Blue Like You

Given that for a good portion of that debate Stephen Harper was trying to talk while one or more were constantly interrupting or making snide comments, I was yelling at the TV for the moderator to do his job and tell them to shut up.

For some reason he didn’t???????

I think the picture of the group last night on the front page of “The Star” is a disgrace and we must write, phone and voice our opposition to it. Alberta Girl wrote in another blog - how distasteful it was - Mr. Harper walking away from the group. At that point, I had written Tonya McCharles, but I picked up the phone, called the newsroom - 416-869-4300 and told them, how inappropriate I felt that picture was. I watched the entire debate, I knew when that pictue was taken, Stephen Harper was there with the group, and the group was about to break up from the photo op - and he was walking away. Some people just look at the pictures, do not read the article, and I thought and told them it should be changed… Let’s get on it - bombard them with calls, and emails…

Well it appears that email address doesn’t work? Funny huh.

Try city@thestar.ca

Joanne, loved your comment about Kinsella’s ‘hockey analogy’ … my thoughts exactly. Harper was definitely the ‘first star’ last night.

Also, anyone who has gone to a “live” hockey game has undoubtedly had the misfortune to have some loud, mis-informed, vulgar, disrespectful, motor-mouth, sitting next too or behind them. This fine art was demonstrated to a tee, by Ms. May the last two nights.

As for the picture in today’s Star … I find it totally disgusting, but what else should we expect from that hopeless Rag. Even though it will fall on deaf ears, I too will email, and probably phone, their newsroom to voice my feelings. Talk about ‘low blows’.

Here’s what I posted at SDA wrt the Star’s obvious insult to PMSH and that silly picture.Media bias is getting sooo tired.
Let’s have fun with that picture:

-Prime Minister Harper going against the flow, stands out in the crowd, shows his backbone.

-While Steven Harper turns to the photographer, the other members of the group turn to face May’s auntie getting a picture for the album.

-The crowd working behind Harper’s back feel safety in numbers. They know that alone they are uselss.

Any more?

This whole thing about big oil by Duceppe and Layton is getting pathetic.
Note to Jack and Gilles:

Next to funeral homes, oil is probably the safest business to be in. People will continue to die, and people will continue to need to heat their homes, farms, cars and trucks. The oil industry IS the reason Canada will be able to ride out a global slowdown.

Thanks Bluetech. Unfortunately, though I am following this election closely, I didn’t know that and therein is the problem. It needs to be publicized so that more people know that. Not doing so makes it look like their is something to hide. Put it out there visibly so that everyone knows it is there.

“The CPC policy is on the web…”

can you direct me?

Our Prime Minister insulted by the Toronto Star? Who’d a thunk!!!

reminder to anyone that is too busy to vote that the advanced polls open today at noon. It would be nice to have a Saturday outing to the polling booth too.

Couldn’t find link either, but here is whole article:

THE FEDERAL ELECTION: PREPARATION
National News
Dion’s strategy: ‘Make it people, not dollars’; Focus on economy in human terms seen as key to Liberal success in debates
JANE TABER
SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER
663 words
3 October 2008
The Globe and Mail
A8
English
2008 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Stéphane Dion’s strategy for last night’s crucial debate was to focus on people rather than concepts, on the economy rather than his Green Shift, and on his direct appeal to the Greens and NDP to join him to defeat Stephen Harper.

The Liberal Leader’s team advised him to build on what he had accomplished in Wednesday night’s French-language debate, especially on the economy. “Go hard,” they said, on the Conservative Leader’s “laissez-faire” management of the economy in these tough times.

They also told him to establish himself as the only alternative to Mr. Harper as prime minister and sell the Liberal Party as the party of the centre on economic growth and fiscal discipline, as well as on social justice and helping people in need.

“[He had] to do a lot of what he did [Wednesday night], but do it in a way that is understandable,” said a senior Liberal strategist, who was close to the debate preparation. “Keep the message economic, but not in terms of the economy, but in terms of what is important to people, … their savings, their home values, their children’s education, that type of thing. Make it people, not dollars.”

Part of Mr. Dion’s success came from the amount of preparation he did. Over the past few weeks he has been practising with a French team and an English team, both supervised by his chief of staff, Johanne Sénécal. His French team was Senators Serge Joyal and Francis Fox and his former senior adviser Robert Asselin. Preparing him for last night’s English-language debate were three of Paul Martin’s former strategists: Tim Murphy, Elly Alboim and Scott Reid.

The teams put together two books on issues – one in French and one in English – that Mr. Dion read over the last several weeks. Then he and the two teams exchanged views on strategy and possible answers.

This was followed by mock debates, in which Mr. Dion was put through his paces in both languages. These debates were taped, reviewed and analyzed. He was told what he had done well at and what he should improve.

His strategists told him he needed to show a more human and compassionate side. The Tory negative ads in Quebec mock him as the nerdy professor, an image that he had an opportunity to change in the debates.

