April 14, 2005
Harper, Martin stake out territory for election
With the country in pre-election mode after the testimony of Jean Brault to the Gomery inquiry into AdScam, Prime Minister Paul Martin and Opposition Leader Stephen Harper are beginning the process of branding the opposing party.
Mr. Harper wants Canadians to see the Liberals as corrupt thieves who ripped off taxpayers for political gain. He wants the public to believe there is no way Mr. Martin could be the only guy in politics who didn't hear the rumours about the nefarious practices surrounding the Sponsorship Program or at least find him guilty by association.
For Mr. Martin, a good offense is his best defense. After all, you cannot, as he tried for a week, defend the alleged theft of taxpayers' money by Liberal operatives, the alleged corruption that ran to the highest level of the Liberal party and the alleged illegal campaign contributions the Liberals received by saying, "Not all Liberals are bad." So the Prime Minister has seized on a report from the Fraser Institute and co-authored by Reform Party founder Preston Manning and former Conservative Premier of Ontario, Mike Harris and is using it to suggest the Tories have yet another secret agenda - this time they want dismantle health care.
Of course we have heard this all before. During last year's election, Conservatives had secret agendas on abortion, gay rights and the Iraq War. Privatization of health care was not then considered to be a "secret" Tory agenda by the Liberals at that time, but an open one. For their part the Conservatives tried to hammer the Liberals on AdScam, but were unable to stave off the Grit attacks.
As Yogi Berra wisely said, "It's like deja vu all over again."
Posted by maxthecat at April 14, 2005 07:53 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2005/04/harper_martin_stake_out_territory_for_election.php