Harper loses his cool

Harper enters whole new territories of shrill partisanship.

Harper is trying to make an issue out of an interview Dion had with CTV. Dion is really good generally in the interview format. The interviewer asks a complicated hypothetical question; Dion asks him to clarify; they joke around a bit, then start again. You can go watch the video, or look at Harper's over-the-top reaction. (It is a desperate Rovian attempt to distract voters from the issues)

But the only thing you are likely to remember about this by Sunday is the joke told about it in Brampton at the Liberal gathering on Friday night.

Why don't you try.

It could be a couple sentences long, but a one-liner would be preferable.

Here are the ingredients:
Harper's lack of concern for working families in tough times
Harper's pettiness
Harper's hyper-partisanship
Harper's lack of a platform
(22pages of pictures of yourself does not count, Steve)
Harper's doubtful judgement in spontaneous situations
Harper's history of distortions
Harper's negative attack ads
Harper's lack of vision

Extra points if you can also convey how you REALLY feel about Mike Duffy Live or bird poop.

If you live in a family that has a history of voting Liberal at any point since 1993, that's the joke you will hear repeated at Thanksgiving dinner.

The question remains who will deliver the joke. My bet is da little guy from Shawinigan.

Dion Could Be Our Next Prime Minister

Dion could be our next Prime Minister according to Stephen Harper. Yes, that is possible.

And I have every confidence that Dion would make a very good Prime Minister with an exceptionally strong cabinet. Since the debates, Dion has reached the voters that could make this happen. And he will be able to work well with the other parties. There is a shrewdness in Dion's negociating abilities that the media have not picked up on yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-NZqGGyREs



But I am not sure why Harper is advertising a Liberal government now.

My gut tells me this is yet another mistake (similar for example to his profound miscalculation about the "War on Terror" or calling this election etc. etc. etc.)

It is probably based on some polling data and a complex secret statistical formula hidden in the darkest depths of the Conservative War Room. One vote here, two votes there. Or maybe Harper is just winging it again. I am guessing that Harper believes the possibility of a Liberal government will make Canadians afraid maybe? Really? Outside of his base, I just don't see how this will be effective.

And Harper's real base is much less than was pretended. That is becoming more obvious since the LEADERSHIP fantasy has exploded.

I recall it being reported earlier in the campaign that Harper's support was very firm. But this cannot have been true and I don't think it is anymore true now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkbD7gn8WII



Yes, Dion could be our next Prime Minister.

French

English

Harper: Oops! I forgot to write a Platform

Harper is in his third election campaign, but he somehow forgot to write a coherent platform before the start of the campaign. That's not smart. There are a number of miscalculations on Harper's part that I think are going to come under increasing scrutiny in the remaining days of the campaign. Mistakes and blunders.

One of Harper's glaring weaknesses is his inablity to perform in the confrontational one-on-one interview format. Harper gets angry and brittle.

The debates were in a very similar format and that hurt him (especially in Quebec)

Compare and Contrast Dion/Harper Interviewed on RadioCanada.

Harper' s Interview

Dion's Interview

(try clicking the links twice; the second try seems to work or just go here)

Harper's body language is all wrong. At one point, in a defensive posture, Harper looks like he is trying to shove his shoulders into his ears. But that is not the major problem.

It is not because Harper has an accent. Harper's french is not good, but that is not the reason why he is doing so miserably in Quebec right now. Dion's english is highly accented too, but he is able to use english much more effectively than Harper. Listen to the interview when Bernard Derome asks Harper what he meant when he said that Canadians have become more conservative. The problem is not Harper's french (which is not good) but that he does not have an answer beyond the soundbite.

In general Harper demonstrates a lack of reflexion in all his answers. Dion excels in this format because it shows he has thought through the issues before and is only looking for the correct words to express his ideas. Under close questioning, Harper's ideas are absent beyond glib one-liners.

Derome is equally tough on both Dion and Harper (well maybe a little easier on Harper because of the language barrier). The funniest part is at the end of the Harper interview when Derome takes Harper to task over rumours (rumours intitiated by Conservatives) that a Conservative government would dismantle the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Harper totally flubs the answer.

The problem with Harper in Quebec is the issues. And he should have known this and planned for it a long time ago. Harper is on the wrong side of almost every issue and a smile won't cover that up. (Not that Harper even tries to smile)

The Conservatives are heading toward disaster in Quebec. Harper is to blame.

Stephen Harper is a BUNGLER!

There is more news of economic turmoil with governments around the world taking action to shield themselves against the worst, while Stephen Harper releases his platform to tackle Senate Reform. Senate Reform?

If Stephen Harper gets back into government, you are on your own because he will be very busy reopening the Constitution to tackle Senate reform. It's just that important to him.

Stephen Harper is a bungler.
And I think he is getting desperate.

--------------------------

Update: By contrast here is Stephane Dion: energized, confident and at ease talking about policy.

What the Liberals will do to address the economic crises in the first 30 days of forming a government. The immediate Plan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRnK8WugX-Y



-Speed up investments in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector to create an immediate economic stimulus
-Demand the recommendations of the major financial institutions and leading economists
-Coordinate the efforts of the provinces to protect Canada against the international crisis

Sounds pretty reasonable to me given the circumstances.

I am still not clear whether Stephen Harper believes that there is a problem.

A Gimmicky Conservative Platform

I think that it is becoming increasingly clear that Stephen Harper's perfomance in the leaders debate in english was awful (and in french just disastrous).

In the face of life-changing economic upheaval, Harper is preparing to do nothing.

And Canadians saw that in the debates.

If Harper manages to form a second government, you are on your own.

Tomorrow, the Conservatives bowing to public pressure will offer a face saving and belated policy platform. Like most Conservative policy announcements, it will be made to great fanfare. And like most Harper announcements, it will be thoroughly discredited within two or three days.

I suspect that the platform will be laundry list of tax loopholes that will render the Canadian tax system more arcane and difficult to navigate.

If the Conservatives want to lose the election definitively, they will talk about Senate reform and reopening the constistution.

What we won't get tomorrow is visionary policy.

It will be B.S. in front of a media-friendly backdrop.

Thousands at Anti-Harper Rally Today

Thousands (10 000+) of concerned citizens rallied to protest against the hard-right wing policies of the Harper governement today in Montreal.

Watch the news report here.

Harper is a threat to the Canada we want.

Effective Ads

Stephane Dion's performance during the Leaders Debates was excellent.

He speak the truth best in english and french. ;)

(It puts to rest that strange Harper talking point about Dion's proficiency in english. Good. In the tight linguistic game of a high-stakes televised Leaders debate, Dion articulated the Liberal plan precisely. I always viewed the slurs on Dion's english as a species of conservative bigot talk anyway. And a bit ironic considering Harper's obvious weakness in french. But I live in Quebec...)

Here are some ads that are out. The effect is cumulative and I think quite powerful. I got the full message after watching a few of them.

The ads are simple. And the talk is straight. Here is a selection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2E-Eq37qdw





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu6z-l8Um_Y





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5DZmpE6_AE





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lkNHUK9Jis





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRvSo3egncA





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SkffVIPh-M





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awN1WejijFw