2011 Canadian Election Thread

[Parallex]

Final Thoughts: I don't think anybody won any votes... I think Harper may have lost some for the moment (moving to undecided... cost of being the guy in the metaphorical crosshairs) but I didn't see anything that will cause an immediate dramatic shift. I expect the debate tomorrow to be more of the same. Back to the hustings and selling their plans.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Stupid French people... seriously, watching the end of the debate the Bloc comes off as such an arrogant bunch of tools. I almost hope they separate and get the hell out of this country... we dont need them here anyways.

Good thing that you dont speak for all of us... Or even any more than yourself.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

I think this format doesn't speak to Harper's strengths. He's really struggling.

Layton was doing great until he went head to head with Ignatieff, and then I think he overreached.

TBQH, the one who seems most comfortable is Duceppe, but Harper is clearly very uncomfortable.

Interestingly enough, Duceppe does well in all the debates.

He has quality leadership materials, but his party represents everything I hate about politics.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Azure

Interestingly enough, Duceppe does well in all the debates.

He has quality leadership materials, but his party represents everything I hate about politics.

I thought duceppe was one of the best in past debates but for me he was poor today although i know that's super subjective. His command of english almost seemed to have gotten worse and he was hard to understand at points. Only thing he really did that stood out was refuse to let Harper claim that he is above a coalition by bringing up his history.

[zamler]

My take.

Layton was very good, and just about knocked out Ignatieff with his attendance jab

Harper was steady, uninspiring as a personality as he always is, but clear enough in his message

Ignatieff was all over the place and at times looked downright childish, he failed to show he is ready to become PM

Duceppe is irrelevant, and brought nothing useful to the debates whatsoever.

So honestly I think Ignatieff did the worst, because he had the most to gain, but I doubt his performance is going to make any difference in swaying votes his way.

[Azure]

Harper really isn't inspiring. But, I trust him more than any of the others, so he'll get my vote this year.

And there are a lot of things I don't like about his campaign, or the past few years. Starting with the stimulus, which I've said numerous times is a waste of money.

[TylerSVT]

Originally Posted by Azure

Interestingly enough, Duceppe does well in all the debates.

He has quality leadership materials, but his party represents everything I hate about politics.

Exactly, his political party has nothing to do with canada and everything to do with a province. The fact that they have so much power is a testament to how broken our system is.

[Azure]

A variety of articles already popping up after the debate saying that Harper made a strong stand.

I would tend to agree, especially considering that he spent most of the night trying to defend himself, while the other 3 spent most of the night attacking.

Layton is a tool.

[Matty81]

It seems like people's biases are defining their idea of "who won". Pretty strong opinions in here that conflict directly with one another.

Poster A:
I thought Ignatieff looked like they dug up a dead vampire, reanimated the corpse and sent him to the debates

Poster B:
Harper's weird appearance and tone of voice looked and sounded like a guy offering small children candy if they just climbed into his van

Hmmm... somewhere in the middle then?

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Azure

I would tend to agree, especially considering that he spent most of the night trying to defend himself, while the other 3 spent most of the night attacking.

They have to do this to a certain extent, but they also need to lay out the core of their election platforms. With Jack, I already know what he's about so I don't think he needed to rehash and repeat too much. But with Ignatieff, I don't know where the guy stands or how he would govern differently, except that Harper is ruining Canada, and taxing all the wrong people?

Layton is a tool.

He is what he is, one thing I do respect about Layton is he has dedicated himself to his job, no matter what. Not that I'd trust him to run this country, but I can't help but respect his tenacity. I wonder if he has his sights set on becoming the official opposition? I highly doubt that will happen though.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Hmmm... somewhere in the middle then?

No, I think you had it just about right lol.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Hmmm... somewhere in the middle then?

The middle:

The three federal leaders all did okay. No one won, no one lost. All three probably strengthened their base but it's unlikely that any of them swayed voters one way or another. Closest thing to a knock out punch was Layton calling out Ignatieff's attendance record.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Ark2

The middle:

The three federal leaders all did okay. No one won, no one lost. All three probably strengthened their base but it's unlikely that any of them swayed voters one way or another. Closest thing to a knock out punch was Layton calling out Ignatieff's attendance record.

I'd say you're bang on - excepting the knock out punch - everybody took a smack or two excepting Duceppe, who no one cared about.

It was basically 2 hours that I'd say no one watched entirely unless they are super into politics and already have their mind made up - it'll be more important how it is spun than anything because Joe idiot who is watching american idol when that was on will read the headline in the sun and that will conclude the debate to him.

Tomorrow the Globe will headline something like "Opposition leaders hammer Harper"

And the Post will be even more extreme with something like "Harper stands strong in face of coalition of criticisms"

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Tomorrow CBC will headline something like "Opposition leaders hammer Harper"

Fixed

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Fixed

Ya fair enough, CTV and the globe are decent compared to CBC. Anything compared to the Post just looks some degree of leftist (and also reads like a masters thesis - sorry Blatchford)

[zamler]

The old thread title was way better.

[flamesrock24]

I had never talked to anyone from Quebec about the Bloc before, so tonight I decided to have that conversation with a friend from Montreal.

She said that Quebec is not a part of the Constitution (which I seem to remember from a high school class) and as such the residents of Quebec are not granted the same rights and freedoms as the rest of Canada. She told me that most Quebecers' objective in voting for the Bloc is to try and get these same protections in lieu of not being part of th constitution. She mentioned that there is no desire by many to separate from Canada, and that she will stop voting for the Bloc once Quebec is recognized by the Constitution.

I'm not sure I agree with this, but I thought itwould be wise to get an opinion of the Bloc from a Quebecer's perspective before making a judgement...

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by flamesrock24

I had never talked to anyone from Quebec about the Bloc before, so tonight I decided to have that conversation with a friend from Montreal.

She said that Quebec is not a part of the Constitution (which I seem to remember from a high school class) and as such the residents of Quebec are not granted the same rights and freedoms as the rest of Canada. She told me that most Quebecers' objective in voting for the Bloc is to try and get these same protections in lieu of not being part of th constitution. She mentioned that there is no desire by many to separate from Canada, and that she will stop voting for the Bloc once Quebec is recognized by the Constitution.

I'm not sure I agree with this, but I thought itwould be wise to get an opinion of the Bloc from a Quebecer's perspective before making a judgement...

What rights or freedoms have these quebecers been lacking these past 150 years from us not in Quebec?

[flamesrock24]

I tried to find this out but she would not tell me lol. I don't think people who support Bill 101 should be the ones complaining about any kind of lack of rights to be quite honest

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by flamesrock24

I had never talked to anyone from Quebec about the Bloc before, so tonight I decided to have that conversation with a friend from Montreal.

She said that Quebec is not a part of the Constitution (which I seem to remember from a high school class) and as such the residents of Quebec are not granted the same rights and freedoms as the rest of Canada. She told me that most Quebecers' objective in voting for the Bloc is to try and get these same protections in lieu of not being part of th constitution. She mentioned that there is no desire by many to separate from Canada, and that she will stop voting for the Bloc once Quebec is recognized by the Constitution.

I'm not sure I agree with this, but I thought itwould be wise to get an opinion of the Bloc from a Quebecer's perspective before making a judgement...

49.4% voted to separate. I think you lost something in the translation of the word "many".