Stephen Harper...moving on

[cowman]

Right after the Conservatives lost the election, Stephen Harper said he was going to take the summer to consider his future in politics.
Now all the critics jumped all over this and said Harper was crazy or something! But was he?
Lets face it no way the Liberals should have ever got back in! They were a bunch of outright thieves and completely incompetent! Yes, rural Ontario voted in a few Conservatives but nothing in Quebec and hardly any in the Maritimes. The fact is next time around the Liberals will probably be back in a majority? And in the meantime we get the NDP/Liberal gong show!
Now if you are Stephen Harper what do you do? Well you can trot down to Ottawa and play the game and probably have quite a few years accomplishing nothing while living the life of Riley!
Or he can realize that the only place he can really turn is back to where people support his vision and want meaningful change?
And where is that? Alberta? Saskatchewan? Maybe a large portion of BC and Manitoba?
Don't forget what Stephen Harper was pushing before he tried this last ditch attempt to save Canada? Firewalls around the west. Urging the government of Alberta to take back their powers from the feds? Ralph obviously won't do it!
What would happen if Harper decided to quit federal politics and stated very clearly that the present system will never work?
What would happen if he came back and led a new party that demanded a new deal for Alberta? Do you think he might get some support?
There is a feeling of discontent in Alberta with the Klein government and how they have given away our birthright to "Canada". The time is right for an Alberta statesman to step up to the plate! Could it be Harper?

[rusty1]

Your right cowman - there's more power to change things in Provincial politics than in Fed. Remember Mulrony with his majority couldn't change the constition.
however our prov. concervatives have always sold out our birthright.
We need to get some "cowsence" into govt.

[whiteface]

Is that why you're not likeing Ralph these days cowman? Giving us all away to the feds? I'm just so surprised by your comments, it didn't sound to me like you were too happy with any of them.

[dalek]

This election was ripe for the Conservatives and Harper blew it. I've heard countless people here say they liked their local candidate and the party but couldn't vote Harper into office. The conservatives needed somebody who would crack the whip when people like Cheryl Gallant started mouthing off about things that went against policy, Harper came off as being at least as wishy-washy as Martin.

[cakadu]

I'm kind of curious about this - is it just possible that people saw that the "new" conservative party was just the old Reform/Alliance dressed up in tory blue?

This may have been more evident as the election campaign wore on and as dalek has pointed out - some of the comments couldn't be kept in check?

I might have voted for a conservative candidate in my riding, but there is no way I would have voted for the reform/ conservative candidate.

[cowman]

Well Linda, I guess you are definitely out of touch with the over 70% of the people in your riding who did vote for him?
I suspect Stephen Harper will never get elected in Eastern Canada. He is tainted(?) by Reform and being too strongly associated with Alberta.
Which in my opinion is a good thing as it might finally wake up the people in the west that hey if you aren't a rich lawyer from Quebec, then please don't apply?
The next several months/years of the NDP/Liberal gong show should, hopefully,
show once and for all that the west just can't win in this system. Want some kind of solution to the BSE crisis? Well I doubt it with these eastern based clowns running the show?
I mean why should they care one whit? No one voted for them out here...and a lot of Rural ridings in Ontario never voted for them either! Now do you think they might reward us for that?

[rsomer]

I think the most interesting thing about this election was the polls being so wrong. Before the election the media and the polls had the Liberals and Conservatives running neck and neck with some predicting a Conservative minority. The polls that these brave predictions were based on were said to be accurate within 3% points 19 times out of 20. After the election it was obvious the polls were wrong everywhere especially in Ontario but even in Quebec where the Liberals got more seats than predicted. After the election is certainly looks like Harper was not ever even in the running and that polling results were being used by the media to hype the election and boost ratings. It is very possible the polls were being used to sway the voters rather than provide an accurate indication of the public mood.

This election was notable because for the first time election results were broadcast across the country as they came in. I have not heard anything in the media about this affecting how people voted although the early voting results from eastern Canada predicted the Liberals were doing better than the polls suggested.

[cakadu]

Doesn't hurt my feelings one bit cowman - we're all allowed to vote as we see fit and I made my choice and can live with it.

I don't think having the results broadcast did much of anything to sway voter preferences. All we did was find out election results a little earlier - not that it made any huge difference.

I'm not so sure that one can say that you need to be a rich lawyer from the east in order to win the day. Look at Diefenbaker. We need someone credible to run.

Last leader from the West was "Joe who" and that was 25 years ago. Surely to goodness we have more people that would be capable of going forward?

Unfortunately for the Reform, they are dogged by too much bad from the past and if they didn't do it this time, I don't think they ever will. Mind you, I've never understood how the Bloc can be a national party when they don't run candidates outside of Quebec and their main aim is to take them out of Canada. Wouldn't there have been a day when that would have gotten them hung for treason?

[les]

hey Cowman Maybe ralph should run

[cowman]

Well I doubt Ralph would sell very well down east...his old comments of "eastern bums and creeps" might just come back to haunt him?
Remember also Ralph has been branded as the "boogeyman" who is going to destroy Medi-care? He stands as much of a chance as a snowball in Hell?
What is so scary about Stephen Harper? So scary that no one east of Toronto would vote for him? I just don't get it.
Consider the man...not all the media hype? He is a dedicated family man. He is not a radical nutcase. Unless you consider a person who says "hey, wait a minute something isn't working here! Canada has become a weird place where everything we(or at least I did) ever believed in is way out of wack!"
Personally I would consider Harper a very moderate person? Or am I somehow really wrong here? Do I need to be sent to a "re-education center for politically correct thinking"?