The numbers from yesterday’s Strategic Counsel poll, which show the Conservatives sitting at 41 percent nationally and 46 percent in Ontario, must be a bit of a shock to Ignatieff’s team, but perhaps the most significant numbers are those showing a rather stunning level of change in the level of women’s support for the Liberals. The Liberals have historically held a significant advantage in that regard, but the poll shows women’s preferences practically reversed from April: 36 percent of women polled now prefer the Conservatives, compared to only 28 percent for the Liberals.
What could account for this stunning turn? Ignatieff doesn’t exactly come across as a redneck wife beater. The problem can’t attributed to his undeniably vampire-like physiognomy either, inasmuch as vampires are hugely popular these days in popular romance entertainment. So why are female voters storming out, proverbially speaking, and calling a cab? Is it his dainty hand gestures? Is it the way he seems to be in a perpetual state of outrage without him ever giving a genuine reason for it? Is it perhaps the dry rustling sound emanating from his head each time he arches one of his thatchy brows?
In the interests of exploring the possible reasons for the rather stunning turn among women, I invite our female readers to give their own personal take.
Male readers may speculate wildly.
Women like real men.
Why would any woman- Canadian or otherwise- find Trudeau, Chretien or Ignatieff appealing? They look like the Ark of the Covenant was opened on their faces and their attitudes towards women are just off-base (to make an understatement). Are there no political hotties to pander?
And doug nails it. While not as dainty as Dion, Ig is not a manly man.
What? I thought women liked a guy with a huge………………….ego.
He gives me the creeps – the first thing that comes to mind when I see his face is “Lurch”. The other big turn-off – the voice.
I don’t like Iggy because he’s the kind of guy who will do what he wants regardless of whether it’s good for anyone else.
If he wants an election, he’ll CALL one.
My fellow women, I think, are scared or unhappy with a man who will do what he wants regardless of what YOU want.
He won’t listen, even if you’ve already faked the headache and took the aspirin and just want to sleep. Women should not be comfortable with that kind of pushy, self-centered man.
Ok, I’ll bite. Like many men, he complains too much about the way things should be and yet doesn’t lift a finger to help the situation.:-)
He’s an ‘abandoner’. His family, country, principles, just to name a few but a man that leaves his wife and family the way he did, has no class or manhood.
I also dislike pinkie lifters and elite snobbery. Ignatieff, wrote the book in this regard and it’s a HUGE turn-off and last but not least, he is every ‘girls’ cruel,uncle or miserable school principal. He is a big, big bully.
Like a man I once met on Lavalife.He hadn’t dated in 30 years and although he wore his best bib and tucker everything about him smelled of mothballs.
I think a lot of women don’t like him for the same reasons men don’t like him. He has nothing to offer. Once you are past that exterior there are no walls in the house. As a voting block they don’t like PMSH either but he’s running the country. Not doing too bad at it considering the alternatives.
Girls like a winner. Count Iggula ain’t one.
As an aside, I don’t really live to dis the guy. It isn’t like he’s never done anything good or useful in his life.
Its just that he’s doing nothing good for Canada right now. I think he’s probably quite a good liberal-ish Ivory Tower boffin, but he’d make a gawd awful Prime minister. Possibly worse than Dion, certainly worse than Martin. Who was a frickin’ disaster.
they don’t like PMSH
I think that is about to change. It’s almost embarrassing to say but how many woman can’t resist a vulnerable guy, sitting at a piano and singing his heart out, ’cause his wife asked him to do it?
Add to that, an apparently good marriage, a natural, unassuming wife, two beautiful kids (who aren’t always mugging for the camera) and he’s running the country without bloody whining. In my books (as Phantom says) ya got a winner.
EBD – why wouldn’t you vote for him? That’s why I wouldn’t vote for him.
But yes, it’s worth wondering why women tend to vote left. I dunno. It’s embarassing, really. Any thoughts?
(Phantom: It’s not like men like a loser!)
Qwerty @4:38 seems to see him as a date-rapist, though. Hmmmm….
I think women might like Harper because he strikes me as a man who would actually see to it the women and children were first into the life boat. You cannot say that about Liberal men and I use the term ‘Liberal men’ with a smirk.
Mr. Ignatieff has no shoulders to speak of. That’s always a deal breaker for me in the men dept.