“Mr. Dion was well-received [Wednesday night] because he succeeded in connecting with people, communicating his priorities and demonstrating that he will act where Mr. Harper will not,” said Mr. Reid, noting that Mr. Harper had the advantage last night because the debate was in English.

Mr. Dion’s announcement at the beginning of the French debate of his 30-day action plan to stimulate the economy was aimed at differentiating himself from Mr. Harper on the role of government to protect jobs and savings, according to Liberal debate strategists.

“He’s got to win both debates,” said one of his senior strategists, noting that a win in the French debate is good, but “it’s not going to change the entire political landscape.”

Doing well in a debate can have an impact on a campaign. Conservative leader Brian Mulroney’s performance in the 1984 debate against Liberal leader John Turner was seen as a turning point: “You had an option, sir,” he said, referring to Mr. Turner’s agreement to a large number of patronage appointments by the departing Pierre Trudeau. “We’ve seen debates being very, very important,” said the senior strategist. “It’s a time when everybody is on display. It’s like a beauty contest. They’re all walking down the runway. You get to choose from the five the one you like. It’s good comparative shopping.”

Document GLOB000020081003e4a30002d

Thanks, Warren. And sorry about the comment from Bob. It has been severely edited. Cheers.

Why should the PM put his platform out before the debates for the opposition and media to blast.
He has been making many announcements but it is too bad there are many possible voters who just don’t have the fortitude to go cast a ballot. To MH, above, vote and give the party your 1.75.
Just announced in NB, a 2000.00 payout to anyone completing a Red Seal apprentice program, in conjunction with other tax incentives for those going into the trades, implemented last year.

” … Mr. Reid, noting that Mr. Harper had the advantage last night because the debate was in English …”

Wouldn’t that logic also apply to the French debate? I.e. not only was PM Harper the target of four opponents, but also the debate was not in HIS mother tongue; ergo PM Harper didn’t do as well in the French debate.

As for the Star picture, I like what Bluetech said @ October 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 am. I’m not as creative as Bluetech, though, so i can’t add to that list.

51 billion dollars of money goes to the federal government, funny liberals have never mentioned that.
When cost of oil goes up, expenses also go up to extract it. No windfall profits.
Ontario gets -102 billion dollars-
Quebec gets 8 billion dollars
These figures based on 2005, and oil has gone up since then so will those figures.
What will Ont do without that 102 billion dollars, or Quebec without that 8 billion dollars.
But Quebec will give that money up for the sake of meat dresses.
2.5 million jobs in 20 years, in Canada from Alberta.
Too bad no one asked these questions in either debate.
Subsidies- capital cost allowance, which all businesses get.
Can’t put finger on any subsidy, it is a false stmt by opposition.
Greenshift has increased capital cost allowances for other industries.
The NDP and Greens want to shut this money off.

The next time Layton or Dion bash the oil sector and criticize the PM for the lost jobs in the auto sector, someone might want to point out those vehicles being built in the auto sector run on that “Big Oil” gas and diesel. Not to mention the lubricants used throughout the car.

hey paulstuff - what do you make of the just released Nanos poll that sees Dion UP into the 30s and Harper down tracking?

What’s with that and what should we read into it, anything at all?

Also, who is in charge of setting up the debates and is it at all possible that it was set-up as it was to purposely make Harper look bad?

I just hope that with Dion’s numbers up that Harper’s got lots left in the tank to fight back with, whether it be ads, more announcements, or getting Loreen to an interview. I wonder why he doesn’t use her more. She’s a great part of his attraction to ordinary Canadians in my opinion.

Someone somewhere else mentioned that it may have been in really bad taste for Layton to have commented on the way folks dress or their personality on national tv. Tacky and I have news for Jack….the mustach makes him look sinister. He reminds me of an actor but I can’t put the name to the guy I’m thinking of.

not who I was thinking of Mary but that works!

What really bothers me about the Nanos poll is that how does Dion lose the English language debate and shoot up in the polls? Sympathy votes, or are Canadians really as stupid as May suggested?

There’s something severely wharped in all of this.

In listening to some financial experts on the radio just now they’re saying that Harper’s stance on the economy is exactly right, that no one, I mean NO ONE could have a plan in place based on what’s going on right now because it’s so fluid. Make a plan or a move in the wrong direction and it could be horrible.

Sol, I think the Nanos poll reflects the French debate and the glowing comments about Dion yesterday. Apart from those of us who are lucky enough to live out on the West Coast, the English debate likely was not over when Nanos did his polling. Look for the impact in tomorrow’s numbers.

Mary T, good analysis of CCA. The oil patch also gets CEE at 100%, for exploration expenses, CDE at 40%, for development expenses, and COGPE at about 15% for general production expenses. These three work just like CCA, and incidentally are available also to the mining industry. If you think CEE at 100% excessive, I should point out that most good oil companies have a success rate of +/- 20% on new exploration. In other words, 80% of the time, they drill dry holes, which can get through your capital real quick.

