Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Elbowgate: How the Haters Failed to Hurt Justin Trudeau



In my last post I ran a video by John Oliver, where he strongly suggested that Justin Trudeau had apologized enough for elbowgate.

And that it was all just a tempest in a very Canadian teapot.

Now it seems that's also what most Canadians believe.

As a new poll suggests. 

A new online poll of 2,000 adults by Abacus Data suggests that Justin Trudeau has survived elbowgate largely unscathed.

"The broad majority of those surveyed (71%) said it had no impact on their view of Mr. Trudeau, 23% said it made them feel worse about him, 6% better," wrote Abacus Data's Bruce Anderson and David Coletto in a statement distributed to the media.

Prior to elbowgate, 81 percent agreed with the statement that Trudeau "genuinely cares about other people". That rose to 82 percent after the incident.


Of those who registered a negative opinion, nearly half voted Conservative in the last election.

Almost nobody followed elbowgate closely, despite the frantic efforts of the Con media to try to portray it as a major scandal.

Postmedia national-affairs columnist Andrew Coyne repeatedly used the word "erratic" on the CBC At Issue panel to describe Trudeau's conduct. CBC Radio's The House put elbowgate at the top of its agenda. And national newscasts hosted by Peter Mansbridge, Lisa LaFlamme, and other broadcasters repeatedly led with this story.

Only to fail miserably...



"The reaction inside the 'Ottawa bubble' was disproportionate to the reaction in the country at large," Anderson and Coletto concluded. "It was not, so far anyway, a moment that transfixed voters and shifted the political landscape."

And be left looking like idiots. Again. 

But at least now I think most of us can agree on some things. Justin was wrong to lose his cool with the shenanigans of Tom Mulcair and his gang.

There were too many dives.


There was far too much loose talk about gender based violence, which is a real problem in this country. And by trying to associate elbowgate with violence against women the Cons and the NDP only insulted its real victims. 

And also disgraced themselves.

While poor angry Tom Mulcair had to be carried away on a stretcher.



Trudeau has now hit a new personal best since Nanos started tracking on who Canadians prefer as Prime Minister. Conversely, Mulcair has hit a new personal historic low. Asked who they would prefer as PM, Trudeau was the choice of 53.8% of Canadians while Ambrose came in at 15.6%, Mulcair at 9.0%, May at 3.6% and 16.7% were unsure.

Along with all those other Trudeau haters...



Who must be soooooo disappointed.

But at least now hopefully we can move on.

Recognize that there were mistakes made on both sides, but there is no room for haters in Canada. 

And whether those haters like it or not.

Justin Trudeau, human flaws and all, is still a great and incredibly popular Prime Minister....



Trudeau is going to take the day off tomorrow to celebrate his 11th wedding anniversary.

And after the way him, Sophie, and their children have been attacked in recent weeks.

Who would dare say he doesn't deserve it?

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

If elbow gate is the biggest gaff Trudeau can muster, that's not bad.

Hopefully finally we can move on. Last I heard on Saturday, media were not moving on. Hence no media for me. They wonder white they are having financial difficulties...

TS

Steve said...

He should show up in Commons wearing hockey elbow pads.

Dan said...

After everything has died down:

Justin Trudeau 2 minutes for elbowing.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau 2 minutes for diving.
Tom Mulcair 2 minutes for delay of parliament and 10 minutes for parliamentary misconduct.
Rona Ambrose 2 minutes for being Rona Ambrose.

Stig said...

Who cares? After Duffy's trial and the exposing of the charade we call the Senate how can you take sides over such trash? Our political system is owned, fool.

Anonymous said...

One would think that a country whose national past-time is a sport where athletes hurl around at fantastic speeds as they balance on a thin metal edge while carrying a wooden club before pulverizing each other over the fate of a small vulcanized rubber disk would be relatively immune to seeing their Prime Minister gently brush past a giggling politician.

This Brosseau brouhaha is an over-baked diversion from those with no meaningful agenda of their own.

Anonymous said...

