Yesterday I told you that the mood in the Con War Room couldn't be grimmer, and that the mood on their bus couldn't be more toxic. And that many were blaming Jenni Byrne.
Well now Byrne has been kicked off the bus and sent back to Ottawa.
One of Stephen Harper's closest advisers is being sent back to Ottawa after a series of missteps knocked the Conservative leader's re-election bid off message, CBC News has learned.
Sources tell CBC News she is bearing the brunt of Harper's anger over this week's decision to boot two candidates who made it through the party's screening process, which she was supposed to oversee.
And the blame game has begun.
The blame game has begun in earnest among some senior Conservatives, as interpersonal rivalries bubble away below the surface and longtime stalwarts worry about the state of the campaign.
And although Harper is plodding on, and as usual blaming others, it's starting to look like a mutiny.
One Conservative went so far as to call it "open mutiny," saying many Tories are simply not pitching in to help with the campaign out of disenchantment.
With many Cons finally starting to realize that Harper is the problem.
"It's down to the bunker," said another, noting Harper has made the circle of advisers around him even tighter than previous elections.
And that he is leading his party to disaster.
And now that I have seen that strange beaten look in his eyes...
And now that he's finally admitted that he's not perfect. In this interview with Peter Mansbridge.
I am who I am. Canadians know me. I'm not perfect but ah you know, I'm dedicated to my country, I love my country. I think I've done as good a job as I can do and I lead a great team of people.
And in this new Con ad...
I have to wonder whether Paul Wells, who has always been one of his biggest boosters, is right.
And that Stephen Harper may finally be realizing that his time is over.
Stephen Harper is having a ball out there on the road, loose and cheerful, and it’s all a bit jarring, because there is no poll so far that suggests he can hang onto a Conservative majority in the House of Commons after Oct. 19. Most polls suggest he is not on track to win this thing in any way.
Maybe Harper knows something we don’t. Maybe he can’t see the gathering clouds. Or maybe the Conservative leader knows what we know—that this may be his last hurrah—and he’s okay with that.
Maybe Harper knows he is probably going to lose this election. Maybe he has made his peace.
But unlike Wells I don't think there is any mystery about this situation.
I think Harper has finally realized that he cannot resist the powerful winds of change that are sweeping across this country.
And that most Canadians are desperate for something better...
And all I can say after fighting him for almost ten years is that we cannot take anything for granted. For even in his weakened condition he is still capable of anything.
He could still use a terrorist incident to scare people into voting for him. He could still try to steal the election.
He is still a monster...
They all are.
So we must continue to fight him and his rotting Con regime harder than ever.
We must make sure that we are ready to vote.
And encourage others to do the same.
So that on October 19 we can march to the polls, and be sure of ending our long nightmare.
But after so many years, after so much horror and darkness, I think I can see a new day dawning.
The day when we will finally take our country back.
The day those ghastly Cons, and their depraved leader, are finally gone.
Glory, glory hallelujah.
And we are free at last...
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So we must continue to fight him and his rotting Con regime harder than ever.
ReplyDeleteWe must make sure that we are ready to vote.
And encourage others to do the same.
Here in BC we know all too well what happens when you just assume the fight is won and quit before the finish line is reached.
Even though large tracts of Canada and many old and famous Provinces have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Harpermen and all the odious apparatus of Conservative rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end.
We shall fight in the halls and hustings, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength on the air, we shall defend our country, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the internet, we shall fight on the door steps, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,
hi anon...yes it is the fight of our lives. It better be, I'd hate to go through something like this again. But we stand to lose so much if the can't defeat those Cons. The bitterness and the recrimination would be almost unbearable. And the very unity of the country could be threatened. But I'm confident that we can do it, if we can get out the vote we will win...
DeleteThe reality is, Harper has never been the clear-eyed, level-headed chessmaster some (who should know better) give him credit for. Not only has he benefitted from sheer luck and a collapse of true leadership on the part of the opposition parties, he has been an erratic figure, prone to making embarrassing gaffes and showing enormous lapses in judgement. He has a certain degree of cynical, reptilian calculation, to be sure, but he is also so far removed from other human beings and normal human behaviour that he often only just skirts the outer regions of delusion. And it's finally caught up with him. He was always his own worst enemy. I just never thought he'd self-implode quite this badly -- and if you trace things from almost the moment of his majority victory to now, you can see he started the self-destruction almost immediately.
ReplyDeleteWell said!
DeleteDitto!
DeleteYep. And Wells, together with a few more like Chris Hall (CBC), John Ivison, Mark Kennedy, were the ones who had spread the manure that he was a brilliant strategist, always thinking several steps of his opponents and trapping them. Truth was his opponents (Iggy, Dion) were just incompetent and often obstructed what the opposition together could have achieved if they had worked together (like Iggy not only walking away from the coalition but also helping Harper frame coalitions as illegitimate).
Deletehi anon 3:32 am...yes you're absolutely right. Harper is a mediocre leader .He does have a calculating reptilian brain, but his judgement is tainted by a complete absence of morality. And to have to listen to many in the MSM praise him as a political genius, without ever subtracting points for that lack of morality, as if the end does justify the means, has been absolutely sickening...
DeleteA cornered rat, even one that appears weakened, can strike out and fight ferociously to save its skin.
ReplyDeleteHarper is the biggest rat of them all. Watch out!
hi Grant....yes you're right, a desperate man is capable of anything. But a man so unpopular can't easily do anything and not make himself even less popular. So unless this voter suppression plan works to perfection, or he steals the election in other ways, I still think we're looking at a beaten leader...
DeleteWhat no one else seems to be able to do Harper is doing to himself, how delicious.
ReplyDeleteWhen your fears consume you: Stephen Harper editon.
hi Steve....yes it is, although it was also predictable. The first one to see the danger signs was of all people Preston Manning, who warned that Harper thought he owned the truth. A man who thinks he owns the truth is always going to be dangerous, and will almost certainly end up badly...
DeleteI agree with Simon that Harper could still use a terrorist incident to scare people into voting for him. eg. false flag/black ops? That's why people should write about the possibility NOW on various blogs and in mainstream press, so if "something" happens, Canadians have been warned in advance.
ReplyDeleteDeclaration of War and No Election!
Deletehi anon 8:45...yes, we need to build a network to help monitor the situation on election night. We already have quite a formidable Twitter presence, so that shouldn't be that hard. I'll have some suggestions soon in that regard....
DeleteOh, I don't know I woke up to the cheerful news (this is sarcasm) that at least half the residents of the Northwest Territories do not have photo ID. In the small communities in the northern parts they don't have drivers licences because very few people have cars. There will be real trouble on election day because northerners are very political and they like to vote. But it could sure bugger up the election results.
ReplyDeleteI live in good-sized town in Ontario and because I moved (approx 0.5 km) I am not on the voting list. I've been waiting for my voter id for ~4 months now. I suspect I am not alone. In fact I think I heard in a interview on CBC a month ago that the elections id people were not even answering their phones they were so overloaded.
DeleteWhat a Disgrace!
DeleteAs I have said many times before getting out the vote is our biggest challenge. I think the desire for change is strong enough to move many to the polls, but we can't take any chances. We need to hammer home how important that vote is, and make sure that everyone has there proper documents. We can help, but the political parties should be hammering home that message now, so people can get the necessary documents. And not wait until the last minute....
DeleteWe will never know how big a rat he is until we deal with the new electoral legislation on voting day. I am the same northern commenter as in the -post before. The rest of my sorry story is that my granddaughter has gone south to university this fall and we are trying to figure out how she votes out there. Not easy. She has to know the name of all the candidates in that southern riding and get a letter from her residence just as she is adjusting to her new life.
ReplyDeletehi anon...yes students are another problem. However I do know that many campuses are seeing up programs or groups to get out the vote, and there are other groups specifically targeting young voters, so some things are being done. We just have to do more...
DeleteIt's a lucky thing for byrne that heil harper hasn't contacted one of the ford thugs yet or she might just "disappear" from the political landscape permanently, especially when he loses. I aint sayin'......I'm just sayin'......
ReplyDeletehi anon...no, Byrne has nothing to fear from Harper. He has apparently made it clear that nobody is going to lose their jobs. He will bring in somebody else to head the operation, but he can't afford to lose people like Byrne, who is very good at the ground game. But having her and her group shunted aside will not go down well with some, so that campaign is still deeply troubled...
DeleteHow dare he pretend that he loves this country! It's quite clear he hates it. he mocked it as a "European welfare state in the worst sense of the term." he hates our parliamentary traditions. he hates the First Nations.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sickening piece of human garbage.
hi thwap....Harper has always hated our Canada. He uses false patriotism to try to conceal that contempt, and militarize its traditions. And the worse thing is I don't think he even has a vision of the country he wants. Starting with his days as a student politician he has always seemed more interested in destroying things than building anything. When you try to get rid of the student council in your high school AND your university there is obviously a problem...
DeleteI think what Harper knows that we don't is just how hard it's going to be for people to vote on election day, and how a significant portion of those opposing numbers will be turned away.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives have cheated at every election thus far, this one will be no different. I think he knows the polls don't matter, that nothing matters, because the game is rigged to his favour.
that happened in my district last time a hidden voting destinatipon, but this time we will not back down
Deletehi Noah....I've heard that theory used to explain why Harper sometimes looks more relaxed or strangely cheery even as his polls tank. But with those kind of numbers even voter suppression won't help him. And remember many of his own supporters are so disillusioned that they might decide to stay at home. And with the smallest pool of voters he is extremely vulnerable. So although we have to remain vigilant, I'm still confident that we will defeat him...
DeleteHopefully Simon will do a blog entry on Harper's new campaign manager.
ReplyDeletehi David,,,well as you know your wishes are my command. I wouldn't miss that one for anything... ;)
Delete