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Originally Posted by CroFlames
Getting 100+ seats isn't exactly losing badly. It's a loss, but it's not like they got annihilated like the liberals in 2011.
Also curious about the fear and rhetoric bit of the last 9 years? Please don't tell my your gonna use the niqab debate as an argument.
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A broad, somewhat accurate generalization of Conservative voters is that they are more aware of threats, and appealing to fear is an effective way of mobilizing the conservative vote. As such, a key conservative strategy is to at least appeal to these fears. This doesn't of course require divisiveness
I think it's really only this past election that has been relatively divisive though. Previous elections were won with a combination of not completely alienating their core base, and then running a data driven policy.
While I'm happy to see Harper leaving the PM's role and a different government due to where I disagree with him, I do think he did a decent job of improving the business environment in Canada (ranked #6 country in the world for business last year, the best of the G20), I like his changes to EI (You can work to supplement your income while searching for a new job and only lose 1/2 of the amount you make), and I think his declaration of Quebec as a nation within Canada was brilliant and a major blow to separatism. He's also left the budget in the kind of shape that allows his successors to weave their own legacy almost immediately without having to first fix economic problems left behind of their predecessor.
Now I'm looking forward to the next 4 years and hoping that we elect enough liberals in Alberta to get some representation in the liberal cabinet.