The Wonderful Humiliation of Pierre Poilievre

There are about a thousand things I would rather do than write another post about Pierre Poilievre. 

But I feel I have no choice because our shabby Con media is letting that ugly fascist get way with murder.

And has not even bothered to challenge some of the dangerous nonsense pouring out of his every orifice.

But at last that could be changing.

For some members of the media are finally starting to challenge the grotesquely inflated myth of Poilievre. 

And Andrew Coyne has done a pretty good job of taking the wind out of his sails.

Until about five minutes ago the conventional wisdom on Pierre Poilievre was: can win the party; can’t win the country. Sure, he might thrill the Conservative base, but to Mr. and Mrs. Moderate Voter he was about as appealing as a cold sore. Only a fool would bet on him becoming prime minister.

The new conventional wisdom? Only a fool would bet against it. Hasn’t he been packing them in at campaign appearances across the West – even in Toronto! – in numbers not seen since the dawn of Justin Trudeau?

Popping his shabby media balloon.

Before we get too carried away, however, we should recognize that the new conventional wisdom is more the mirror of the old than its opposite. Both are rooted in that most powerful of journalistic instincts, the quest for narrative – for turning points, unexpected twists, and yes, for upended conventional wisdom: the triumph of the underestimated, as inevitable in hindsight as it seemed unlikely in advance.

So: Maybe Mr. Poilievre’s crowds are evidence of a hitherto undetected groundswell of popular support, beyond his existing base. Or maybe it’s just the same story as before: He excites the excitable. 

Daring to question why any decent Canadian would find him appealing.

Part of Mr. Poilievre’s appeal is genuinely cross-partisan and non-ideological. Voters, whatever their stripe, are drawn to a candidate who does not apologize for who he is; who stands up for himself and his beliefs whatever others may say of him or them; who is, as they say, “authentic.” But partisans like a fighter. For them, what makes Mr. Poilievre authentic is not his consistency on the issues or his record of truth-telling, neither of which are much in evidence, but his willingness to be as belligerent toward his political opponents as is humanly possible.

And what that says about him AND his supporters.

Indeed, whatever is new in politics that Mr. Poilievre might claim to represent, what is not new is the readiness of people to believe what they want to believe. There is always a constituency for the politician who tells people that they don’t have to do what they don’t want to do, or that they don’t have to pay for things they don’t want to pay for.

The notion, likewise, that he stands for a particularly robust form of conservatism, is equally unsupported by the evidence, beyond some inflammatory rhetoric. Certainly we know, given his enthusiastic support for the Ottawa hostage-takers, how seriously he takes law and order. But what else? Does he have a plan to balance the budget? What taxes would he cut? What programs would he privatize?

And of course, at a time when fascists of every stripe are on the march, Coyne's verdict couldn't be more deliciously humiliating.

I get why this sort of thing, like his endorsement of the anti-vaxxers, excites the fringes. It might even be enough to carry him to the party leadership. It’s just not clear yet why it makes him a serious contender for prime minister.

Although this from another Con is pretty good too….

I represent Canada in attracting foreign investment and this is an embarrassment.
And I'm a friend of Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney. This isn't Canadian or conservative politics, it's kindergarten. https://t.co/y2GyL0jEYD

— Mitch Garber (@mitchgarber) April 24, 2022

And this after he dumped on Steam Whistle beer for being too "woke" and promoted Oast beer instead is absolutely hilarious.

It seems that not even money or free publicity can make some Canadians support Poilievre. 

You know, yesterday in France and Slovenia right-wing fascists were defeated, and some are suggesting that the populist tide is finally retreating.

So now it's our turn to make sure that our grubby fascist leader NEVER becomes Prime Minister.

Before he corrupts our country further...