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Election 2004 ... and the FutureWell, its finally over. Probably the most exciting campaign since 1984. After the dust has settled, we have out first minority government since 1979. If the results hold up the way they are, The Grits cannot just make deals with the NDP to stay in power, they may have to go to each party at least once for this mandate. Now we have heard Dave's side of the story (his picks looked just like his hockey predictions this year), time to hear the right side of the story.OVERALL VIEW OF RESULTS Liberal - 135 Conservative - 99 Bloc Qubcois - 54 N.D.P. - 19 Independent - 1 There is really a bit of good and bad for all parties in the results. I really thought going into the home stretch, the Tories could catch the Labs and even slightly pass them. All the doubts that people were having in Harper and the Tories came out near the end, and enough of them, along with those frigid "strategic" voters helped push the Skipper into the Captain's chair. It almost looks like one of those pizza parliaments in Europe. I don't think any of the parties want to defeat the government very soon though. The war chest have to be built back up for all parties concerned. I think especially the Conservatives want to wait a while before an election. They still need to have a policy conference, plus they would want to show that they can act responsible in parliament. I think the Tories will be more of a threat next time around, if they do things right. THE PARTIES LIBERALS  Well, what can I
say, they won.
Got
to give the Liberal machine props
to the scare tactics they used to sway enough NDP voters to vote for
them in Ontario. This was also a good result in that the Liberals were
punished for their shady dealings that everyone knows about now. It
looked good for them on election night in which they could make an
alliance with only the NDP to pass bills. After the dust settled, they
have come up one seat short. They will now have to work on an issue by
issue basis. The problem with that is say if the Liberals and Tories
get together and pass the Missile Defence bill, the NDP can get so
pissed off at them, that they will not help the Grits out anymore. I
can't see this setup of parliament lasting more than a year, year and a
half tops. If Paul can't get the Liberal's act together, look for a
leadership contest in the near future. Biggest Shock - Being able to increase their seats in B.C. to 8, after all the bad press they got in B.C. Pleasant Surprise - Getting 135 seats. Biggest disappointment - Many of their "star" candidates not being elected, perhaps Glen Murray in Winnipeg being the biggest shock, losing to Stephen Fletcher, Canada's first quadruplicate MP. CONSERVATIVES  This
was a bitter-sweet election for the Tories. They have the most
seats for an opposition party since Joe Clark's PC's in 1980 got 103
seats. They finally made some end roads in Ontario getting 24 seats.
Their caucus seems to be a lot more diverse. As the campaign went on,
they started giving themselves great expectations, perhaps too great.
That hurt them, along with some of the "intelligent" comments made by
some of the "superstars" of caucus. The Tories still have a lot of work
to do within the party before the keys of the country will be handed to
them. First, they have to weed out some of these crazy mofos in the
party. I think I don't need to name names because we all know who they
are. Next, they need to look like they have a lot more old PCers
involved in the party than they do. This can go hand in hand with
taking some more moderate stances on their social issues, because their
fiscal agenda looks appealing to many people. They also have to get a
policy conference under their belt before the next election so they can
have no question marks and hidden agenda allegations. Once they can do
this and get a good parliamentary record for this mandate, they can
have a decent chance next time. As for the Quebec issue, a tonne of
work is needed. A few ridings around Quebec City, they had a pretty
good showing, finishing second. Looking at what this party has gone
though in the past six months, this result is a pretty good one. Biggest Shock - Knocking off some big name incumbents from the Liberal and NDP camps with some unknown people. Pleasant Surprise - Belinda being able to get her seat late in the night, she will look good on the parliament cameras. Biggest Disappointment - The results east of Ontario. BLOC QUEBECOIS  They probably had the
most successful
campaign, and did the least work
to earn it. Last year, they looked like it was the end of the Bloc
pretty soon, except for a little scandal that came up. Of course, no
one should look into this as a vote for a referendum. Even Gilles
Duceppe was saying that. The bloc will probably have the same roll in
parliament as they did in the past years. The true test of the party
will be in the next couple of elections, especially when the adscam is
over with, and if the Tories can get their foot in the door. As for
now, I am sure they are very happy with the 54 seats they have. Biggest Shock- That they were smart enough to not wave the sovereignty flag during the campaign. Pleasant Surprise- Gilles Duceppe's performance in the leadership debates. Biggest Disappointment- That they didn't get more seats. NEW DEMOCRATS  The pinkos are back
with a
vengeance!!!! Well, sort of. Jack Layton
gave them some hope and expectations with his flair and style. They did
increase their vote, but they just didn't get into seats, and seats are
what matter in Canadian politics. We can see why they are big fans of
proportional representation, because they can't win in our system. Many
people thought that they would get at least in the mid to high 20's for
seats, maybe in to the 30's. The Grits used the old "A vote for the NDP
is a vote for the Boogiemen A.K.A. Tories". It probably worked in some
places too. In some of those close 3-way ridings, it may have made the
difference. Jack Layton was very disappointing as a leader. He said
some really stupid things, and was not as magnetic of a leader as we
all thought. He did win his very tough seat of Toronto-Danforth, but
his wife Olivia Chow didn't. Thank God she didn't, because she is so
annoying. Biggest Shock- Being shutout in Saskatchewan. The first time this happened in the history of the N.D.P. Pleasant Surprise- The improvement in Eastern Canada. Biggest Disappointment- Not having enough seats to make a formal alliance with the Liberals. So there you have it, a brief synopsis of what I thought of the 38th General election. I do think that a 39th election with be happening sooner rather than later. So lets take a brief politics break and get ready for the next one. Related Rants: Joe's Election Predictions (2004) Joe's Final Election Predictions (2004) United Right Fails to sink Martin; Left makes big strides canadianwild.ca Feedback 0 Comments canadianwild.ca Interactive: Your Chance To Rant |
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