Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Why The Con Leadership Race Is Such A Farce

It's been over a month since Erin O'Toole hit the ground with a sickening thud, still claiming that he was the only Con who could defeat Justin Trudeau.

So it's not surprising that so far the race to replace him has been an absolute farce, and is looking more like a tacky Con coronation than anything else.

With Stephen Harper leading Pierre Poilievre down the aisle..

And Poilievre looking more like a third rate comedian than a candidate.

For let's be serious, asking Canadians to smile at the thought of the ugly fascist Poilievre becoming Prime Minister is a REALLY bad joke.

But fortunately this Con clown show could become a tiny bit more interesting now that Jean "Curly" Charest has apparently overcome his reservations...

And will soon announce that he is also running. 

Jean Charest, the former Premier of Quebec, will be a candidate to succeed Erin O'Toole as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

He will make the official announcement on Thursday, two sources confirmed to Radio-Canada.

And all I can say is God help him, and the ugly Cons.

For Poilievre's slimy surrogates are already calling Charest a "Liberal." 

Who doesn’t count as a real Conservative? That’s already a divisive question in the Conservative Party leadership race.

After Pierre Poilievre’s surrogates attacked potential leadership candidate Jean Charest as a “Liberal,” a senior Quebec Conservative is accusing them of sending an exclusionary message that will shrink the party.

And I think Alain Rayes is right.

Richmond-Arthabaska MP Alain Rayes argues Mr. Poilievre’s team is trying to prevent a debate on Conservative ideas by casting out members of the Conservative “family.”

He warns that will send a message to many small-c conservative Canadians – especially in Ontario, Atlantic Canada and Quebec – that the Conservative Party is not for them.

Now I suppose it's theoretically possible, that Charest could win the Con leadership race. He might have less skeletons in his closet than Poilievre has in his.

But the problem for old Curly is that according to some reports in the Quebec media, Stephen Harper is determined to destroy him.

Montreal’s La Presse published an article, citing anonymous sources who said former prime minister Stephen Harper would oppose a bid by Mr. Charest because he is not a real Conservative.

Because he can't forgive him for criticizing his cuts to Quebec's cultural programs in 2008, which Harper believes cost him a majority.

And of course, because he loves his little fascist so much...


And taught him every dirty trick in the book.

Which is of course, the good news.

For when the word gets out that Harper is directing his campaign, Justin Trudeau will do to Poilievre what he did to his foul master....

And it won't even be close...

UPDATE:

Another candidate enters the race, the religious fanatic Leslyn Lewis...

She's an anti-vaxxer, she's anti abortion, and she's anti gay, but STILL she thinks she can win. Right.

I told you the Con leadership race is a farce.

And whoever is the Chosen One, will be destroyed by decent Canadians...

20 comments:

Steve said...

Charest has by moral equivocally as much baggage as Hillary Clinton. IN fact more because he was in charge.

Jackie Blue said...

Evan Scrimshaw has a good take on Paddy the Pervert Brown too. "The candidate for nobody" he calls him: in other words, all of O'Toole's flip-flop tendencies, with Charest's baggage and Skippy's skeletons, a useless redundancy when all the other jugheaded juggernauts have already crowded the lane. A craven career politician who leapfrogs to different positions hoping to keep himself relevant and in the news. His campaign slogan should be "Why am I here?"

A new Abacus poll out said that Brown is a total unknown outside of Ontario, and even then, he just looks desperate to try and jump from no-name backbencher to lame-duck mayor to federal leader for no real reason other than his own naked ambition. (Pun intended, considering who we're talking about here.) Meanwhile, according to that same poll, Corrupt Charbonneau Charest is an overwhelming net negative in where else but Quebec. The irony is thicker than his steadily fading hair. Just not ready, nice... well, you get the point.

I was a little worried for a minute there that the so-called moderates might have a decent chance of pushing through and putting lipstick on this true blue pig, but with all of Harper's institutional heft surrounding the Pigeon, it seems like it's just more kabuki theatre. A pro wrestling match where the outcome is already determined, but the boss (Harper in the role of Vince McMahon) wants to give the audience the appearance of a fair fight. I'm sure they'll bring the paper shredders out of storage for another go-around. I mean, "ballot readers." And even still there's a nonzero possibility that Curly might end up splitting the party whether he wins or not. How appropriate for a Mulroney flunkie.

