I decided not to make the same mistake as last time so I joined the Conservative Party so I can vote for the leader. I watched the "debate" the other day and it was pretty weak, they were all poor speakers and didn't really say anything different from each other. What are your thoughts on the candidates?
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Derek Sloan - Probably the best in terms of conservative values but he has no chance of winning a federal election so I won't vote for him given this.
Leslyn Lewis - Optically, she has absolutely everything the left wants and would be quite an ironically entertaining leader. She has a masters in environmental studies, MBA in business and environment and has a PhD. She's a woman and black. The left would go crazy countering her. Unfortunately, she seems like she's a pretty weak politician and not very polished. I think she could learn the role and grow into it though. I'd say she is my first or second pick.
Peter MacKay - This guy reminds me too much like Scheer. He has no backbone. Constantly flips on things he says to appease leftists. He's not a new face and has demons in his closet. I think the people who'll vote conservative because of MacKay are already voting conservative so I don't think he brings anything to the table. He's perceived as being a part of the "old boys club" by some. I think in terms of conservative values, Peter seems to be willing to change anything to get elected. Too much of a politician and not what the conservatives need. MacKay is my third pick.
Erin O'Tool - I think Erin is up there with MacKay in terms of polish but comes with a cleaner slate. Erin seems more willing to stand up for conservative values than MacKay but also willing to compromise to get elected. I think his fat old white guy look is a detriment because he's pretty much the stereotypical conservative leader but it worked for Ford so maybe that's mostly irrelevant. Erin is probably my first pick but Lewis is a strong contender.
I really like Lewis, but her stance on abortion is a political non-starter in Canada.
The left have already managed to call both jews and blacks who don't toe the ideological line white supremacists. They'll do the same to Lewis and the paid for press will make people eat it.
Canadian politics and the assigned parties are all compromised.
There is no saving Canadian politics with more Canadian politics.
The liberals and the liberals in blue have been hand in hand for decades. The newest additions ( the commies in yellow and the commies in green) are just that. A one way ticket to the same destination they're all going. There is no choice. It's only perceived choice.
Very weak and unimpressive..
The current strategy of the CPC seems to be similar to the strategy of the Republicans in the states, run on minor tax breaks while appeasing the Leftist mob and letting them dominate the cultural arena
Mackay is somehow even softer and more spineless than Scheer, whereas O’Toole seems less lost but doesn’t really strike me as leadership material
All of this is likely paving the way for the Liberals regaining a majority..
Yep, I see a Liberal majority in the fall.
I really want the CPC to win, just like I really want the lawsuits challenging the gun ban to win, but Canada is too far gone. I'm exploring options to move my ass (and my money) out of Canada. I'd rather deal with right wing bible thumpers than this shit.
Leslyn Lewis- I was expecting a lot more from her but she flopped both debates. She says most of the right things but she's kind of useless when she goes off script or is pressed. Her "diversity" is the only real reason you'd selected her. She would get murdered by Trudeau in any debate or election campaign.
Derek Sloan- He overperformed in the debates and I suspect he might give Trudeau a run for his money because he offers something different. I suspect that the Conservative base would be happiest with him as well but are scared to admit it. The abortion shit isn't good though, Trudeau loves to play up a woman's right to choose to galvanize his supporters and get them to the polls. I'd take him personally because it's a ranked ballot.
Erin O'Toole- Probably the best option, he was solid in the debates and is French isn't bad either. His military service is a plus and his work with veterans is commendable. He has decent foreign affairs chops but the connections between his campaign and the Muslim Brotherhood are more than a little concerning.
Peter MacKay- The heir apparent. If you asked me what I thought would go down before the 2017 convention I'd have told you that they'd elect a placeholder to whittle Trudeau down to a minority then bring in Peter MacKay for when that minority fell. He's a strong link back to the days of the PC party prior to the Alliance which is great for a centrist party that is trying to win some progressives to their side. His Iranian pageant-winner wife (much more PC than Belinda Stronach) is an international activist who has won awards from the UN and brought attention to the execution of children and the persecution of muslims who have been viewed as heretics by fundamentalists. She was also instrumental in bringing Omar Khadr back from the States. He's soft, progressive, handsome, and just the guy that the party would want if they were trying to out-Trudeau Trudeau.
The problem being that you can't out-Trudeau Trudeau. The NDP got slaughtered doing that, the CPC would do the same. The progressives have their guy and they like him. The only way you can get rid of him is to do something different.
Canadian elections aren't won on who brings in the most people across the spectrum. Canadian elections are won by who energizes their supporters to vote.
Sloan could do it. O'Toole might stand a chance but mark my words, this convention was rigged in favour of MacKay years ago and he will lead to another Trudeau majority.
Traditionally Canadian elections were won by owning the center. You need votes in that Quebec - Windsor Axis or you'll never have a majority. Harper owned that center when he got a majority, but then started edging further to the right the longer he was in power.
The next election though... I have no clue. Trudeau got elected even after blackface, SNC, and all the ethics violations. They literally bribed the press to keep them on a leash, and nobody is bating and eyelash.
We might be completly fucked at this point unless somebody at the CPC finds a way to break the Liberal stranglehold on the media.
That's where the thinking is wrong, Canadian elections are won by motivating non-voters and getting them to participate.
If "no one, I'm not bothering" was a political party they'd have won every election of my lifetime.
Just think of how many potheads have voted precisely twice in their lives and both times for Big Trudy. How much did that boost him?
Motivating voters to come out for a candidate is the winning path, not getting all milquetoast and appealing to the centre. We saw how that worked with Scheer and Ignatieff. It doesn't.
Harper's rise was entirely due to motivating the fringes. He was an extreme figure at the time. Nothing will be accomplished by courting the centre.
Sloan is the guy but he will never make it in. O'Toole seems like an OK second choice.
Sloan or Leslyn
Reeee how dare you assume the race of Conservative leadership?!
Personally I have given up on the Conservative party. Doug Fraud is the last conservative I will ever vote for. I have for years watched as some new face came along with promises of a conservative renewal and real conservative polices. It does not mater what any of the leaders from any of the established parties say. They are lying and will develop amnesia the second they are elected with no recourse for the people who elected them.
Have you considered libertarian? They're probably the most direct counter to socialism while still maintaining an ideology which is compatible with leftist morality such that libertarians at least have a chance of winning.
Where the fuck have you been? Canada IS a socialist country. At this point we're just negotiating how fast we keep going down the slope.