Oct 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Harpernomics
Canadian Liberal Party messaging might look familiar to anyone watching ads from America’s campaign:
Right down to “Bush-style policies.”
28 Responses to “Harpernomics”
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October 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Who said Bush hurt America’s influence in the world? Now even parties in other countries are using him in their ads!
October 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
You mean there’s a country right next door, where a whole political party calls itself liberal? Is this some kind of put-on?
October 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Two posts on Canada in one day. Thanks, Matthew!
Regarding “Bush-style policies”: believe it or not, Bush has probably been mentioned more often in our election campaign than in yours, particularly by the NDP. If Obama wins, those on the left who are fond of straw-men will have trouble with their demagoguery.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
very strange seeing the word “liberal” touted in an ad, i must say
October 9th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
As a former Canadian resident, I have some interest in this race. Harper has definitely followed Bush-like policies. Especially Missile Defense and continued troops (not peacekeepers) in Afghanistan.
The Liberal’s biggest problem is their leader Dion is thought of as a wimp or nerd. Polling shows the NDP (left) are making gains on the Conservatives and Liberals (center-left) in National polls, but looking at the number of votes they got nationally in 2006 didn’t help their numbers all that much. I believe 29 seats with 17.48% of the votes, while Bloc Quebecois got 51 seats with 10.48%, so it all depends on the results in the individual ridings.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Wow. Bush has given the Kiss of Death to all kinds of political leadders. Blair, Gordon Brown, McCain, Harper…the King of Saudi Arabia better watch out.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Another thing is that Harper was REALLY gung-ho about joining Bush in Iraq. He also tries to stoke stupid culture war distractions (he forced a vote on Same Sex Marriage, where thankfully he lost), he released advertisments talking about nothing but his family (a big nono here…he was lambasted for it)
The Harper = Bush meme only gets traction because he’s really seen as a wannabe toadie to the US…like Mulroney was to Reagan.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
A reasonable facsimile of American ads, but they still look kinda cheap.
Keep trying, Canada! One day you’ll catch up to our wonderful Democracy!
October 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Harper was so gung ho about going to Iraq, as a matter of fact, that he copied Australian PM John Howard’s speech almost word-for-word and delivered it in the House of Commons.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
where a whole political party calls itself liberal?
Don’t worry – they’re liberal in name only, but otherwise a tool for business.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
They’re far from perfect, but they are nonetheless liberal.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Unlike your system, however, our government can get caught in a three-four way tie which forces everyone to compromise. Sadly, this doesn’t ever last long. But everyone I talk to wants another minority government because it forces the parties to play to the center.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Hey Matt,
Also check out this ad from the NDP:
It’s another Bush-Harper ad from a few weeks ago. I thought it was quite well done.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Sorry, I screwed up the tag. This is the Bush-Harper ad from the NDP:
http://www.npd.ca/video/conservateurs-publicite-npd
Hope it works this time.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
They’re far from perfect, but they are nonetheless liberal.
They’re Liberal, not liberal. They’re only “liberal” in a truly American sense of the word, where the center is much further to the right than it is in most western nations.
The Liberals are, for my money, the epitome of western centrism.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I know this is snark, but to make a serious point: an American level of slickness would be counterproductive in a Canadian ad–it would read as sleazy hucksterism….
October 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Not only are they “Liberals,” but, at least in parts of western Canada, they aren’t even the left party. That would be the NDP.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Unlike Bush Harper has been very responsible and capable. Canada created 105,000 jobs last month (the equivalent of the U.S. creating 3 million) our banks are sound and the World Back sees our economy the most secure in the western world.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
about “A reasonable facsimile of American ads, but they still look kinda cheap.”
and “(….) an American level of slickness would be counterproductive in a Canadian ad–it would read as sleazy hucksterism….”,
parties are allowed to spend a maximum of 18 million dollars, for the whole campaign…
October 10th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I am Canadian, I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba and am a firm supporter of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada. I also, however, happen to support Barack Obama.
The characterizing of Harper as a Bush lap-dog is demagoguery, plain and simple.
We here owe many thanks to our current economic stability to Harper’s policies that tightened our banks lending policies more than a year ago. In addition, they have announced a variation of a nationalized mortgage policy today to free up credit.
Many Canadians are very progressive and the Liberal party and NDP are relying on sleazy fear-mongering ads to scare voters away from a party that HAS NOT followed Bush in every which way.
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