It's just another money grab and a make-work project for strategists and pundits, one that should pull in plenty of funds for the microwave popcorn industry. And through it all the con media (Chantal especially) will be desperate to manufacture a Liberal leadership race that doesn't exist, just to distract from the total shitshow that is the Clown Party of Canada. At least the Liberals and PMJT seem to be content to tune out the noise, do their jobs, and let their opponents have all the rope in the world.

Simon said...

Hi Steve....Leave Clinton out of it. Charest has enough baggage of his own. I will always hold him in low regard for the way he handled the Quebec student strike, which was caused by his decision to raise tuition fees. But despite his numerous flaws he is still way better than the fascist Poilievre...

Myworld1916 said...

It would be probarious from the rest of Canada to only think of Charest as someone 'corrupted'. Keep in mind his last years as premier when his environmental agenda with schaale gaz and his 'Plan Nord' was lame while he will also be remebered with trying to raise university fees in Quebec which would be claimed as impovering society. Just not to forget when he established a law to keep the student strike quiet. As a matter of fact, conservatives from sea to sea should quit puking on each other since they both have the same shitty platforms, which relies on some darwinism where only the strongly economic and stabled one survives. Oh and not forget, he gave quebec liberals a bad name.

Simon said...

Hi Jackie...I need to see who will enter the leadership race before pronouncing judgement. But I don't see either Charest or Brown having much of a chance against Poilievre's hard right Cons. But Brown is known for his ability to build up a list of supporters, so if he can win, or help Charest win, it would be an enormous blow to Stephen Harper, and might finally break his hold on the party. So I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, and hope that it will be a bloody event, and that a lot of Cons will have to be carried out feet first before it is over...
As for the Liberals, the end of the pandemic, and Team Trudeau's exceptional performance on the Ukraine file, should allow them to sit back and watch the Cons destroy themselves, before they have to carve up the winner...

Carl L said...

Quite honestly, I find Charest to be the least deplorable of the bunch so far. Despite his highly questionable baggage, he has experience in governing that serves him well, he seems to have the support of the least lunatic Cons in the party, and he might be the only one capable of making the CPC look electatble to Canadians without sounding like a complete 'tool. My opinion could change quickly however if he starts spewing the right-wing MAGA Qanon horsesh*t to try and charm the base of hardcore "true conservative" rubes.

Anonymous said...

A good description, a Con eat Con, backstabbing, undermining free for all and thoroughly ugly. And that's just the recent Stornoway palace coup I'm speaking of. With the tool still recovering from his multiple stab wounds, the CPC's divided, rotting carcass is now into its umpteenth leadership race and the contenders are quite the assortment of mixed nuts that will leave us underwhelmed and overly nauseated. Grab the popcorn and air sick bags folks, the Con self mutilation process has begun.

With all that's going on in this troubled world I almost forgot about the International Woman's Day yesterday. My bad. It should however be at least a week to celebrate the beauty, kindness and compassion of decent woman throughout the world. We are so fortunate to have them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj5LnRrV7HQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhfWiU8wGCc

JD

Brian Dundas said...

My bet is that he will, Carl.  He'll have to go at least a little nuts to remain viable in a Grove of them... unless he's running a sort of performance art play illustrating the moral decline of the Canadian right wing? He could call it "Waiting for Pat King, d'oh"

Simon said...

Hi Carl....I don't disagree, Charest would be a much better leader than Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis. If he was able to win the leadership and truly take control of the party, it might not be good for the Liberals, but it would be much better for Canada. I am a Liberal partisan these days, but I will always put my country first, and the ghastly deplorables who control the Cons are taking all of us to a very bad place. Unfortunately, I can't see Charest surviving the contest, especially with Harper out to get him. I hope I'm wrong, because if Charest does manage to become leader he could bury the ugly Harper Party once and for all....

Simon said...

Hi MyWorld 1916....Charest is far from perfect, but all things are relative. And the Quebec anti-corruption squad just completed an eight-year investigation into allegations of illegal fundraising and cleared him of all allegations. I still believe his decision to raise tuition fees, and then use the police to violently subdue the ensuing protests was wrong. But he was ahead of his time with his environmental legislation, as imperfect as it might have been. He was one of the leaders of the NO side in the Quebec referendum. And I could forgive a lot of things if he could make the Cons a Canadian party again...

ottlib said...

