Wednesday, March 24, 2004
To Jack: Make Harper out to be just another Republican
If I was to send a letter to the NDPs Jack Layton, it would go something like this
I have flirted with joining the Federal NDP for some time now. What holds me back is several key policies that I disagree with and the belief that if things do not change the electorate will again assign the NDP to the margins of Canada’s political debate. With regard to the latter, the sponsorship scandal has me particularly worried. The Liberals have dropped in the polls and the Conservatives have made significant gains. The NDP, meanwhile, have stayed pretty much the same. If this holds true and the sponsorship scandal turns out to be the election’s defining issue, not only will the NDP not return to its pre 1993 status, but the whole national debate will shift to the right. My question to you is does the NDP have any plan to shift the focus of the campaign in a different direction?
For what little it is worth, I would suggest that you go after Harper and not Martin. The problem with going after Martin rather than Harper is that the NDP’s strength is that its stance on various big issues is in line with what the majority of Canadians are thinking (gay marriage, Iraq, gun control, the failure of the war on drugs, decriminalization of marijuana) and while Harper’s social conservatism makes him an inviting target, Martin is holding his cards close to his chest. (From a strategic point of view, I can understand Martin’s reluctance to show his hand. He risks loosing a lot of support, particularly in Ontario’s hinterlands. That said, in the mid to long term backing gay marriage and the decriminalization marijuana makes perfect political sense. Not only, are younger voters increasingly on side, but the Western press firmly backs these two issues. Indeed, the Economist pronounced Canada “cool” and the New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg said the following in the independence issue no less. “Good old Canada. It’s the kind of country that makes you proud to be a North American.” All and all, in the US alone, gay marriage and a plan to decriminalize pot, has gained Canada glowing reviews in the NY Times, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury, Pittsburg Gazette, the Christian Science Monitor and the aforementioned New Yorker. http://canadawide.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_canadawide_archive.html [Scroll down to "Is Cananda cool?"] By the way, if Canada could somehow find a way, in a few years time, around US objections and become the first country to legalize marijuana, I am sure Canada would receive a mountain of positive press.) The tricky thing is that in so long as Martin is content to hold his deck close to his chest, the NDP will have a difficult time making these issues key election issues. It is not enough to raise Harper’s social conservatism. The NDP will need to make a lot of noise in the process.
The way I think this can be done is to compare Harper to Bush. A simple 5 columned add in several key newspapers should do the trick. In the first column list the issues (Iraq, gay marriage, etc.). The next column should contain a box for every issue listed. At the top of the column should be a picture of George Bush. For every issue Bush supports mark the appropriate box with an X. In the next column over do the same for Harper and the next column after that for yourself. Finally, at the top of the last column should be a Canadian flag, representing the Canadian population. The heading for the ad should be as follows: Where do Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton draw their inspiration from? (The NDP should try to paint Martin as another Mulroney. They can say that Martin too is snuggling up to Quebec separatism, that his government is scandal ridden, that he shares the same corporate world view and that Bush is to Martin what Reagan was to Mulroney. Heck, you could ask when Martin and Bush where going to do their version of when “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling".)
The ad will naturally enough draw strong condemnation. People will talk about latent anti-Americanism in Canada and the South Korean and German elections will be mentioned and perhaps the Spanish. However, far from hurting the NDP, all this publicity will help draw attention to the NDP platform and will make these issues the focus of the upcoming election. Canadians, particularly those in BC and Quebec, will be all too happy to voice their disapproval of anyone barring any resemblance to Bush. What is more, as the American election is in November, if the accusation that Harper is just another Republican sticks, the NDP will be able to piggy back on what Kerry will be saying about his Republican counterpart in the States.
This will be especially useful when it comes to the subject of gay marriage. Like the Conservative party and, indeed, the NDP, the Republican Party has many contradictory tenets. It is at once the party of Red America, the poorer, less educated, less cosmopolitan and more religious cousin of Blue America. 95 of the top 100 richest zip codes went blue in 2000. If a University professor belongs to one the two parties, chances are he is a Democrat. More than 90% are and this is true holds true across academia, from the smallest colleges to the Ivy League. At the same time, the Republican Party is also a party of the super rich and the established corporate elite. The way Rove and company are able to play to both groups is by giving the later group most every thing it wants, while at the same time throwing a few legislative crumbs that appeal the prejudges of its socially conservative base. Bush’s proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage is perfect example of the Republicans trying to buy many Red Americans, particularly those in the so called Rust Belt, who are waking up to the fact the voting Republican is not in their economic interest.
Where this relates back to Conservative party is that by developing a strategy that appeals both to rural Canadians and the Bay Street crowd, Harper, a la Bush, will try to have his cake and eat it too. By telling rural Canadians that they are being bought out at a bargain basement price, forbidding gay couples, for example, from marrying is not worth cuts to social services that will most affect them, the NDP can defeat this strategy and take many of those rural seats that are up for grabs.