There’s also his love of himself that’s a bit creepy.
Harper’s the strong, silent type who can make women and our country feel confident and safe….Iffy? Not so much.
From a 50’s something Granny,Iggy just has this creepy ick factor that makes me queasyThere is also a huge ‘phony-ness’..and an ‘all about me’ego that really turns most women off.
PMSH on the other hand,reminds me of a straight-up,solid type of guy,that you’d want to spend time with..maybe even marry!
History of
Napoleon in france and his love for his wife
Edward the 8th and England and love for his wife
Prine charlse and Camila
all are odd love and give them too much trouble in thier life
politic must step completly from wife and privat life and poltic life since these two can
made conflict of interest
Michael Ignitifff is
divorce his first wife
for interfer in his poltical job and interupted some views
and he has now second new wife
She look nice kind houswife kind of woman
just here to support not talk too much
and not go to supermodel red half naked women too
as PM of Italy said white women are not like
tan women should reveal too much whit skin
or kiss other men for rather than say just simple hello
PM need class of charcter and action
singing is allowed but in right time
this is more joke to me all laughing
even Napleaon in France scared of his wife adn Hitler also was soft with women touch,
you can nto change the charcter over night
Harper is more serious man look so far now we see differnt charcter is kind of funy to me
two personality we can say!!
I think Canadian men who are married are more
men beater not wife beater since they scared of their wife more
plus they only have one wife nto 4
if loose one what they can do go to long process of divorce…
women must complet step back in big decision maker
this is
not proper
I think it goes back the girls’ Archie comic book days. MI resembles a grown-up version of that creepy Reginald Mantle III character. He would bear the title of “Iggy (Reggie), The Magnificent” quite well.
Ignatieff is a university professor and as boring as can be. the word PEDANTIC comes to mind. I think women (who generally claim to be smart than men!) can see through that quite easily.
As a man, I wouldn’t refer to Iggy as “manly” in any way that I can think of.
If I kept doing 180’s like Iggy in my household affairs, my wife would have no problem doing a 180 on me.
I think it is fair to say that given the very very short brief periods of time we had to share a bed with Michael, there is absolutely no chance of him planting a seed.
Is it perhaps the dry rustling sound emanating from his head each time he arches one of his thatchy brows?
Man! Would that I had your literary style.
Perhaps the wagging finger, the ultimatums and voting against the government no matter what.
Women don’t tend to like that kind of behavior.
Never having been a liberal supporter for mainly conservative reasons, I have to wonder, where do they get these people? And how do they get votes?
And with those eyebrows, he probably has a hairy back…. Did I say that out loud??
I don’t know why I find it offensive, but I do, that somehow women as a group are suppose to judge politicians differently. I think (I hope) that women are as individual as men. I have always liked Stephen Harper, does that put me in a very select minority…… conservative-leaning women who judge a politician based on things like their policies? I did think for a while that Ignatieff might be the more worrisome choice (for Liberal leader) because he seemed a little more right-leaning, and I thought that might create a little more competition (on the centre-right) for the conservatives. However, he very quickly ceased to be a threat, as far as I could tell, mostly because of the arrogance, and the profound statements he is fond of making, that basically say nothing. I don’t think there should be a gender bias in your reaction to such things.
I like the guy. I would like him better if he was a Conservative.
Would you ladies change your minds if he crosses over?
MariaS
Why? Because women (and men) resent a condescending, patronizing arrogant individual who hasn’t lived in Canada for decades telling us what we need to build a better Canada.
It just doesn’t add up to genuine leadership for Canada.
Black Mamba, its true that men don’t like a loser either. But if said loser is a reasonably well endowed female most men will overlook her loserness for a weekend. Or two. Given enough beer. 🙂
Women have higher standards, I’m sorry to say. We are dogs. Woof woof! Awooooo!
Perhaps women do not fancy a man that likes the smell of cow poop or at least a man full of bulloney.
A wild speculation –
Canadian women don’t necessarily look at every male member of parliament as a potential love interest. Most may even consider the quality of leader for the sake of his leadership and how that may affect their lives and family.
Harper is a stable conservative that has kept Canada’s head above water during the worst global economic recession since the 30’s. Iggy is a desperate show boat who wants’ to “change” Canada – (its success obviously) and has made plenty of overt patronizing comments about Canada’s women. It’s not all that hard to understand Harpers appeal across the board.
