[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by John Doe

Really? I thought he looked really bad by not answering the question, and from his remarks back to the journalists (I couldn't hear what they were saying), they weren't buying it. Harper is taking a big risk by using most of his speeches (so far at least) on the coalition as Duceppe is using it against him. If Layton backs Duceppe, the coalition issue could hurt Harper more than help him

I don't see how he looked bad in it, there was nothing in his letter about forming a coalition government at all, there was no agreement signed dividing governmental responsibility

Originally Posted by John Doe

That is the fact of the matter when you have a majority government. I don't condone some of the questionable actions of the Liberal party under Chretien, but I don't see how that is an excuse for what the Conservatives under Harper have done either. If Harper is stupid enough to be in contempt of Parliament with a minority government, then he deserves to be found so.

Sadly thats how government in this country does work. The Liberal government under Chretien and Martin were just as secretive as the Conservatives now. I look at the contempt of parliment and I go back to the grandstanding of a committee of opposition members who are now trying to fight the election based on ethics. The only party that is theoretically clean on the ethics issues are obviously the opposition parties and the NDP.

Originally Posted by John Doe

What I have a problem with is that the Conservatives dismiss the charge by saying that it was just a vote by Liberals, NDPers and BQ's. Well sorry, but that is Parliament, which just happens to be the highest court in the land. I find is puzzling that the Conservatives try to portray themselves as the "law and order" party, yet will not accept rulings from the highest court in the land!

But thats what specifically it was. It was in my mind a highly partisan operation. If you want me to be convinced of it, then you should use impartial members in a committee, somewhat like the Gomery hearings tried to do.

Originally Posted by John Doe

I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure that withholding costs as the Conservatives have done by claiming them to be "cabinet confidence" is ground-breaking.

How a was it ground breaking when the Liberals were actively trying to hide the actual costs of the long gun registry until the Conservatives took party and exposed it.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Harper brought in the RCMP to get ahead of the game as he knows how potentially damaging Carson can be to him. The damage to Harper will be that the opposition will use Carson as an example of the type of people that Harper surrounds himself with.

Except that Harper called the RCMP then the media got a hold of it. Under your standard he would be damned no matter what he did.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Who is this going to help? If anything, I would think that it would hurt the Conservatives as they continually ridicule the NDP for their fiscal views, yet were willing to take advise from them to create the budget?

Remember that Harper at one point invited all party leaders to consult on the budget, It looks like Layton was the only one that was serious about.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Again, how will this help him? He created the PBO (I believe this is what you are talking about) and appointed Kevin Page, who has been more accurate in the past than the government has been with their predictions. If he attacks the PBO, it will further enforce the already existing view that he is very heavy-handed with independent government watchdogs who don't agree with him.

How is it heavy handed when the BPO office isn't even evaluating on the terms of the actual expected purchase contract, nor on a proper evaluation of the program as a whole? Its great that Harper created the BPO position, but I question its accuracy in this case after reading the document which in the end was fairly general.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Harper is strictly on the defense here and there is no offensive maneuvering for him on this file. Nothing he can do on this issue will hurt Duceppe, yet there are some potential huge risks for Harper here.

Until someone can show me that the 2004 letter is anything more then it is, and that like the 2008 coalition that Harper had an agreement in place for how a coalition government would be structured, its an issue that could hurt the Bloc and NDP and yes the Conservatives. But until there is something beyond the facts that are presented, to me as a voter it doesn't mean much.

Originally Posted by John Doe

But how can they use this argument when they only contacted the NDP and wouldn't call the Liberals?

Harper had invited all opposition members to take part in the budgetary process this year and with last years budget. Good for Layton to step up.

Originally Posted by John Doe

This will help the Bloc in Quebec more than it will help the Conservatives. It may help the Conservatives outside of Quebec, but will it help them in this case more than it will hurt them in Quebec?

Your right, it will probably help the Bloc in Quebec, but the Cons only need 12 seats outside of Quebec. So telling Quebec to stuff it could help him more outside then inside where they're probably looking at the non Bloc dominated seats.

Originally Posted by John Doe

This is what they should do. This was a stupid decision by Ignatieff.

Yup

Originally Posted by John Doe

About the reinstatement of corporate taxes to 2010 levels? They had better be careful about that as polling suggests that most people agree with this.

Nope, about Ignatieff wanting to bump the GST back up and a few other of his ideas on tax.

Originally Posted by John Doe

They are going to try this, but will it stick? This is pretty tough to do when you have just lost confidence of the house by being the first government in parliamentary history to be found in contempt of parliament.

The polls really haven't show a bump in Liberal fortunes due to the contempt of Parliment. If the polls are to be believed then the Conservatives are stronger at this point in the election then they were at the start of the last election. I really don't think once we get into the actual platform presentation of the election that the contempt of Parliment is going to remain as a strong issue.

Originally Posted by John Doe

The Conservative narrative over the last three years has been an all-out attack on Ignatieff. They need this negative portrayal to stick, as people will be paying more attention to him during the election period. If Ignatieff can change peoples perceptions of him during the election, it could significantly affect the results. I have always wondered why the Conservatives attacked Ignatieff so relentlessly from the git-go. I have come to the conclusion that they are afraid of him.

Kind of like when Harper came on board and the Liberal's attacked him as the next reincarnation of George Bush? Obviously between the Conservatives going after Ignatieff and his own personal weaknesses its worked and hes not seen as a good or trustworthy prime ministarial leader. I doubt that 36 days is going to change that perception that much.

Originally Posted by John Doe

I don't think the NDP will attack the Liberals as much as they attack the Conservatives. They are the existing government, and are further from the NDP values than the Liberals are. As of right now, the NDP are concentrating on Conservative ridings (according to "Question Period" from this morning).

The NDP has to attack the Liberal's to prevent the left vote splitting that will doom them and the Libs to opposition status. People that vote conservative are not going to swing that radically to the NDP cause.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Something else you should consider is that as of now, each party has spending limits. That means for every attack ad the Conservatives run, the Liberals, NDP and BQ will each be able to run one themselves, and from what I have read each party will spend to the limit. This advantage that the Conservatives have enjoyed for the last few years has now become a disadvantage.

The Liberals don't even have a full slate of candidates in Alberta, they're a disorganized mess of a party. Even with equal spending, the Conservatives have an advantage in the way way that they run their campaign and their effectiveness at using the media.

Originally Posted by John Doe

Agreed! I would actually like to see a debate between Harper and Ignatieff only, but I doubt very much that will happen.

I'd prefer a bare knuckle boxing match myself ala frankie goes to Hollywood.

At some point my friend, we'll have to find a more effective way of doing this, this posting stuff is too long.