Phendrana Drifts

Three days in, and we already get to catalog the major errors of the campaign so far.

First, as Quynn so eloquently already pointed out, and Elaine had the misfortune of hearing me complain about, it is, despite the best efforts of the Liberals, not time for us to move on past the Sponsorship scandal. If John A. had to face electoral music over scandal, sure as heck these crooks should at least have to defend themselves at a ballot box. It is not time to get past this. It is the time to question our political leadership over how they handle our money.

Second, you know bringing up same sex marriage the way he did was not a wise move on Harper's part. On the first day. I thought the Conservative message for the first 48 hours was brilliant, minus the stupid answer the do you love Canada question. Change. A great word for this campaign. And the Conservatives were spinning that word out there so well. Not James Carville good, but I for one was impressed at the end of the first day how good the Conservatives were at getting that message out there. And then Harper decides to talk about same sex marriage as the first post-change message out there. Oops. It genuinely seems that the change he most want to implement is more discrimination against the sodomites. Which is not a good message to gain seats in BC and Ontario. Or Quebec, which the Conservatives may have written off, but they shouldn't. How I miss Brian Mulroney.

Speaking of him, mistake 2.5 - the GST. Perhaps in the world of campaign messaging this plays well, but in my opinion, a consumption tax is a good thing for Canada. Harper can say what he likes, but I will grudging agree with Martin, I'd rather see income tax cuts, particularly those focused on the lower and middle income households than cutting a consumption tax. I heard a Conservative strategist discussing the GST cut on Newsworld today and her arguments were pathetic - Canadians will see this tax cut everytime they shop, unlike a income tax cut that is hidden. I hate to break to you, I notice every dime I pay in income tax. I'm not stupid, and the suggestion that I would want a 1% GST tax cut than an income tax cut because it is more visible is pathetic. Of course, laying my cards on the table, I like the GST. Not that I want a provincial sales tax, because I don't. But the GST is a price I'm willing to pay.

Mistake three: what is Gilles Duceppe wearing?

Fourth, to provide balance I was going think of where Jack Layton had screwed up this week. Then I thought, I'm not sure he has. I mean to be sure it isn't perfect, the $4 billion "restoration" of transfer funds for post-secondary has faults, so does, well being Jack Layton. But then I thought of it - he hasn't made the news yet. The biggest stories of the campaign thus far have not been driven by the NDP at all. In fact, they have been mostly Conservative stories: same-sex marriage, independent prosecutor and today's GST promise. Interesting.

Twitter Updates

0 Comments: