2011 Canadian Election Thread

[Calgaryborn]

I guess I'll side with free speech. I don't like that many elections in my life time have been decided before I voted but, that didn't change my vote or keep me from voting. If I don't know what's going on it won't change the fact that the election is decided.

[Lionel Steel]

Lethbridge CPC candidate Jim Hillyer has decided not to participate in any more public forums.

His campaign says it's because he is going to devote his time to door-to-door campaigning, but that's pretty flimsy. He pretty much bombed at the forum they had here at the university, so it's pretty obvious they're hiding him from public view until the election.

Pretty weak overall, he's running in his first election for the Conservatives and a lot of people are interested in learning more about him.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by old-fart

Nice.

What I learned was that Ignatieff and Harper were always geeks, Layton was actually a pretty suave looking dude in HS, Duceppe was a crazy homeless dude and/or a mad scientist at one point, and May has always been fugly.

Edit: Actually Ignatieff looks more like an aristocrat than a geek. Makes snese.

Actually Duceppe was a militant maoist/communist sympathizer into his 30s. Even in the 80s, he was campaigning against capitalist forces.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by SebC

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...m=bus%20driver? (NSFW link, obviously.)

So, it is a kinky sex thing. I knew it.


"Hey, Steve, what happened with you and that chick last night?"



"Oh man, she had some really good weed. We went back to her place and she let me give her the old Cross-Country 'Bus Driver'. I think I left my shirt there though."

[albertGQ]

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/dec...522/story.html

Wow. Ignatieff is doing horrible

[SebC]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

I'm for free speech and all (which I believe is the normal claimed defense), but I think that election results should be sealed until EVERY polling station has closed.

The people reporting results aren't technology-packing heroes (which is often the self-promoting claim), they're idiots. Why not go setup your Marijuana Party pamphlets next to the voting booth as well?

I would love to see the full weight of the law come down on these people.

(My apologies to the Pot Party......just picked a group at random.....figured they'd be too disinterested to get pissed at me)

Frankly, I see it the complete opposite way. What's the harm, that people vote strategically? All that does is it makes the results more closely approximate instant-runoff voting, which as far as I'm concerned is a better system anyways.

[Ark2]

I thought that after Dion, the Liberals had no where to go but up. It's starting to look like that's not the case. Nothing is working for the Liberals right now. Those that are influenced by Harper attack ads that the LPC is running are turning to the NDP instead. I think the Liberals really took the idea of being the only alternative to the Conservatives for granted because the NDP are killing them right now.

[Calgaryborn]

It's been suggested that with Easter this weekend and the Royal wedding coveraage next week that we won't see much change in the polls from here to election days.

[Dan02]

wow I have a cousin whose a dead ringer for Harper in his younger years.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Ark2

I thought that after Dion, the Liberals had no where to go but up. It's starting to look like that's not the case. Nothing is working for the Liberals right now. Those that are influenced by Harper attack ads that the LPC is running are turning to the NDP instead. I think the Liberals really took the idea of being the only alternative to the Conservatives for granted because the NDP are killing them right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if after the election you see the Liberals and NDP merge together like the Conservatives and Reform party did.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Calgary is likely to see a full slate of potted plants elected.

[old-fart]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Actually Duceppe was a militant maoist/communist sympathizer into his 30s. Even in the 80s, he was campaigning against capitalist forces.

Uh, I think that's what I said... homeless crazy mad scientist dude.

He must get along good with Iffy what with Iffy quoting Mao and all...

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I wouldn't be surprised if after the election you see the Liberals and NDP merge together like the Conservatives and Reform party did.

Why would the NDP do that? Right now if that polls correct then they're about to reduce the Liberal's to third banana.

Why merge when you can humiliate.

[FiftyBelow]

Strategically this may be good for the conservatives. If the ndp continue to garner support, the left vote might be sufficiently split to allow for the cons to get a majority.

[Ark2]

The NDP are really slipping under the radar here and I think that's partly contributing to their recent surge. Nobody is attacking them. You've got the Conservative going after the Liberals and the Liberals going after the Conservatives, meanwhile everyone ignores the NDP while they attack both Conservatives and Liberals in their ads and this is precisely why people think that Layton is the most honest of the big three. If no one bothers to attack your record because they view you as too inconsequential you'll end up looking pretty good.

Perhaps this is a good tactic on the Conservatives' part, as two strong left wing parties helps their cause, but for the Liberals, this is just another costly blunder. It really speaks with how arrogant that party is as they thought they could just gain the left vote without even having to compete with the NDP. This is turning into the campaign from hell for Ignatieff.

As for the election itself, I think these recent poll results show why we need a Conservative majority more than ever now. Can you imagine a Jack Layton led coalition? This could end up being the most disastrous result for this country imaginable.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I wouldn't be surprised if after the election you see the Liberals and NDP merge together like the Conservatives and Reform party did.

There's more chance of the Libs hiring a hitman and taking out Layton.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by SebC

Frankly, I see it the complete opposite way. What's the harm, that people vote strategically? All that does is it makes the results more closely approximate instant-runoff voting, which as far as I'm concerned is a better system anyways.

Well for starters, voting strategically benefits some much more than others. For example, those in Newfoundland don't have the same information that others do in BC. If BC sees a Liberal sweep of Ontario, they may vote Conservative to counterbalance, or vote Liberal to get on the Gravy Train. In my mind it becomes a vote for the politics, not for the policies.

It (the decision to either allow or deny early transmission) had to go one way or the other, and unsurprisingly, some people aren't happy that it didn't go their way. Rather than sucking it up, they choose to be sore losers (and it wasn't even a contest). At the simplest level, I just think it's kinda childish.

[flamingreen]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Calgary is likely to see a full slate of potted plants elected.

At least Calgary North gets an unique type of plant, Michellous Rempella.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Ark2

As for the election itself, I think these recent poll results show why we need a Conservative majority more than ever now. Can you imagine a Jack Layton led coalition? This could end up being the most disastrous result for this country imaginable.

The Liberals would never ever stoop low enough to prop up Layton as Prime Minister. If they did that, they might as well disband cause they would have no purpose left as a political party.

If NDP is 2nd place in a minority situation, the Liberals would prop up the Conservatives for a couple of years (Harper would change some policy to fit the Liberals since they're not that far apart) and then there would be another election in 2013 with a new exciting Liberal leader.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The Liberals would never ever stoop low enough to prop up Layton as Prime Minister. If they did that, they might as well disband cause they would have no purpose left as a political party.

If NDP is 2nd place in a minority situation, the Liberals would prop up the Conservatives for a couple of years (Harper would change some policy to fit the Liberals since they're not that far apart) and then there would be another election in 2013 with a new exciting Liberal leader.

As a political nutbar, I'm really interested in the next liberal leaders. Personally I think its either going to be Bob Rae who has been lusting after the job for a long time, or young Mister Trudeau.

I think that both of those fore runners would be a disaster, Rae is universally loathed in Ontario, and he comes across as extremely arrogant and conceited, and the West won't trust a former Dipper in Liberal clothing.

Justin Trudeau would run on name recognition, but he is having struggles holding onto his seat. He comes across as arrogant especially after the Maclean article where he brags obout his lavish and hugely expensive wedding. Trudeau's name recognition will kill him east of Ontario as well.