Conapocalypse: The Confessions of Jenni Byrne

She was called Stephen Harper's "enforcer", or just "The Beast." The one who took no prisoners.

She ran the last Con campaign, and drove it off a cliff.



Before she was tossed off the bus, and out of her master's inner circle. 

But now Jenni Byrne is back, and blaming everyone but herself.



For this analysis or autopsy of the Conapocalypse couldn't be more self serving.

The party didn’t lose the last election because it was ill-prepared or lacked a strong organization. The Liberals won because Canadians had an overwhelming desire for change, the extent to which wasn’t fully appreciated until after the campaign had started.

Organizationally, the party continued to outperform the other parties. But having the strongest organization isn’t enough when the desire for change becomes insurmountable.

Or more absurd. 

Because in fact there were many polls before the election that showed that the desire for change was growing exponentially. Mostly thanks to the way Harper, Byrne, and the monsters in the PMO had poisoned our politics.

Byrne fails to mention that the timing of the election call couldn't have been worse, coming just a few days before the start of the Duffy trial...



Which got the campaign off to a real porky start.

She also fails to mention that her failure to properly vet some Con candidates only made matters worse. 



Embarrassed Stephen Harper further, and drove him crazy.

Or crazier...



Then there was the campaign itself, which was all over the place...



And was based almost entirely on fear, before spiralling into the depths of depravity...



Until most Canadians couldn't wait to get rid of the monster.

Thus proving without a shadow of a doubt, that Byrne didn't know what she was doing.

But in her absurd and self serving confession, The Beast did at least do us one giant favour.

By also proving that under the present electoral system the Cons can't win without splitting the vote.

Another key factor that led to the Conservatives’ defeat was that the party needed the NDP to do well. With the NDP rising in the polls for the first half of the campaign, Stephen Harper was well-positioned to be re-elected.

The decision during the campaign to turn our guns on the NDP was a mistake. They were never the party’s enemy. The final straw was when the party went after the NDP on the niqab issue. It crushed the NDP in Quebec, but it also removed them as a viable alternative in the rest of the country, something Conservatives needed them to be.

Which can only make even clearer the urgent need to change our electoral system, to make sure that can never happen again.

So we do owe Byrne a vote of thanks, and let's hope she's back for the next election.

For if we do what must be done, ruthlessly and without taking any prisoners.

I'm sure she will find it even more painful than the last one...



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