At Home in Hespeler

closer to the NDP than the Conservatives.

How can this be true? you might ask. This is how…

To quote one of the top five political minds in the country: stick a fork in him.

for whom the poll tolls CBC, Gerry Nicholls, Liberals, Michael Ignatieff

Polls! Ignore them, I always say. The mistake too many people make is reading political machinations based on what the polls  say should be happening. Case in point: many prognosticators are today saying Michael Ignatieff is nuts top want an election – hasn’t he seen the polls?

The answer of course is, yes he’s seen the polls. He has seen the Liberal party tracking polls, and he has information that you or I don’t have. Ignore the Ipsos Reid poll from last week that says Conservatives 39, LIberals 28. Useless. Instead, note the performers in the political drama. Michael Ignatieff is screaming for an election, Stephen Harper and his cabinet are saying, “it’s no time for an election.” Do you really believe if their internal polls were saying Conservatives 39, Liberals 28 that Stephen Harper would be sounding so offended at the idea of an election. He’s not that good an actor, if Stephen Harper believed Ipsos Reid, he’d be downright giddy today.

Now maybe Ignatieff has Joe Clarkian political instincts, maybe, just maybe, he’s that politically naive. And maybe he’s brilliant, and this is a gambit to force the NDP, at 14% in the Ipsos Reid, to back the Conservatives, to force them to take the flack that the Liberals have taken the last two years.  If that’s what this is, and the NDP bites and backs the Conservatives, this is a very good move for Ignatieff.

Does either option really sound right. Does Ignatieff strike you as that dumb? Or has he demonstrated that much political savvy before? More likely, based on Ignatieff’s speech, Harpers response, and even Jack Layton’s softening of his stance against the Conservatives (and who will be fighting Ignatieff’s Liberals for every vote more so than the Conservatives), that the real polls, the inside polls, are saying something much different than Ipsos Reid.

Fall Election Election '09, Michael Ignatieff, Stephen Harper

In his “showdown” (wasn’t it showdown who sang, “you p*ss me off, you f*&#in’ jerk, you get on my nerves”? That song makes a lot more sense now.) with Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff seems to have let slip his true nature: politician? nope; professor? nope; patriot? nope; Michael Ignatieff, it turns out, is all bureaucrat.

Back in May, Ignatieff was claiming EI must be fixed immediately, in order to help those who are losing their jobs now. So what did he settle on for a fix? A six-person panel, that will consider changes to EI. And if that doesn’t work, no doubt a sternly worded letter will follow.

How this helps people losing their jobs now, it seems unclear. Ignatieff’s demand was that the government should help people now, during the bad economy. The committee, however, will give advice on how to proceed then, when many experts believe the economy will be on the up-tick.  It takes the cold beatless heart of a true bureaucrat to square that circle, a heart that apparently Ignatieff possesses.

pimply minions of bureaucracy bureaucrat, EI, Employment Insurance, Michael Ignatieff, Showdown, Stephen Harper, The Rodeo Song

The Conservative Party took a different tack against Michael Ignatieff than Stéphane Dion.With Dion, they attacked right away, not giving him a chance to get comfortable in his job and in the process, defined him before he could define himself.

With Michael Ignatieff, they seemed to be holding back, let Ignatieff define himself. When they finally released some negative ads yesterday, some of the Tory faithful said, at last. But the original strategy was, in my opinion, effective. The more Canadians see Ignatieff, the less they will like him. Let the Canadian people begin to have their doubts, save your response until an election, then release it all at once: a little shock and awe politics.  That’s what I thought they were doing, and that’s what I thought would be effective.

Then yesterday, the Conservatives released this ad:

Know what I got out of this ad: Tory Times are Tough Times. Who approved an ad that had the central message from The Liberals negative ads running right through the middle of it? And who puts out a negative attack ad accusing the other guy of using negative attack ads?

But even after those blunders, what is the main theme of this ad? Ignatieff wasn’t in Canada all those years. For some people, me included, that could be construed as a positive.  A little international man about town would be a nice change from the base provincialism that’s grinding the gears off so much in this country.  And it sure beats the professional politicians that are running the country into the ground now.

There’s a fair amount to dislike about Michael Ignatieff, very little substance to his politics among them.  There was not one of those reasons on display for this ad, and that’s why it’s simply not good enough.

h/t Gerry

Politicians acting badly attack ads, Canada, Conservative, Liberal, Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion, Tory Times are Tough Times

Back in December, when people where throwing money around without thought and calling it stimulus, I made a simple recommendation. You want stimulus that positively affects the auto industry? Reform EI, said I.  I even offered it as proof why Stephen Harper wants me in the Senate (Did Duffy warn you of this one Mr. PM?)

And now? Michael Ignatieff is all Chicken Little, running around yelling, “an election is coming, and election is coming,” unless of course you do what that Hespeler guy wrote. As well, possible-regular reader Christine Elliot is threatening that if a) she wins the PC leadership, b) she wins the general election, c) the feds don’t reform EI to her liking, she will, presuming she remembers making this threat and is the type of politician who keeps such promises, pull Ontario out of the federal EI system.

Prime Minister Harper, such problems, such headaches for yourself and your government. And they could have been avoided if only you had asked yourself, what would Hespeler write?

What Would Hespeler Write Brian Gardiner for Senate, Chicken Little, Christine Elliot, EI Reform, election, June Election, Michael Ignatieff, Mike Duffy, Senate, Stephen Harper