I recently posted a piece I did for CCPA’s The Monitor recommending five readings on big change. Here I will try to distill some of what I gleaned about what it might take. Know the barriers: Big change is hard so it makes good sense to know the obstacles and
Continue readingTag: framing
CuriosityCat: A vote for FPTP is a vote for legalized theft
Voters in BC are being given the chance to vote for a dramatic change in the way in which their representatives in the provincial government are chosen, as this article shows: David Eby said the referendum would be conducted by mail-in ballot, with the campaign to begin July 1 and
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Brexit: How’s this for framing?
Ouch! This is going to hurt PM May’s government, and the opposition framing of the issue is brilliant: Davis himself struck an emollient tone on Thursday, seeking to reassure MPs about the scope of the so-called Henry VIII powers, which will allow ministers to make changes to any laws necessary
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Trump: The asymmetric revolutionary warrior
Asymmetric Beaver Why are Americans reeling in dismay over the state of politics? Why is the American media locked into total disbelief every day? What has happened? A revolution. Donald Trump is President, the result of a campaign that was totally different from any other; and is governing in a
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why UK’s PM May won’t last 3 months
The UK election was a disaster for Theresa May. She wanted a strong majority (40+ seats) to allow her to cope with a handful or more of dissenting Tory MPs in the House, and secondarily (and a far less important reason) to send a message to the EU that the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: UK June 8 Election and How Framing might destroy PM May
Remember Don’t think of an elephant? Does the name George Lakoff ring a bell? Does the concept of framing a debate in political discourse remind you of something? If your answer is Yes, step this way and consider the article I quote below. If your answer is No, then step
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Debates: Who won, who lost, and why
Trudeau: The Fighter Let’s start with the view of how Tom Mulcair behaved in the Munk foreign policy debate, from Gerald Caplan: But if I remove my mask of detachment, I must report that it was not at all the night the NDP needed to recover its faded lead. But
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Debates: Who won, who lost, and why
Trudeau: The Fighter |
Let’s start with the view of how Tom Mulcair behaved in the Munk foreign policy debate, from Gerald Caplan:
But if I remove my mask of detachment, I must report that it was not at all the night the NDP needed to recover its faded lead. But there’s still three weeks left – a lifetime in politics. We have the most polarizing and, yes, dangerous, government in Canadian history and we have the NDP positioned to take advantage of it. Yet the NDP focuses its attacks far more on Mr. Trudeau and gives the government almost a free pass. A huge mistake, in my view. And not too late to change, by any means. It ain’t over till it’s over, in baseball or politics.
Each of his debates have proved disappointing, when they were supposed to seal his deal with the electorate. I fear the deal is almost becoming null and void.
This time, there was political blood in it.
Then, close on his heels, came Mulcair.
And Trudeau? Most thought it would be a victory for him if he did not fall flat on his face while walking to the podium; once there, if he did not collapse like a squeaky and ill-tied birthday balloon; and during the one-on-one segments, if he could snatch a small portion of the air time away from the two debatemeisters.
Trudeau has the luck of being underestimated, like Jean Chrétien was, and the intelligence to turn to experienced people the way Pierre Trudeau and Lester B. Pearson did. Perhaps like all Liberals, there is the will to win in his blood. Given his family pedigree, perhaps the will to win is not only powerful but predestined. Yet if he achieves victory, it will not be just because of his last name, but because he works hard, performs well, knows his weaknesses, and plays to his strengths.
Speaking to the Globe and Mail’s editorial board on Wednesday, Mr. Mulroney said he believes Mr. Trudeau is a strong candidate who shouldn’t be underestimated. “He’s a fine young man, he’s going to do well,” he said. “And I’ll tell you: People who underestimate him, they do so at their own peril.”
He said he considered Mr. Trudeau’s father to be a “very tough, able man,” adding, “You know, the apple sometimes doesn’t fall far from the tree. He certainly has some of the grit of his dad, and he’s obviously got, as well, he obviously has some of the qualities required to win an election.”
“Let’s be very clear. My fists will be up. I am a boxer,” he said.
CuriosityCat: Is an anti-Orange Wave rising in Quebec?
