Friday, September 11, 2009

It's not the majority, it's the message

In a piece for the Post today I write about Stephen Harper's secret speech, why those fixating on the majority angle are missing the story, and why it's not helpful for his electoral prospects.

Those who are quick to dismiss the now infamous Stephen Harper taped speech by saying "well, of course he wants a majority" are missing the point. It's not so much the majority, but it's the message Harper portrayed about what he'd do with it if he got it.
And if you haven't seen it, here's the speech in its entirety:

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9 comments:

Kenneth Kerr said...

I couldn't agree more. A few friends of mine were saying exactly this, "omg, he wants a majority.. What leader wouldn't" - but it is the breathtaking hypocrisy, and quite frankly, the frightening&intimidating tone

Anonymous said...

Do you think that most people notice? I hope so because I'd rather his electoral prospects dimmed.

Scott in Montreal said...

Good column Jeff. And it's good you raise the point he has, as Elizabeth Thomson pointed out yesterday on CBC Newsworld, undone years of image makeover in one fell swoop.

Anonymous said...

indeed, I would advise the opposition parties to just play this video as often as possible. It may all sound sensible to his followers, but the rest of the country will be disgusted with most of the attitude in the speech. Goodbye Quebec, goodbye gun control supporters, goodbye supporters of a balanced judiciary, goodbye to respecting the rules of democracy. I think the coalition comment "their little coalition" is especially inflamatory for anyone who thinks a coalition is the only way out of our current minority deadlock.

CanadianSense said...

Who is scared? What was NEW in this speech?

A regular voter should be scared because Canada will be destroyed if Harper win his majority?

In 3-4 years Canada will no longer be recognizable?

Is this the narrative that will be used?

Jon Pertwee said...

How about

"Do you deserve to be taught a lesson?"

That works for me

McLea said...

Is this the narrative that will be used?

Dude, this is the narrative they've used for the past half decade. I saw HIDDEN AGENDA (TM) on Kinsella's site yesterday, and could have sworn I accidentally landed in his archives.

Gayle said...

"Is this the narrative that will be used?"

I would say Harper pretty much killed the "hidden agenda" thing until this tape came out.

If Harper is so willing to stand behind the comments on this tape, why does he only ever make them when he thinks the only people listening are his supporters? Why does he refrain from mentioning a majority?

Northern PoV said...

Thank You Jeff
Your column is the best commentary I have seen on this incident