As I'm sure you remember, the last Con leadership race was an absolute horror show that seemed to go on forever.
And despite the large number of candidates stumbling around only managed to produce a loser like Andrew Scheer.
Well now the Cons are trying to speed up the process by announcing that the new leader will be chosen next June.
But while the race is now officially on, the process is a total farce.
With the date set, the next step for the committee is to nail down the rules for the leadership race. Party sources tell CBC News candidates will have to pay a fee of $300,000 and gather 3,000 signatures of support to enter the race.
For the 2017 Conservative leadership race, the fee was $100,000 and candidates were required to gather only 300 signatures.
And with leadership hopefuls having less than ten days to enter the race rules seem designed to exclude as many candidates as possible.
Which means that the contest risks becoming little more than a dog and pony show.
Featuring the same old Con hacks like Pierre Poilievre.
Or Peter MacKay...
Or Rona Ambrose, who is being touted as a favourite despite her appalling record...
If it’s a break from the past that the party is looking for, then her record as a Harper loyalist poses a problem. It includes a number of questionable votes, including a motion to essentially reopen the abortion debate in 2012.
And who could forget her performance as environment minister, which was nothing short of a disaster? Besides making a mess of Canada’s Kyoto obligations, Ambrose is also remembered as part of the climate-change-denying cabal in the Harper government that muzzled scientists.
And all of which can only make the Cons look even older and out of it.
As Conservatives prepare to choose their next leader, a new survey of how voters perceive the party and its main competitor should give party members something to think about.
"The general image on top of peoples' mind is that this is a party that is aged, is old, and this notion of tradition is strongly tied to the brand of the Conservatives," David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, told Power and Politics guest host Catherine Cullen.
But does at least explain this.
When Conservative members gather in Toronto to elect their next leader on June 27, thousands of members of the LGBT community will be celebrating the annual Pride Festival on the other side of town – a fact organizers say wasn’t done on purpose.
Which despite what the Cons say is clearly an attempt to overcome the vicious anti-gay bigotry of Andrew Scheer and so many of his supporters.
By putting lipstick on the chosen pig.
But is sure to backfire badly with ten of thousands of LGBT protesters turning out to denounce the homophobia of the Cons.
And the Con's rabid religious base threatening to abandon the party.
Which shouldn't surprise anybody.
After more than a decade of tacking right under Harper – and arguably further right under Scheer – the Conservative movement has hit a ceiling. Its appeal to populist sentiment has resulted in the party’s base of power reverting to a facsimile of its former Reform wing.
The Cons are too old and ugly to change.
No decent Canadians can vote for them.
And as I've always said, they are heading for the cemetery where they rightfully belong...
Make sure you have a shovel eh?
For we are going to need a lot of them...
Its appeal to populist sentiment has resulted in the party’s base of power reverting to a facsimile of its former Reform wing.
ReplyDeleteHuh? Reverting?! The party's base has always been the Reform Party despite the many attempts at rebranding. That's why the party swept the Prairies and nowhere else. That's why the anticipated frontrunners are Albertans like Ambrose and Poilievre.
Ambrose's French sucks. But apparently that's a plus in the drillbilly province that couldn't even spell coup d'etat? Jean Charest was even making jokes about it at the Christmas party in Quebec. How's she supposed to navigate a policy convention being held in Quebec City? Have they really thought this through? No, wait, scratch that. This is the party that, when they merged, had the brilliant foresight to proclaim themselves the Conservative Reform Alliance Party without considering that their acronym was CRAP. And don't even get me started on the scheduling of the leadership convention and Pride. One of the founders of LGBTory is an Islamophobe who supported Mad Max. You can't be a Conservative without pandering to at least one category of hate. The fact that they think all they need is to pay lip service to social issues and paint Trudeau as "not as advertised" (again) without addressing climate change or their austerity and privatization fetish speaks volumes about who they are. The fact that the media helps them is why they really are the enemy of the people.
DeleteNow of course, it's only English Canada media that downplays her language difficulty, even though she herself said that a CPC leader needs to be fluently bilingual, which in Canada does not mean good at Spanish and Portuguese but limited to a few bonjours written out phonetically on a card. So besides having an atrocious record and nothing to "attack" Trudeau on besides bad-faith "gender issues," she's a hypocrite. Yet they've somehow even got Chantal Hébert to drink the Kool-aid, despite her own fellow panelists bringing it up on At Issue as a sticking point. They're addicted to SNC like crack even though nobody cares about it anymore and the obsession with it both bored and angered Quebec. They just want a skirt to attack Trudeau for "firing strong women." Same old broken record. But what kind of feminist votes to reopen the abortion debate? The very thing Scheer waffled on -- opening the Pandora's box to PMBs -- she actually did!