If I was to send a letter to the NDPs Jack Layton, it would go something like this
I have flirted with joining the Federal NDP for some time now. What holds me back is several key policies that I disagree with and the belief that if things do not change the electorate will again assign the NDP to the margins of Canada’s political debate. With regard to the latter, the sponsorship scandal has me particularly worried. The Liberals have dropped in the polls and the Conservatives have made significant gains. The NDP, meanwhile, have stayed pretty much the same. If this holds true and the sponsorship scandal turns out to be the election’s defining issue, not only will the NDP not return to its pre 1993 status, but the whole national debate will shift to the right. My question to you is does the NDP have any plan to shift the focus of the campaign in a different direction?
For what little it is worth, I would suggest that you go after Harper and not Martin. The problem with going after Martin rather than Harper is that the NDP’s strength is that its stance on various big issues is in line with what the majority of Canadians are thinking (gay marriage, Iraq, gun control, the failure of the war on drugs, decriminalization of marijuana) and while Harper’s social conservatism makes him an inviting target, Martin is holding his cards close to his chest. (From a strategic point of view, I can understand Martin’s reluctance to show his hand. He risks loosing a lot of support, particularly in Ontario’s hinterlands. That said, in the mid to long term backing gay marriage and the decriminalization marijuana makes perfect political sense. Not only, are younger voters increasingly on side, but the Western press firmly backs these two issues. Indeed, the Economist pronounced Canada “cool” and the New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg said the following in the independence issue no less. “Good old Canada. It’s the kind of country that makes you proud to be a North American.” All and all, in the US alone, gay marriage and a plan to decriminalize pot, has gained Canada glowing reviews in the NY Times, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury, Pittsburg Gazette, the Christian Science Monitor and the aforementioned New Yorker. http://canadawide.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_canadawide_archive.html [Scroll down to "Is Cananda cool?"] By the way, if Canada could somehow find a way, in a few years time, around US objections and become the first country to legalize marijuana, I am sure Canada would receive a mountain of positive press.) The tricky thing is that in so long as Martin is content to hold his deck close to his chest, the NDP will have a difficult time making these issues key election issues. It is not enough to raise Harper’s social conservatism. The NDP will need to make a lot of noise in the process.
The way I think this can be done is to compare Harper to Bush. A simple 5 columned add in several key newspapers should do the trick. In the first column list the issues (Iraq, gay marriage, etc.). The next column should contain a box for every issue listed. At the top of the column should be a picture of George Bush. For every issue Bush supports mark the appropriate box with an X. In the next column over do the same for Harper and the next column after that for yourself. Finally, at the top of the last column should be a Canadian flag, representing the Canadian population. The heading for the ad should be as follows: Where do Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton draw their inspiration from? (The NDP should try to paint Martin as another Mulroney. They can say that Martin too is snuggling up to Quebec separatism, that his government is scandal ridden, that he shares the same corporate world view and that Bush is to Martin what Reagan was to Mulroney. Heck, you could ask when Martin and Bush where going to do their version of when “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling".)
The ad will naturally enough draw strong condemnation. People will talk about latent anti-Americanism in Canada and the South Korean and German elections will be mentioned and perhaps the Spanish. However, far from hurting the NDP, all this publicity will help draw attention to the NDP platform and will make these issues the focus of the upcoming election. Canadians, particularly those in BC and Quebec, will be all too happy to voice their disapproval of anyone barring any resemblance to Bush. What is more, as the American election is in November, if the accusation that Harper is just another Republican sticks, the NDP will be able to piggy back on what Kerry will be saying about his Republican counterpart in the States.
This will be especially useful when it comes to the subject of gay marriage. Like the Conservative party and, indeed, the NDP, the Republican Party has many contradictory tenets. It is at once the party of Red America, the poorer, less educated, less cosmopolitan and more religious cousin of Blue America. 95 of the top 100 richest zip codes went blue in 2000. If a University professor belongs to one the two parties, chances are he is a Democrat. More than 90% are and this is true holds true across academia, from the smallest colleges to the Ivy League. At the same time, the Republican Party is also a party of the super rich and the established corporate elite. The way Rove and company are able to play to both groups is by giving the later group most every thing it wants, while at the same time throwing a few legislative crumbs that appeal the prejudges of its socially conservative base. Bush’s proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage is perfect example of the Republicans trying to buy many Red Americans, particularly those in the so called Rust Belt, who are waking up to the fact the voting Republican is not in their economic interest.
Where this relates back to Conservative party is that by developing a strategy that appeals both to rural Canadians and the Bay Street crowd, Harper, a la Bush, will try to have his cake and eat it too. By telling rural Canadians that they are being bought out at a bargain basement price, forbidding gay couples, for example, from marrying is not worth cuts to social services that will most affect them, the NDP can defeat this strategy and take many of those rural seats that are up for grabs.
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