Liberal morale

[Teflon]

Link to story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.welection25/BNStory/politics/home

JANE TABER AND STEVEN CHASE

Globe and Mail Update

September 24, 2008 at 11:47 PM EDT

OTTAWA and WINNIPEG — Stéphane Dion enters the halfway point of the election campaign under fire from members of his own party, many of whom have already given up on forming government.

Some Liberals are framing the weeks ahead as a case of salvaging what they have currently – 95 seats – and ensuring the election campaign does not end in the devastation seen in 1984, when John Turner's Liberals were reduced to a mere 40 seats.

“Not one, not a single serious Liberal is talking about Stéphane Dion becoming Prime Minister,” a long-time Liberal said. “This is not about beating Harper as PM. This is about living for another day.”

A Harris/Decima rolling poll has this week placed the Liberals in fourth place in British Columbia, behind not just the leading Conservatives and surging NDP, but also the Green Party. The Liberals were at 15 per cent, although the relatively wide margin of error for the B.C. sample makes it more an indicator of relative strength than a precise measure.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's tactic Wednesday to directly attack Jack Layton buttressed the suggestion the Conservatives now view the NDP Leader as the man to beat in some specific areas of the country. So all eyes are now on Mr. Dion winning a clear victory in next week's French and English leaders debates.

In 1988, for example, Mr. Turner, who was trailing the Tories and NDP, was able to turn things around with his “intensity” and “forthrightness” over the free-trade deal, according to one senior Liberal insider.

“That's when a campaign can be won or lost,” the insider said.

Wednesday, Mr. Dion faced tough questions from reporters after former party president Stephen LeDrew wrote a blistering article predicting the party would lose badly on Oct. 14.

“Barring a miracle – that intermittent visitor to political campaigns – the Liberals are going to take a drubbing in this election,” Mr. LeDrew wrote.

“The immediate causes of the Liberals' campaign trouble are myriad: a leader who doesn't resonate with the public; a platform that is, depending on whom you talk to, either incomprehensible, or just plain dumb; a team that seems to have all its oars pulling on the same side of the boat – the list goes on.”

Pressed by reporters, Mr. Dion repeatedly avoided discussing the content of Mr. LeDrew's points in the National Post article, but instead answered queries with attacks on Mr. Harper.

He urged his fellow Liberals to pay no heed to the harsh criticism. “Ignore them,” he said at an election stop in Winnipeg Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a senior Liberal campaign strategist said there is “no panic.” Rather, he said that “everyone understands the situation” they are in and are “trying to figure out how to impact on it.”

Usually at this point in a successful campaign, however, there is thought given to forming a transition team.

Senator David Smith, one of the co-chairs of the Liberal campaign, said yesterday that he wasn't “going to get into it” when asked about transition.

“We're primarily campaign-focused,” he said. “On that subject, given the front-bench strength that we have compared to even the current government … we've got a lot of people with ministerial experience … it's not as if we don't have people who haven't been there, done that.”

Another senior campaign strategist burst out into laughter when asked about whether there had been any thinking as to a transition team.

“It wasn't even in my vocabulary or my brain,” said the strategist, suggesting the Liberals are trying to hold what they have.

And some Liberal strategists argue Mr. Harper's public opinion numbers may be weakening, giving Mr. Dion a small opportunity. The party is testing a new set of ads – positive and negative – that will run before and after the debates.

Whether the party goes negative in the ads depends on Mr. Dion's performance at the debates, insiders say.

The central campaign has sent senior MPs, such as Maurizio Bevilacqua, former chairman of the Commons all-party finance committee, to a series of ridings in Ontario using talking points on the economy – that the Liberals under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin eliminated a $42-billion deficit, paid down $60-billion in debt and reduced taxes by $100-billion.

Deputy leader Michael Ignatieff is also speaking Monday to the Economic Club of Toronto about how bad the economy has been under the Harper government.

Despite such actions, the negativity is found even in the Liberal-friendly city of Toronto. One candidate is demoralized as he hears from former Liberal voters, “I'm not really sure about this Stéphane Dion.”

The senior campaign staffer there says they are emphasizing “the team” over the leader.

And after five hours of door-knocking over the weekend in his riding north of Toronto, a Liberal incumbent candidate heard complaints about his leader from 80 per cent of those he spoke to.

