Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - BOURQUE says stick a fork in them...Libs done!

MarchHare · 01-06-2006, 03:30 PM

I'm both a liberal and a Liberal, but I'm hoping for a Conservative minority win at this point.

In terms of fiscal policy, there's not much where I disagree with the Conservatives anyway (and also the Liberals, for that matter, who have shifted to the right with Martin as finance minister and PM). It's the social policy of the Conservatives that I disagree with, but in a minority situation, with all three other parties being socially to the left, I would have little to worry about there.

A Conservative minority would also force the Liberals to clean house and likely see a change in leadership. While I think Martin was an excellent finance minister, he has admittedly been a letdown as PM (in his defense he did inherit a lot of crap from Chretien). Assuming Frank McKenna runs for the Liberal leadership (which is virtually guaranteed), he'd be an excellent PM and would likely give the Liberals another majority after what is bound to be a short-lived Conservative minority.

If you're a Conservative supporter, there really isn't much to hope for from this election unless they can win a majority government, which seems incredibly unlikely. While the polls now show the two parties in a dead heat, it hasn't been because the CPC is gaining support; rather, it's the Liberals that are losing it. Harper's support has barely moved from the 30-35% mark since the election call despite a slew of policy announcements and a lackluster Liberal campaign.

So if the Conservatives win a minority, the Liberals will likely change leadership to someone completely disassociated with the sponsorship scandal (like McKenna) and win a majority next time. OTOH, if the Liberals win another minority, we'll see a near-clone of our last parliament, and Harper will probably step down. If the CPC has any sense at all, they'll realize that they'll never win a majority so long as they carry the vestigas of the Reform/Alliance parties and choose a leader more palatable to the rest of Canada East of Manitoba. So as a Liberal, a small Conservative minority is the best-case scenario at the moment.

01-06-2006, 03:30 PM	#13
MarchHare Franchise Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: YSJ (1979-2002) -> YYC (2002-2022) -> YVR (2022-present) Exp:	I'm both a liberal and a Liberal, but I'm hoping for a Conservative minority win at this point. In terms of fiscal policy, there's not much where I disagree with the Conservatives anyway (and also the Liberals, for that matter, who have shifted to the right with Martin as finance minister and PM). It's the social policy of the Conservatives that I disagree with, but in a minority situation, with all three other parties being socially to the left, I would have little to worry about there. A Conservative minority would also force the Liberals to clean house and likely see a change in leadership. While I think Martin was an excellent finance minister, he has admittedly been a letdown as PM (in his defense he did inherit a lot of crap from Chretien). Assuming Frank McKenna runs for the Liberal leadership (which is virtually guaranteed), he'd be an excellent PM and would likely give the Liberals another majority after what is bound to be a short-lived Conservative minority. If you're a Conservative supporter, there really isn't much to hope for from this election unless they can win a majority government, which seems incredibly unlikely. While the polls now show the two parties in a dead heat, it hasn't been because the CPC is gaining support; rather, it's the Liberals that are losing it. Harper's support has barely moved from the 30-35% mark since the election call despite a slew of policy announcements and a lackluster Liberal campaign. So if the Conservatives win a minority, the Liberals will likely change leadership to someone completely disassociated with the sponsorship scandal (like McKenna) and win a majority next time. OTOH, if the Liberals win another minority, we'll see a near-clone of our last parliament, and Harper will probably step down. If the CPC has any sense at all, they'll realize that they'll never win a majority so long as they carry the vestigas of the Reform/Alliance parties and choose a leader more palatable to the rest of Canada East of Manitoba. So as a Liberal, a small Conservative minority is the best-case scenario at the moment.