How are you doing after five years of Conservative government? Michael Ignatieff would like you to say you're no better off now than you were before Stephen Harper took office.
Photo from cbc.ca
When Ignatieff kicked off his 20/11 Tour in Winnipeg and unveiled his new ad campaign, he stated that "when (the Liberal Party) asks Manitobans if they are better off - and if Canada is better off - today under Stephen Harper compared to five years ago, the answer is resoundingly 'no.'"
This statement seems to indicate something interesting about the Liberal strategy, which is evident in the choice of language in Ignatieff's speech. The Liberal Party is still clearly focusing its attacks on Harper's credibility rather than his conservative government as a whole. So far, the tactic seems to have failed as the Liberals are still polling behind the governing Conservatives.
I personally question why Ignatieff is still beating this dead horse, so to speak. If attacking the leader of the government hasn't worked to improve the Liberal Party's numbers in the polls after years of trying, a rational individual would think it best to switch gears and try another tactic.
The problem Ignatieff and the Liberal Party still faces is that they are unable to propose meaningful policy alternatives that resonate with the Canadian electorate, which at the same time differentiates their views from the Conservative Party's. I suspect that in the short term, or so long as Ignatieff is leader of the opposition, we can look forward to more of the same.
Being that you're so politically conscious, at least in my eyes, what alternate tactic would you suggest? You say that the Liberal Party can't propose policy alternatives which engage and align with the public that do not differentiate them from the Conservative Party. Do you think this is because people are more conservative than they think, or, more likely, that both parties are gravitating toward the middle to cater to the people at large, and thus have sacrificed their most extreme opinions for the sake of acceptability.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge politics whiz, but I can understand what you're saying. As you said, Ignatieff is beating a dead horse by attacking Harper personally.
ReplyDeleteI'm NDP so don't like having Harper in power, but Ignatieff hasn't really been able to show what he would do different that would benefit Canadians. That would probably help his party more than attacking the Conservatives.
In response to your question Chuka, I think Ignatieff is in a horrible position. The previous liberal leader Stephane Dion tried to differentiate the Liberal Party by gravitating towards the left of the political spectrum to no avail. Ignatieff has to fight the conservatives for the middle.
ReplyDeleteIdeally, his best option would be to attack the conservatives on the economy; however, the liberals supported conservative motions at the beginning of the economic downturn which means liberals can't attack Harper on the economy without getting egg on their faces.
Without going into great detail, I think Ignatieff has one viable option - step down after the next election. Unfortunately I don't know who could fix that mess. I suspect the only person who can defeat the Conservative Party is Harper himself.