role on the federal scene.
Take a look at the glowing Wikipedia biography of Rae. Problems are almost invisible.
I don’t see what else the Liberals can do. Their problem is Dion. An election to get rid of him would lose them too many seats. So, what does one do? You sideline the bumbling leader as a ‘kindly dork’…and focus on the Real Leader. And the Real Leader has to be presented as Genial, Jovial and Welcoming.
But you must also mudsling the CPC – that’s vital.
I still say that Ignatieff will leave. There’s absolutely no role for him – and with the PowerCorp, Chretien, Desmarais Gang behind Rae..they’ll arrange an ‘exit’ for him.
All speculation…who knows.
The CPC has to set up an ongoing LIST of weekly accomplishments for the public.
And, a Ministry of Cities.