$1:
Coalition: Bad, VERY BAAAAAAAAAAAAD
Chill. Let me explain myself. You can tell me why I’m wrong later.
How will Canadians take this coalition government? We can say all we want about how “this is in the Canadian public’s best interest, we need an economic stimulus package, blah, blah, blah...” (don’t get it twisted, I sincerely think this is true) but the bottom line is that this looks like a power grab. A power grab during the most serious economic crisis in 70 years. Canadians are looking for politicians who will help alleviate this crisis, not use it as justification for a political power grab. THEY WANT ANSWERS NOT PARTISAN POLITICS. If Canadians considered us to be the party that would do anything for power, this move that solidifies that image. I know, I know, they started it. But we’ll be better off if we show that we aren’t of the same breed.
A coalition with Jack Layton and the NDPs? C’mon. You’ve got to be kidding me. We’ve spent the last 50 years making it clear to centre-left/left voters that a vote for the NDP is a vote wasted, and in a week we’ll be reversing all that by having this coalition gov’t. It makes Layton and the NDP a legitimate option. This only makes the NDP more of an electoral threat in the future. Furthermore, it’s going to be hard for the Blue Liberal segment of the party (a large segment) to get behind a coalition with the NDP (although Cherniak has).
Think that Westerners hate the Liberals already; think about the fallout after this. This will play extremely BAD in the West. EXTREMELY BAD. I’m talking NEP BAD. Steven Harper and the Conservatives are the embodiment of the West overcoming decades of alienation and frustration. This coalition will rob them of this. They’ll be pissed (PISSSED). Everyone has basically acknowledged that for the party to be relevant in the future and truly be a national party, we need to be competitive in the West (wealth, people, power heading here). This puts us back another 20 years. For the sake of Liberals in the West DONT DO IT.
Think strategically. Harper would be responsible for managing the country during this economic recession; an economic recession that is hyped to (or has?) shake this country at its core. In the meantime, the Liberals are re-building their party. When the economic recession rocks Harper (this is global issue that Canada alone cannot alleviate), the Liberals will be primed and ready to spring into action. By having this coalition government we reverse this. Instead, the global recession rocks us, Conservatives are ready to roll with attack ads highlighting our failures and our-petty-power-grabbing nature. Not good.
The rest: a coalition government during this recession? Effect on the market? A coalition supported by a separatist party (not cool homie, not cool)? A changing of the leader come May? Didn’t Canadians just voted for a Conservative minority gov’t, not a Lib/NDP coalition one? TOO MANY VARIABLES. TOO MANY SCENERIOS THAT COULD MAKE THINGS WORSE. TOO MANY WAYS IN WHICH THE LIBERALS COULD GET SCREWED.
A member of the Libblogs.. but probably not for very long.
http://straightouttaedmonton.blogspot.c ... aaaad.html