The "Electoral College" method the Conservatives use to elect their leaders will probably doom any campaign of a central Canadian "moderate" Conservative. There are just not enough ridings where such a candidate would win to win the leadership.

On the other hand, having one of them winning, with the PPC still lingering in the weeds, could finally reverse the Harper/MacKay pact that created the CPC.

The simple fact is there is an internal struggle within conservatives in North America about what is a "true conservative" and unfortunately for them the far-right conservatives are not willing to compromise.

Simon said...

Hi JD....Yes, it didn't take long for the Cons to show their ugly faces again. All that cult knows what to do is attack people, even their own Cons. There has never been and uglier political party, and its behaviour resembles a mob bumping its leaders off. How such a collection of losers could gather under one roof still confounds me, but with a daddy like Harper, and leaders like Scheer and O'Toole I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But the good news is, I can't see how we can lose. If Poilievre wins, they are the Reform Party all over again. And if Charest wins despite Harper's opposition it will be the end of his malignant hold on the Cons. And thanks for those videos, I have always believed from a very young age, that if more women were running the world it would be a much saner place...

Simon said...

Hi Ottlib....Yes, the PPC may be no threat to us, but the Cons live in fear of it stealing some of their support. And as you point out, if Bernier and his racists manage to attract enough supporters, the Cons will never win another election. They chose to splash around in a sewer, and with a bit of luck they will drown in it....

Simon said...

Hi Brian....I was struck by something said the other day. He said he wanted to make it clear that he was a Conservative not a Red Tory. So I am waiting to see what that means as far as is platform is concerned. For if he turns out to be just a mini-Poilievre the Cons are truly doomed...

Carl L said...

I kind of fear that he might have to Brian, but to what degree remains to be seen. There's no way he'll be credible if he does a "True Blue" campaign à la O'toole. Not with all his past "Liberal" stances that he'll undoubtedly be attacked for by the SoCons. Nor in his position as the candidate for the Con faction that don't want to be dragged into trumpism. How he plans to bridge the whole party and win western support will still be interesting to see, IMHO.

Carl L said...

Hello Simon. I too have serious doubts about Charest's abilities as a miracle cure for a party so badly infected with Harpes. It's after all a nasty disease that is very hard to get rid of. Especially today with all the ugly pus-filled sores that make the SoCon faction and that have done nothing but grow and turn nastier.
He still might be the last hope for the saner faction to halt and reverse the infection, but there is indeed no sign that the sick part might want any of it.

Simon said...

Hi Carl....I agree, I can't see Charest trying out a new version of "True Blue." But it will be very interesting to see what his platform will be. He is already considered a traitor for having championed environmental programs that could have damaged the Con heartland of Alberta. So his new environmental platform, presuming he has one, will tell us a lot about the new Charest. And you're right, trying to heal a party that is riddled with far right extremists and religious fanatics will be quite a challenge. They are not the kind of people who are ever willing to compromise. It's the Canadian way, but sadly they are more like Americans...

Steve said...

Uranium, it will be the new oil. Cons will claim they invented it.

Jackie Blue said...

His new platform seems to be a suicide pact with Brown. The fact that both men's teams went and blabbed this openly to the Toronto Star has got to be one of the most epic political blunders of the ages. Like do they not think Poilievre and Lewis' teams read the "liberal" papers?

https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/03/09/patrick-brown-and-jean-charest-have-a-deal-that-could-make-one-of-them-the-next-conservative-leader.html

Now they're aware of a hostile takeover bid and will only dig in their heels further. Or the party may split as a last resort. Slow friggin' clap guys, you shot yourselves mutually in the dick before you even got out of the gate. Heck, you shot yourselves with the starting gun. Brilliant!

Oh well, the only one who was going to be the winner of this shitshow anyway was Orville Redenbacher.

Simon said...

Hi Jackie....Charest and Brown have been close friends for about 25 years. So their deal is both emotional and logical. Both attract different kinds of Con supporters, so it makes sense that they agree that whoever comes out ahead, should get the votes of the other. Like Leslyn Lewis did to give Erin O'Toole his victory. Poilievre will no doubt call them both Liberals, but that will only play up the great divide, and Poilievre will have Harper pulling his strings so he is hardly in a position to decry any deal...