As the 1980s gave way to the 1990s and the defeats kept coming, I became ever more convinced that there were crucial bits of a governing coalition missing for Labour. Where was our business support? Where were our links into the self-employed? Above all, where were the aspirant people, the ones doing well but who wanted to do better; the ones at the bottom who had dreams of the top? … Where were those people in our ranks? Nowhere, I concluded…But it seemed that the party and the voters were in two different places, and so the party had to shift against its will. My own feeling, however, was: the voters are right and we should change not because we have to, but because we want to. It may sound a subtle difference, but it is fundamental.
Clause IV was hallowed text repeated on every occasion by those on the left who wanted no truck with compromise or the fact that modern thinking had left its words intellectually redundant and politically calamitous. Among other things, it called for “the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.” … At a certain level, it meant a lot and the meaning was bad. Changing it was not a superficial thing; it implied a significant, deep and lasting change in the way the party thought, worked and would govern.
I always remember him saying, “Don’t forget: communication is fifty per cent of the battle in the information age. Say it once, say it twice and keep on saying it, and when you’ve finished, you’ll know you’ve still not said it enough.”
The pathfinder was already switched on: growth was the key; investment, not tax cuts; redistribute, but carefully and not touching income tax; keep the middle class onside, but where growth and redistribution allowed, focus on the poorest; then, in time, you could balance tax cuts and spending.
CuriosityCat: Is an anti-Orange Wave rising in Quebec?
Abacus has a poll out on September 27 that has very bad news for Mulcair’s NDP. The NDP support in Quebec, its heartland, has plunged over the past week, dropping like a stone, while the other parties are ticking upwards: And this anti-Orange Wave has dragged the NDP down nationally
Continue readingCuriosityCat: If the “hole” in the Liberal 4-year Plan is not $6.5 billion, then explain how big it is
The presentation of the Liberal plan leaves something to be desired, with the Conservatives blethering about a $6.5 billion hole that will be filled with tax increases on the middle class and on seniors, and the NDP just going on about everything in general. Here’s one explanation in Macleans of
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Quick summary of the Liberal 4-year Plan
So what is in the Liberal spending plan? You can find the plan itself at this site. The plan is well-written, with a clear explanation of the principles that underlie it, a good layout of the major expenditure and revenue items, and a comparison of the different governance values that
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Biggest Wedge Issue in the 2015 Canadian election campaign
When Canadians reflect on the success of the Liberal Party in gaining power in the October 19 election, many will not know how important one issue was in gaining that victory. Nor will many Canadians know who was the mastermind behind that winning issue. Thanks to one of the masterful
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Lynton Crosby: Canada, he’s not here for you
Lynton Crosby, The Wizard of Oz: Not here for you He’s only here for one man: Stephen Harper, as cloned by the Wizard of Oz
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Battleground Ontario is moving into Liberal camp says Nanos
The kiss of death? The latest Nanos poll for CTV shows a three way split between the LPC, CPC and NDP. However, the Liberal grip on their heartland of Atlantic Canada remains firm; while the NDP has a clear majority in Quebec. The key battleground is now the biggest province,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Harper’s ‘New’ Conservatives Slow-Motion Implosion
When even Conservative supporters in the media start musing with friends about the possibility of a collapse in the Harper Conservative Party vote on October 19, you know that the drip-drip-drip of wet deposits from chickens coming home to roost is attracting attention: Talking to a Liberal friend Wednesday evening,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau, the King of Growth, leads with honesty
Mulcair took a dangerous step with his pledge not to go into deficit: Despite the low price of oil and Monday’s tumultuous day on the markets, Mulcair said he does not foresee having to go into the red. “We’re of course going to finish the fiscal year on Mr. Harper’s
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Trump: Finally, someone gets it
Let loose the reptiles Here’s what I think is a really really good analysis of Trumpmania, from the August 22 New York Times: But the breadth of Mr. Trump’s coalitionis surprising at a time of religious, ideological and geographic divisions in the Republican Party. It suggests he has the potential
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Look for Ms Clean to replace Harper as Leader of the Opposition on October 20
Dianne Watts, Leader of the Opposition? With poll after poll showing the most likely election result in our federal election on October 19 will be a majority of seats held by the opposition parties, the NDP and LPC, the chances of Stephen Harper remaining as prime minister are slim to
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Duffy scandal: The differences between the Duffy Trial and the Harper (Governance) Public Trial
PM Stephen Harper, the leader of the “Harper Government”, is on trial by the public for the manner in which he governed his Prime Minister’s Office (the PMO), while senator Duffy is facing 31 charges in his criminal trial. That there are two trials is undeniable, despite the PM’s attempt
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