Oh, but he's such a chauvinist that he has all but made Freeland his de facto successor whenever he gets tired of the Trudeau derangement bullshit. He's such a misogynist he shuffled McKenna to protect her from the frothing cavemen who called her Climate Barbie, threatened her life and spraypainted vulgar slurs on her office building. So now the media has decided that he set up Freeland to fail, made her the Kim Campbell to his Brian Mulroney. This despite the conveniently ignored fact that Ambrose dissed Trudeau and Campbell by calling him the first female PM. Or that Trudeau placed Campbell in charge of the selection committee for judges and both Ambrose (who he apparently forgave) and Freeland on the NAFTA council. But yeah, he's a fake feminist because Jody had an ego and Jane was a gullible idiot who got duped. SMH.
I mean, ever let a thing like facts get in the way of a convenient "fake feminist" narrative, right? I damn well expect the Liberal War Room to be out in full force dusting off her record if they choose her, because I am so sick of the media's gaslighting bullshit!!!
Hi Anon....Yes, the Con base has always been more Reform than anything else. But the rise of Trump has made it even more extreme. And in my opinion made going back to a more moderate party all but impossible. For the more moderate they become the more their base will abandon them....
DeleteJ.J. McCullough is an example of a broken cuckoo clock being right twice a day. He says Rona is the preferred candidate for the "media track" desperate for a savior to go at Trudeau in bad faith on "feminism," while Skippy is the preferred candidate of the base because they despise and don't trust what the media is selling.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/31/do-canadas-conservatives-want-cautious-leader-or-confrontational-one/
The media never liked Trudeau and is pushing this message that he's been weakened and his "brand" damaged (because that's all they care about, "branding," that is, advertising). They figure, whether he loses outright or bails early and hands the torch to Freeland, is headed for retirement one way or another like the Tom Brady of Canadian politics. Or so they hope.
Their corporate owners are desperate to salvage the "natural alternative to the natural governing party," just like the ostensibly "liberal" media in the US wanted a horse race while putting their thumb on the scale for Trump to increase ratings and get tax cuts. In a sane world, this supposedly natural alternative to the natural governing party would be headed for a natural death.
I'm sick of all of them and I'm especially sick of the lying-press, fake news propaganda pundits and their ignorance, lies, both-sides equivocation, and sabotage of democracy. In a way, I'm glad Trudeau came back early from his vacation because even in his absence, he's a magnet to draw out the party's worst instincts and reveal themselves for the deranged deplorables they really are. Go look at the social media traffic about his trip. It's awful. They were mad that he's gone and now they're mad that he's back!
Trudeau seems to perform best when he's underestimated. He wiped out Brazeau, Harper, that useless putz Scheer, and even put the two weird sisters in their place. So if he can tangle with Jody and Jane and their fawning media apparatus, Ambrose (IF she runs) might not be such a problem after all. Plus, her French is as bad as Elizabeth May's and we know how well she did in the debates. But in any event I hope he's plenty well-rested, because we are ALL going to need to put up a good fight.
Hi Jackie....JJ McCullough is one of the most disgusting members of the Con media. I have complained to the editors of the Washington Post for employing him, and even accused them of insulting Canadians. And his support of someone like Poilievre only proves that McCullough doesn't know what he is talking about. Skippy or Dickhead may indeed be popular with the base, but his chances of becoming prime minister are between zero and nothing. Trudeau is still way more popular than any Con, and with Singh being such a dud he's almost certainly going to stay that way for the forseeable future....
DeleteThe Con claim that the Pride parade date is just a coincidence is bullshit. They want to have their new leader march in the parade and think that will make them look progressive again. It won't. Everybody knows the Cons are the Bigot Party and just marching in a Pride parade won't fool anyone.
ReplyDeleteRempel all but confirmed on Twitter that this was their strategy. She tweeted out a bunch of rainbow hearts and a wink emoji saying guess what else is that weekend. They've been trotting out Log Cabin Tories like Melissa Lantsman to make the case that the main reason Scheer lost was that he was a homophobe, that Trudeau is an unmitigated failure with a damaged "brand" who has nothing to offer in terms of leadership besides showing off his colorful socks at Pride parades, and that he is irredeemably corrupt and a fake feminist because of SNC. All they care about is "branding." They figure they just need someone more likeable who can claim or pretend to be a moderate on social issues, while putting forth the same austerity and privatization measures and ignoring climate change. I hope voters aren't hoodwinked, because the whole lot of them are Con artists. Lest anyone forget, Hillary was supposedly a fake feminist and Trump was going to be the most gay-friendly president in the history of ever, bigly. We all know how that turned out.