In a word, MariaS, no. There are three men I would never (have) switch(ed) my vote for had they crossed the aisle:
Pierre Trudeau
Jean Chretien
Michael Ignatieff
Oh dear, how could I not forget the unforgettable Stephane Dion? 🙂
Momar’s comment at 5:08PM really sums it up.
I’d only elaborate on that. Let’s look at another hypothetical scenario that might show the difference in sharp relief.
Suppose it were World War One and Stephen Harper was commanding an infantry regiment in the trenches and Iggy was commanding the regiment next to his. The order comes down from higher up that both regiments have to go over the top at dawn, into what will surely be heavy enemy fire and a desperate fight.
I’d opine that Stephen Harper would go over the top with his men, personally leading the attack, even if he weren’t ordered to do so, as a real leader never orders his men into life or death danger, to do something that he’d be unwilling to do himself.
Whereas, Iggy would not go over the top with the men, but “lead the attack” safely from his underground HQ bunker, delegating the actual attack leadership to some honorable, duty-conscious subordinate officer.
It’s the Harper-type who does his duty regardless, who earns the respect, even love of his soldiers, who wins battles and takes care of his men as best as he possibly can … and is sometimes even recognized, promoted and decorated. Whereas, the Iggy-type always safeguards his own b*tt, doesn’t really care about his men but plays politics to get promotions and safe staff jobs.
Comments, anyone? Is this a fair analogy and contrast?
Iggy has lots of hair but its bad hair. bad bad hair. and bad teeth. obviously he hasnt been in the country long enough to have the MP dental plan kick in.
teeth and hair are a sign of health and good breeding stock. this is a subconsious desire of all women.
PMSH has good hair and good teeth. he is taller than Obama , but Obama wears lifts. and the MSM always photographs Obama from a lower angle to his benefit. Obama has good teeth, in fact enough teeth for two people but his modern haircut , sans afro doesnt help with the stickyout ears. the stickout ears do give him the young boy like look. oops , did I use the word boy.
Harper is a beer guy,Iggy is whine.
As a woman, I don’t appreciate politicians who try to pander to my gender. Any politician who feels they need to make an extra effort to include women in politics jeopardizes my vote for them. Maybe I am being too sensitive, but the implication is that I just won’t understand regular politics because I am a girl.
Ignatieff and the liberal party ooze condescension to women by virtue of the fact that they feel we must be singled out and courted differently.
I am completely fine with Harper being an insensitive ass. I don’t want to marry the guy, I want him to govern effectively. Just show me your policies, and let me vote.
Dave in Pa- You have it!
To women, it’s a knight in shining armour thing and most women like it, whether they’ll admit it it not.
Ignatieff, has none of those qualities. He’s the kind of guy that’s first in the buffet line.
“does that put me in a very select minority…… conservative-leaning women who judge a politician based on things like their policies? ”
Yes it does, you and most of the posters here.
Statistics don’t lie, and they overwhelmingly show that women vote for socialist parties in Canada. I believe the root of this tendency is two-fold. First, I believe the Boomer generation of women were a naive voting bloc. Coming out of the kitchen this voting block was very susceptible to pandering from politicians playing the victim card. Today it’s being said that more women in the workplace are more workplace savvy and would like to keep more of their earned money. I’d like to think this is true.
Secondly, women dominate the fields that politically support socialist governments. Education and the social sciences come to mind as groups of women that feel they themselves are being victimized, hence the constant griping about “equal pay”. Combine this with the naive voting bloc that logically assumes the aforementioned lobbies represent their interests, and you’ve got the Coronals Secret Recipe.
I’d like to believe that the silent majority of women are not socialists, they believe in common sense economics, and they are becoming increasingly aware that the tail has been wagging the dog for some time now.
I’ve said all of this here before to many boos, so I guess I’m a masochist for doing it again.
All of that being said; it’s not Iggy, it’s that women are tired of Liberal politics!
from CBCpravda , All Liberal All the Time
Liberals jump on the bandwagon of another Lying Loser. by the way , no mention of the poll CPC 41 and Libs 28 and no mention of
the finance minister of the year award ?????
