Posted on 05/01/2005 7:18:12 AM PDT by fanfan
WHAT IF they held an election and nobody came?
As reluctant Canadians are dragged kicking and screaming towards a probable spring campaign, the likelihood looms large that voters will stay home in droves.
Call it electile dysfunction on a national scale -- Canadians so angry and disillusioned with the shambles in federal politics that they can't bring themselves to vote for anyone.
It was bad enough that last year's election set a 100-year record for voter absenteeism, Paul Martin and his Liberal government having been handed power by barely 20% of the registered electorate.
But by the time the muck settles this time around, the coming election could well establish yet another low-water mark.
Last year's poor showing on election day was driven primarily by voters turned off by their lack of choices -- angry with Liberal corruption, but unimpressed with Stephen Harper and fearful of his new party's agenda.
Unfortunately, it looks like the coming election could be more of the same. Polls indicate voters are even angrier at Liberal corruption, but only marginally more comfortable with the Conservatives and their leader.
O Canada: Mad as hell and not going to vote anymore.
The Liberals, for one, are counting on it.
Not content to turn Canadians off politics by the millions, the Grits are plotting a stonewall-and-stall strategy in Parliament aimed at delaying election day until -- wait for it -- sometime in the lazy, hazy days of July.
Alternatively, if forced to go earlier, the Liberals are looking at June 27, a rerun of last year's voting on the first day of school holidays. Conventional political wisdom is that a low voter turnout favours the incumbent -- in this case, the Liberals.
By the same thinking, Quebecers disgusted with Grit corruption -- and apparently that's a majority of them -- are less likely to forgo beer and a barbecue to vote than are federalists worried about a sweep by the separatist Bloc Quebecois.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Conservatives have pencilled dates to defeat the government as early as this week, sending the country to the ballot box sometime in early June.
Harper has summoned Conservative MPs to a special caucus meeting tomorrow night in Ottawa, and the general sense is the fuse has already been lit to blow up the minority government, preferably May 18.
But the problem for all parties is that in the current explosive political climate, most of the usual tenets of election planning are out the window. "It's just too crazy, too volatile, to call anything right now," says one of the most clear-headed pols I know.
THE TIPPING POINT
Despite Harper's pledge this past week to bring down the Liberal government "as soon as possible," his strategists are still studying the polls for what they call the tipping point -- the point at which the numbers are not likely to get any better. If they get a lot worse in the coming weeks, all bets are off.
More than anything, the Conservatives know they currently have the perfect storm for a campaign against Liberal corruption.
If they can bring down the government by mid-month, they will get weeks of campaigning on the back of the Gomery inquiry with its deadly daily media feed of Grit greed.
As a bonus, Jean Chretien will be in court in the second week of June, fighting to get Gomery expelled from the inquiry, a spectacle certain to crank up the electoral blood pressure about the same time as the televised leaders' debates.
The same week, three of the stars of the sponsorship scandal head into court to begin their criminal fraud trials.
Of course, the Liberals will be using every trick in the book to try to thwart the Conservatives' plans.
Now for the really bad news: Whether the election comes sooner or later, it is probably going to be longer than usual, possibly up to six weeks.
A Liberal strategist confides: "The thinking is the more people see of Harper, the less they will like him, and we will probably want a longer campaign to get our message out."
Another election, another Liberal smear campaign from the prime minister who promised to cure the democratic deficit.
No wonder voters are giving up in disgust.
Please let me know if you want on or off the Adscam ping list
Furthermore, I would appreciate not having to read the name 'Celine Dion' this early in the morning. Blech! LOL.
Our grits come from corruption factories.
They are ground from dried hominy which is just corn that has been so soaked in lye to remove the hulls of the kernals.
I'd be interested to see a poll in the MSM asking who Canadians would vote for from Liberals, PC, Alliance, and NDP.
I gotta get my eyes checked. At first glance I thought the headline was "Girls Counting on Erectile Dysfunction."
MMmmmm. Thanks.
Could we run Peter Jennings by deporting him...
From ipsos-reid
Dudley Do-Right?
The girls don't wanna have fun?
Great work Backhoe.
BTW, grits are a staple here down South-- usually slavered with butter & salt to perk up the rather bland taste. I make my leftovers into cakes and fry them on the griddle as a variation.
That would be great. Once I get the email, I'll add it to the Adscam ping list page. Is that OK?
All this Grits talk is making me hungry...time for breakfast. LOL.
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