Friday, July 31, 2015

Smart Or Stupid? (Mulcair And The Debates)

Mulcair is threatening to pull out of any debate that Harper ain't at.  Already, a tide of outrage is rising on twitter.  Democracy is being defiled!!! and so forth.  Mulcair would be wise to ignore it. Catering to that tiny sliver of the nation's citizenry  who are immersed in its federal politics is profitless.  Its like trying to service a few thousand high maintenance girlfriends. Exhausting, and a money sucker.  So how will this play to the wider audience of the unwashed and apathetic?   That is, the target audience?  Well, probably not badly.  Mulcair wants to be Prime Minister, not one of the also-rans.  So why waste time arguing with losers over scraps? Fight the guy you're out to replace!  That's the thinking behind the move, as far as I can figure it.  So: smart or stupid?  Right now I'd file it as dirty but effective. As for the LPC response, well I hope it doesn't involve whining about how unfair life is. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

LPC should go ahead anyhow, any time you get to spread your message is valuable ad time.

Gayle said...

What Bill said. People will still watch.

Besides, Mulcair may change his mind depending on what is happening in the polls by October.

Omar said...

I think it's dipshit stupid. You want to enhance a dialogue that in some quarters already compares you to the likes of Harper? Yeah, dumb. I also think that if Trudeau and the Liberals were leading the polls right now you wouldn't see them backing out of any debates just because the pm chose not to show.

Steve Bloom said...

As a semi-distant observer, my question is how and to what extent Mulcair and Trudeau can cut a deal if October polling points toward another split vote allowing the Tories to retain power.

Thing_2 said...

To quote Mulcair when Harper pulled from the debates...

"He’s basically disdainful. Anything he can’t control, he’ll just avoid."

"And he’s shying away from real solid one-on-one debates. It’s a lack of respect for the voting public, a lack of respect for our democracy, and that’s our guy."

Andy Lehrer said...

Mulcair's ahead and if he's only debating Trudeau and May he risks leaking support to them while having little to gain. Tactically, it makes sense and if Trudeau were ahead of Mulcair he'd probably do the same thing.

Scott in Montreal said...

I don't get why Mulcair is saying this now. Focus on the debate this week, bud. It only makes him look arrogant, and his policy positions lack pragmatism. Unforced error, and Trudeau has already jumped on it. I think the underestimation of JT might just be the historical meme of this (presumptive) election.

Jeff said...

No risk, no reward. If Mulcair wipes the floor with Trudeau (as he has promised to do, using those words) then he solidifies the anti-Harper movement behind him and rides to victory with the Liberals in the dust. It's Liberal votes that Mulcair needs to become Prime Minister, not Conservative votes.

bigcitylib said...

|Steve. Not really that much if it looks like CPC has majority of seats. If together the oppo parties have more than 50%, then they would do a deal after the election.

jrkrideau said...

I think it may be a good move. Mulcair's response can be: If the Prime Minister of Canada is too afraid to show up and debate well it really isn't much of a debate.

The key is Harper cowardice. I would recommend all the other party leaders bow out as well and hammer the Cons. It is a bit sad when the PM is afraid to attend a debate. As the editorial cartoon a while ago put it; lecterns for the Libs, the NDP, the Greens and a nice snug closet for the PM.