DeleteHi anon....I agree,my he timing of the Con convention is no coincidence.,they are clearly attempting to rebrand the new leader, and I would add trying to keep the Humber of redneck delegates to a minimum. For trying to find a place to stay during the Pride festivities is both difficult and expensive. And all it would take is one good brawl between bigots and gays and their plan will blow up in their faces. My friends and I will make sure of that....😎
DeleteHi Jackie ....if Rempel is thinking she can ride the LGBT horse to victory in the Con leadership follies, I fear she is going to be very disappointed. As polls have clearly shown she belongs to the wrong party and all the wine in the world won't help her...🎉🍹🍹🍹🍹💥
DeleteWe are evil but we are not Trudeau, well Canada looked at that and shamefully the west was won, but the Nation survived. Facts are the west will vote for a bale of hay, so anything that moves in the east can win a majority. Even Peiere Penis.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...I don't know what kind of weed you are smoking these days. But please let me know so I can avoid it...🙄
DeleteThank God I'll be in the busy season at work when this exercise of Con "democracy" takes place, Simon. Their shallow gene pool of candidates promises more of the same, lame Cons professing that JT's a failure without offering how they'd do things better. I expect their race will be fraught with cheating and dirty, underhanded tricks normally reserved for the Libs. That part I'll enjoy as they try to undermine each other in their quest for the soon to be Scheerless Stornoway.
ReplyDeleteWill it be the whiny, snivelly Peckerhead Pierre? Fly-in fly fisherman Dumbo "Ace" Mackay? Erin TheToole? Nice hair though. Or will Rona be suckered into trying to unite a fractured, decrepit party that needs a wholesale cleansing in the worst of ways. She's a fool if she does.
What the Con party really needs is comparable to what an old sick dog that's gotten stupid, angry and mean needs. A trip to the farm where it can live out the rest of its life in peace and tranquility. Just as I was told when I was growing up.
JD
The con party of Canada, is the Republican party of the uSA, and it has a stranglehold on power, never forget power does not care about anything, and will use everthing to get there. Case in point, a very liberal place with PP representation elects Stephen Harper.
DeleteHI JD....I'll be off to Scotland a few days after the Con Clown Convention. But not before doing what I can to disrupt it and mock their mediocre talent. That should be easy since the Cons will be in my neighbourhood 😀 You know I still get a lot of comments from Con trolls who still can't accept that they lost, and that their mighty leader was humiliated by Justin Trudeau. Some of them I'm sure are senile, and some are definitely perverts. But others seem so lost I almost feel sorry for them, although I would never publish any of their comments because I don't want others to feel like I do. Cons are all bad people and for the sake of our beautiful country we can't relax until we destroy them all. Luckily because most of those Con hacks have been around for so long, I have more them enough dirt to bury them all...☠
DeleteSo you'll all appreciate this update. Skippy was first out of the gate last night. Now this. Cannibal Party of Canada or should I say, the Donner Party.
Deletehttps://twitter.com/Alec_Castonguay/status/1214539411247042567
[Thread translated]
> Stephen Harper's former adviser in 2004-05, Richard Decarie, wants to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party to counter Jean Charest, "a Liberal under police investigation," he said in an email. To follow. It's active.
>> With the Charests, Fortiers and MacKaydes [sic], are we going to see the return of the Red Tories to the CPC?
> There is clearly a willingness of the Red Tories, the Progressive Conservatives, to regain ascendancy in the party after the Harper and Scheer years.
>>> not possible since the Conservatives and I say all the Conservatives are dummies they have to mess up to try to win
🤡 🤡 🤡 🤡 🤡
I'm still hoping that a Michael Chan or Hugh Segel joins this race, someone who could be an actual threat to Trudeau.
ReplyDeleteI know you guys think that the Tories picking a clown who makes it easy for Trudeau to keep racking up unearned victories is a good thing, but the Liberal party is rotten at its and Trudeau is incompetent. And this shit further damaging or already hurt democracy which needs DEMOCRATIC REFORMS.