“[The candidate] is very discouraged and says that the only thing that may help him is that he is not identified as a Liberal and can run on his personal popularity,” a campaign insider said.

Quebec, according to some Liberals, is a “disaster.” The Liberals have 11 of the 75 seats.

And in British Columbia, Liberals are concerned about the rise of the Green Party and the credibility that Mr. Dion has given to its leader, Elizabeth May. Those who like a carbon tax will support Ms. May, whose platform is much stronger on the issue, the Liberals fear.

 

[Gunnar]

I thought you might mean "morale".  Liberals are not noted for morals.  ;D

Okay, I couldn't resist.

 

[The_Falcon]

As much as I dislike the liberals, I dislike Taliban Jack and his crew even more ergo, while I want the libs to lose, and have a Conservative Majority, I much prefer them (libs) to remain as the official opposition.  And here's hoping that they can win back their seat from jack (cause we all know, a tory has no hope in hell of winning in this city, especially in that particular riding).

 

[Teflon]

I thought you might mean "morale".  Liberals are not noted for morals.   ;D

Okay, I couldn't resist.

Ok Ok you got me, serves me right for being in a hurry! - FIXED-

 

[Teflon]

As much as I dislike the liberals, I dislike Taliban Jack and his crew even more ergo, while I want the libs to lose, and have a Conservative Majority, I much prefer them (libs) to remain as the official opposition.  And here's hoping that they can win back their seat from jack (cause we all know, a tory has no hope in hell of winning in this city, especially in that particular riding).

Well I have to agree with you there, the last person I would want to see as Leader of the Opposition is my favorite muppet Jack, the thought of the NDP as the official opposition makes me cringe!

 

[OldSolduer]

Tally jack can say what he wants. He has about as much hope of being PM as a snowball's chance in hell.

Stalin said it right...."useful fool"

 

[Teflon]

Tally jack can say what he wants. He has about as much hope of being PM as a snowball's chance in hell.

Stalin said it right...."useful fool"

Your right, Jack will never win the PM seat but if the libs keep up their stellar performance the NDP just might find themseleves the opposition and that does scare me!

 

[greentoblue]

No party is immune to the ups-and-downs of a campaign but I have to wonder about the long history of support of Jewish Canadian voters to the Liberal party when the candidate for a Winnipeg riding claims that "Israeli intelligence warned the United States in advance of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Centre and "Israeli businesses" vacated the premises before the attack."  All this in the hometown of the Asper family?  If you can't remain disciplined and hold onto to your base how do you reach out to form a majority?  What is scary is that Ms Lesley Hughes is a semi-retired journalist (for the CBC), writes often for the Winnipeg Free Press and teaches at the University of Manitoba. 
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story//20080925/election2008_immigrants_tories_080925/20080925?s_name=election2008

 

[Rifleman62]

As a former long time Winnipeg resident I know that Lesley Hughes has always been a LWT (Left Wing Toon). Of course she worked for CBC. You should read some of the loony toons stuff she writes for the Winnipeg Free Press and local neighborhood papers.

 

[OldSolduer]

Lesley hughes and that washed up old rag Frances Russel from the Free Press.

 

[ArmyRick]

When the liberals picked Stephan Dion to be there ringmaster, i was confused. He seems like nothing but a babbling idiot. Where as I beleive Mr Ignatief would have been more of a threat to Mr Harper IMO.

But then the liberals are all about chasing trends and looking good. They worship Trudeau and Chretein as great leaders, maybe they though the magic of a french prime minister would continue with Mr Dion. I'll bet if they lose this election, Mr Dion is out.

Seriously, who could ever think of Dion as anything but a bloody circus clown?

 

[JesseWZ]

Lesley hughes and that washed up old rag Frances Russel from the Free Press.

Oooh I can't stand reading Frances Russels columns, I used to just to see what she was spouting lately but usually they ruined my day and made me irritable for the rest of it.