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/06/suaad-mohamud.html
CBCpravda All Losers All the Time
The first comment from doug says it for me.
I commented earlier this morning at BLY on this topic.
A Real man accepts responsibility, shuns passivity, leads courageously and looks to the greater reward.
I think Prime Minister Harper is a real man.
Iggy just doesn’t measure up.
Posted by: Indiana Homez>
You have an interesting point that women dominate the liberal arts working culture and are thus more potentially prone to vote on the side of Liberalism & Socialism. That would on the surface seem to satisfy some personal job protection.
Thankfully it seems that more people are become savvy to the broader and fragile realities of our culture, economics and place in the world – Conservatism just makes sense.
Two things that generally separate women from men according to decades of polling:
1. Women are much less politically engaged than men are. they a consoderably less up to speed on current affairs and historical political events. (again, this is a generalization)
2. Women are far less strident in their political affiliations than men. Moving from one party to another is less difficult for them.
As polling in both the US and Canada has shown Women and men are both a lot more conservative in their beliefs than their voting patterns show. They agree with many of the conservative policies but do not realize that fact.
The problem is because women are less engaged, even though they can be convinced to change affiliations, they aren’t often listening. It has been a growing trend that more and more people want a majority government. they are fatigued with the high-wire act that is a minority parliament. But the news saturation has had a benefit – inattentive women are getting more exposure to the political goings on. they do not like the empty harping of Iggy and co. even though in the past they have voted liberal. the calmer, more steady, less shrill – more avuncular conduct of Stephen harper has made him and his party more approachable. the performance this weekend will help him greatly – even moreso because it was a genuine effprt by him to help out his spouse. due to the general disengagement of females the MSM has led them by the nose to believe that SH is a mean, evil person. The widely-played video evidence has cut through that smokescreen in dramatic fashion.
The problem for Iggy going forward is how can he possibly gain their confidence?
I look at Ignatieff snd think of an odd uncle who would gleefully rub his hands together while licking his lips when hearing the prospect of looking after the children for the weekend. The guy is creepy,like that pop-eyed fellow from movies of old. I think it was Victor Borge,though I am not sure.
Meanwhile Baghdad Warren has avoided all comment on specific goings on and disparages the polling (now that it disagrees with his meme). at a party, when your wife is kissing another man you either ignore it and the implications of it or you sock the guy. Warren is staring into his drink.
Just a thought,any gays out there find him ‘interesting’?
Victor Borge , no !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vincent Price yes
Personally, I don’t have a problem with Iggy’s appearance. He strikes a resemblance to a certain First Officer to a famous Canadian Captain. Logically in my books, that’s one + for Iggy.
Now, if I can find Iggy on YouTube hang upside-down from a tree while singing love songs; then, he may just get my vote.
As a guy as far as ‘guyness’ is concerned PM Harper has it in spades – once you get past the shyness. Still waters run deep.
Iggy by contrast seems like a martian to me. He rubs me the wrong way. Hearing about all the ‘baggage’ he has it’s insulting that the Lib tall foreheads thought they could pull this off.
Dave in pa;
PMSH seems like the kind of guy who you’d find on the frontline – not a shirker. Iggy? – i can’t say. But it looks to me he’d be more comfortable in the rear with the gear. If he were a frontline commander – i’d request a transfer.
Iggy is a bargain basement Trudeau but he thinks he is high class. Margaret notwithstanding, neither Trudeau or Iggy come across as ‘a manly man’ but both sure did make it clear they thought themselves brain’er than most and certainly way above ‘the masses’.
Not to mention there is a lot to be said for a good looking man who has a lovely wife and family and can ‘tickle the keys’ when it suits him!
I think about who I would leave a one year old with, Iggy or Harper. Who would I trust more? I would worry that Iggy would retreat to his study to think deep thoughts and forget there was even a kid around. I do not trust him, that is the problem.
As a female, he has no appeal because I see no love in his life. I see him as a loner who happens to be married. I see no joy, no spiritual connect to life, just a phoniness, a trying to be someone, anyone, except who he really is.
Cal2,yes,I was very wrong with Victor Borge,must have been the bad glue. Vincent Price is much closer,but I was thinking of Peter Lorre. He gives off that same vibe. Actually,if Bela Lugosi and Sandra Bernhard had a love child,they would name it Iggy.