Hardy har har, except Justin is supposed to use his words. While there are several politicians that I would like to see punched in the face, I know that it is inappropriate at best. I don't think we should defend any parliamentarian for shoving people around in the house.

Anonymous said...

I hate pundits. Pompous establishment hand-puppets. Somebody kill the corporate media! Eat the rich! (Trudeau should've elbowed Mulcair in the face!)

luceforma said...

truly, we need more immigrants in our government, who remember the difficulties, horrors, even, that their corrupted, military or financially enslaved governments put them through. i am embarrassed by the spoiled, whining and bigoted canadians that represent the National Petulants and the Official Obstruction, for while the americans have their trump situation, russians dont know where and how to save themselves and the middle east is in apocalyptic mode, we canadians have problems of our own - our own 'gates' - we have elbows and nannies.

so i'm just going to say that i'm very happy and proud to live in a country where the prime minister is smart and cool guy whose heart and spirit are bigger than any inflated, self-righteous head or ego in the House and that i hope that we, sometime soon, begin to do politics for the Canadian people and not in order to settle dislikes at work. this is a public office and i am with Dan (see above) on this one - except i'd give brosseau a life ban for being a twit. ambrose must obstruct (our identities are build in relation to one another), so she is useful... and tom, well he is on self-destruct. it's a shame, really.

elbowgate
POOH!

Anonymous said...

Even though this hasn't hurt PMJT, the opposition will keep pissing and moaning about it and our useless MSM will hang on their every spiteful word but you know what? No one with an ounce of intelligence will listen to these idiots other than their faithful, hateful base.
Have a miserable summer losers.
JD

Simon said...

hi TS...I think our Con media came out of this scandalette looking worse than Justin Trudeau did. For they totally misread the mood of the public, once again revealed how biased they are, and how determined they are to bring down Justin. And when you're in financial trouble the last thing they should do is alienate their readers. If they keep that up they won't be around for long...

Simon said...

hi Steve...No no, that would scare Stephen Harper out of his mind. Oh wait, what a great idea... ;)

Simon said...

hi Dan...you definitely should be a ref, because that's bang on. Especially the 10 minute misconduct for Tom Mulcair. Although for first grinning like an ape, and then feigning indignation, he probably should have been thrown out of the game...

Simon said...

hi Stig...Do you normally go around insulting people? Didn't they teach you any manners at Tom Mulcair's School for Angry People? This was a story about a tiny scandal, and the limits of decency, and try as I might I couldn't squeeze in the impending collapse of the capitalist system. But don't worry next time I'll try even harder. In the meantime please try to be serious. Fool....

Simon said...

hi anon...yes I think that over-baked is a good description. Although thanks to the bench clearing brawl it did earn half a thumb up from Don Cherry himself. Maybe next time Cherry can turn up in one of his pimp costumes, and can give a running commentary while sitting in the Speaker's chair....

Simon said...

hi anon...well let's be clear, nobody was punched here. And that gentle elbow was accidental. The NDP was guilty of physically restraining the Con whip, and Trudeau was only trying to free him. I mean if you saw a street gang trying to hold somebody against their will, wouldn't you do the same thing? In fact the more I think about it, the more I think Justin should get a medal, and Tom Mulcair should be forced to wear a dog's cone of shame. For rabid behaviour without reason...

Simon said...

hi anon...now now, let's calm down. There is no need to kill the corporate media or hurt anyone. Although eating the rich is tempting. The media are already killing themselves, so are the Cons, and so is the Mulcair Party...

Simon said...

hi Luce...you're right it was a shabby spectacle, and we can all do better, and if the Con media hadn't made it sound like a monster story, it might have been quite hilarious. Providing we were able to keep the news from travelling abroad, and making us all look bad. Or like the residents of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. But you're right, Dan would make a great ref...

Simon said...

hi JD...I'm not so sure of that. When most Canadians don't think it was a big deal, if the Cons and the media keep beating that hollow drum they can only make themselves look ridiculous. Or even more ridiculous...