 

[The_Falcon]

No party is immune to the ups-and-downs of a campaign but I have to wonder about the long history of support of Jewish Canadian voters to the Liberal party when the candidate for a Winnipeg riding claims that "Israeli intelligence warned the United States in advance of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Centre and "Israeli businesses" vacated the premises before the attack."  All this in the hometown of the Asper family?  If you can't remain disciplined and hold onto to your base how do you reach out to form a majority?  What is scary is that Ms Lesley Hughes is a semi-retired journalist (for the CBC), writes often for the Winnipeg Free Press and teaches at the University of Manitoba. 
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story//20080925/election2008_immigrants_tories_080925/20080925?s_name=election2008

She's been turfed

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_27292.aspx

Liberal Candidate Forced Out Over Comments About Jews And 911
Friday September 26, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
There's only one question voters may be asking as we turn the corner on week three of the election campaign: didn't any of the parties vet the people who are running under their banners?

It seems like every day there's a new revelation about someone vying to be an MP getting caught up in some sort of scandal related to something they did in the past.

And now there's another one.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has been forced to dump a Winnipeg candidate named Lesley Hughes after she repeated a ridiculous rumour that first appeared the day after the September 11th attacks on New York City in 2001.

She suggested that Israeli intelligence had advance notice of the World Trade Centre massacre and warned "Israeli businesses" not to show up that day. Hughes issued a statement on Thursday, calling herself a "lifelong friend and supporter of the Jewish community in Winnipeg" and apologizing if her words had been misinterpreted.

But in a race where every statement counts, it was too much for the party, which is lagging behind the polls, and Dion was forced to dismiss her.

"The Liberal party's commitment to tolerance and multiculturalism is paramount," the leader notes in a statement. "I have reviewed the past comments of Lesley Hughes and it is clear they do not meet this standard. While I appreciate her apology, I cannot condone those sentiments in any way."

She's been replaced by another candidate.

Hughes has been left stunned by the turn of events, noting she's taught about the Holocaust at the University of Winnipeg, written plays about the historic genocide and authored a book about one of her community's most famous Jewish figures. She's angry about the ouster, telling one media outlet it was "theatre of the absurd."



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What may be most telling about this latest development is that we actually have enough examples of this to make a list. Here's a look at who else entered the election race and has since been eased out or deflected calls for a resignation. Click on the names to read more about what happened to each candidate.

Lesley Hughes
Party: Liberals
Where?: Winnipeg
Controversy: Blog posting surfaced repeating old canard about Jews knowing of the 911 attack 'in advance.'

Andrew McKeever
Party: NDP
Where?: Durham
Controversy: Comments about U.S. war resisters posted on his blog, including profanity and threatening some with violence.

Lee Richardson
Party: Conservatives
Where?: Calgary
Controversy: The riding incumbent suggested that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes.

Julian West
Party: NDP
Where?: Saanich, B.C.
Controversy: Forced to resign after admitting he'd gone skinny dipping 12 years ago at a retreat where children were present.

Chris Reid
Party: Conservatives
Where?: Toronto Centre
Controversy: Forced to quit the race over blog postings about natives, gays, women and gun ownership.

Gerry Ritz
Party: Conservative
Where?: North Battleford, Sask.
Controversy: His resignation was demanded - but not granted - after he was caught making jokes about the listeria crisis that claimed 18 lives.

Lawrence Cannon's Aide
Party: Conservatives
Where:? Ottawa
Controversy: Did not directly involve the candidate but an aide told native protestors they'd be granted a meeting only if they promised to show up 'sober.'

Kirk Tousaw
Party: NDP
Where?: Vancouver
Controversy: Forced to pull out of the race after an online video of him smoking marijuana surfaced online.

Dana Larsen
Party: NDP
Where?: Vancouver
Controversy: Pulled out of race after old tape of him hosting "Pot TV" came to light, featuring him smoking marijuana and taking LSD.

Simon Bedard

Party: Liberal

Where?: Quebec

Controversy: Forced to quit over comments he wrote about aboriginals in the Oka crisis.



Ricardo Lopez

Party: Liberal

Where?: Beauharnois-Salaberry, Quebec

Controversy: Left the race after comments he made about aboriginals.



Rosamond Luke

Party: Conservative

Where?: Halifax

Controversy: Forced to quit after reports surfaced about her criminal record. She claims she left because of 'work commitments.'

 

[2 Cdo]

Just another 9/11 conspiracy theorist nutter. :