A few comments on the Nanos poll:

1. Nanos has consistently shown a drop around the weekends and then things go back to the normal spread.

2. Dion got a bounce from the French debate, as will Harper from the english debate.

3. The Nanos number of 35% is around the range Conservative’s have held since the start of the election, 35%-39%, basically within the margin of error.

4. Not only will Harper’s performance give him a bounce in the polls, Layton’s comments about abstaining will also affect some voters over to the NDP who were voting Liberal.

5. The platform release on Tuesday will also put the spotlight on Harper, with promises and policy Canadian’s will relate to.

As for May, Layton, Duceppe, and Dion’s bravado about Harper not having a platform, it’s already out there. The daily policy announcements make up the platform. Perhaps if they had of thought of taking notes.

By the way, we’ve seen the daily smears since the election started against the Conservative’s. Dion and the Liberal’s might want to put on some protective gear for a few things coming their way next week.

The strange thing about any debate is how much clearer your mind feels the morning after. Stephen Harper did win for keeping his calm and talking about policy. He came across as a really nice guy and seemed more human than anyone else at that table. It’s mainly because the others were too busy screaming about stupid stuff. Harper was the only one talking about stuff I care about, talking about helping people like me. Layton was really nasty and ticked me off; he was almost as bad as Elizabeth May. Big contrast to last night when he seemed calm and relaxed. Maybe the translation softened him. Anyway I am mad at Layton again. He tends to do stuff that makes me start to warm to him and then he really, really makes me mad and it’s back to square one. Layton can be a nice person when he wants to be but when he doesn’t want to be look out. He certainly still has the “used car salesman” vibe that makes me wary. If it’s possible he has too much charisma… he overdoes it. Less would be more for him. Still, he did get Dion good with the 43 chances line. Harper got everyone when he pointed out he’s the only one who actually uses our health care system (made Layton look like a hypocrite… which I guess he is). Duceppe was much better last night because he was relaxed: he figured no one in Quebec was watching (Expect Montreal but they’re Anglophones so he doesn’t care). His “three of you know you won’t be PM” line was funny. Dion sucked; I have no idea what he was saying all night; all I could make out was “Bush.” That and I swear he sounds like the result of a union between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kermit the frog. Kermit’s voice with Arnold’s inflections.

Here is the weird thing. Almost across the board the media is being fair. They are accurately depicting what happened and generally doing their jobs. Huh? What happened?

Anyone one watch MDL? I got the impression the Duff didn’t put too much credence into that latest NANOS poll.

The fear of a conservative majority is something I still don’t understand. However, maybe polls showing it wont happen will let people vote for them, knowing it will lead to just a minority. There is no way Dion or Layton would get a minority or majority, so they may vote Harper to give him an increased minority, and it might backfire and end up with a majority. The only time I hear of strategic voting it is only going to happen if a majority is evident. Without that, that tatic might disappear.

Advance Polls in our community (Comox Valley) mid Vancouver Island have surpassed expectations with lineups of 1 - 1 1/2 hrs to get into the polling booth. I was told the lineups began approx one hour prior to polling station opening and have continued all day. We stood in line for 1 1/2 hrs. If our polling station is any indication, there are alot of decided voters out there and they are casting their votes.

Good point Alberta Girl. ‘Gotcha’ politics is not resonating with the average voter, at least not with my circle of friends and family. In fact, the ‘gotcha’ strategy is beginning to irritate some people who see it as an afront to their intelligence. Most people I know are decided voters and can see through the political games and MSM gamemanship.

If you know anyone voting Liberal, show them this:

http://www.lufa.ca/news/news_item.asp?NewsID=5399

Sounds like advance polls are very busy judging from the comments here. I’m going to take that as a hopeful sign.

Still voting for Gary Lunn …WCT reports

Ah, thanks for keeping us posted, WCT!

Fun challenge paulstuff. I think Joann should have this as Saturdays post.She’s probably tucked in right now, and I’m too tired to check the Lib list.

Manjana!

Fun challenge paulstuff. I think Joann should have this as Saturdays post

Not a bad idea, but I’m not so sure it’s that close at this point. Some polls are showing the Conservatives losing ground.

However, Paul’s question is a fun one. Let’s start off with who Harper wouldn’t accept? The name Garth Turner springs to mind…

which Liberal would cross the floor?

This is a trick question isn’t it Paul? Lemmings as we know them aren’t independent thinkers and likely unless they filed over to the winning side in groups I’m pretty sure it’s the law of lemming land to not stand out or do anything to draw attention away from the cliff.

Although, any Liberal who has come out as against the whole Green Shift idea might temped to cross-over like Boshcoff(the guy from the north who has ex-provincial Tories working in his constit. office). Also, perhaps any Newfoundland MPs who are against the bullying style of Williams and see the gift the conservatives have given their province and are grateful instead of pompous about their newly found fortunes.

I also wonder if a Harper majority will see some provincial Conservatives fly the John Tory coop and work nationally in some capacity?