Oh god, I have had it up to here with needling from the Nagging Demanding Party. Yip yip yip! This party has turned into the left-wing version of Pierre the Poodle Poutine. Reality check: Hugh Segal is 70 and Michael Chong (not Chan) got booed at the last convention for supporting the vilified carbon tax. But there you go again calling Trudeau incompetent, the Liberals corrupt, blah blah blah sock man bad waaah we want PropRep and a pony in every garage. Negative Trudeau-bashing didn't work for the Cons last time around and won't work for the Dippers either. Neither will pie-in-the-sky unrealism. But it's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see how it works out for you. Maybe stop shitting all over the Prime Minister out of what is obviously sour grapes from 2015, and come up with an actual coherent platform that both respects provincial-federal cooperation and won't break the bank?
DeleteDude, your guy is an airheaded media hound showing up on American radio programs touting himself as the AOC/Bernie of the North. He is clearly desperate to become relevant. I just heard him on Charlamagne's morning zoo shitting on Trudeau AGAIN. He fucked up his tweet about the Soleimani strike. The last guy to mistake Iraq for Iran was... George W. Bush. He whined like a petty, jealous younger sibling that Obama didn't endorse him, when Obama likely has no fucking idea of who he even is, and probably wouldn't have endorsed him over his close friend anyway. He keeps pushing away Quebec, and not just because of his turban but his big-state ultra-federalism and push to reopen the crypt on SNC. He blames Trudeau for things that are Ford and Kenney's fault. He's a champagne socialist who paints Trudeau as elitist while he drives off in his BMW wearing designer duds. He lied about not supporting the Conservatives, as given by the fact that he voted with them to assemble that joke of a grandstanding China committee. Meanwhile, he does jumping jacks on TikTok, which is a propaganda outfit for the PRC. Not as advertised, eh?
He lost unions to the Liberals and got chastised by Rachel Notley for going full-bore on a Green New Deal and feeding the fire of petro-populism. He's making other NDP supporters nostalgic for Angry Tom. He's a total flake. He needs to just cross the border and go DJ for a Bernie rally. Why don't the Dippers pull their heads out of their asses, and if they can't get their shit together, just fold up the tent and stop spoiling the vote? Useless, fourth-place also-ran joke of a party that can't even read a goddamn map!
Hi Gyor....Hugh Segal is suffering from cancer, and Michael Chong might as well be dead so poor are his chances of winning anything. Although I should say that both are far better people than the rest of the Cons. But as I keep telling people the Cons of today have nothing in common with the Cons of the past. They are dirty people and more American Trumplings than Canadian. The best thing you can do is try to get your hapless leader Jiggy Singh to stop acting like a Con and work with Trudeau to build a better country....
DeleteI think that both Gyor and Jackie are correct.
DeleteFYI: Aron Seal (who?) is another Con trying to tout himself as a moderate, but he's an absolute asshole. Appeals to "mental health" don't mitigate this in the least. He's a former staffer to Tony Gazebo, turned weed entrepreneur (so, a poor man's Marc Emery), who's trying to "Yang Gang" his way into the leadership by collecting likes on social media and stalking Skippy. Look at what he just tweeted about PMJT in response to a Liberal supporter telling the vacation truthers to shut up.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/aronseal/status/1213973427574509568
News flash: Pierre's funeral was NOT PMJT's "formative political moment." It was a painful and traumatic moment that coincided with the tragic death of his brother, and his mother's nervous breakdown. He even had to fight off trigger-happy LPC up-and-ups who begged him to run for office at exactly that moment, because he told them that piggybacking off his dad's eulogy as a campaign ad would be unbelievably crass. I remember this from what PMJT wrote in his book.
So much for Seal's professed concerns about mental health. If he really cared about mental health, he wouldn't be using a man's death for craven political opportunism. Forget that the man was a former prime minister. He was also a husband and father, and a human being. That man's death spurred on tremendous grief for millions of people across the country, including the now-Prime Minster himself and his still ailing mother. As if that wasn't bad enough, in the next tweet, Seal sends tender condolences to the Fords for the passing of the family matriarch. What a goddamn hypocritical partisan fuck.
But you know who PET's funeral was a "formative political moment" for? Stephen Harper. He had come not to praise PET, but to bury him and piss on his grave. The tone of this tweet from "millennial conservative" edgebro Seal just drips with that perverse, posthumous grudge against Trudeau père coming from the Albertan hate base. Pandering, two-faced piece of shit. Not. As. Advertised.
This party and everyone in it is absolute deplorable garbage. The CPC is nothing but a Trudeau hate cult that needs to go down in flames.