Well, here we are after the first full week of the new Stephen Harper squeaky-clean Conservative government - and already, the honeymoon has come to an abrupt end, and a Great Deal of political capital has been blown.
It seemed like such a good idea - that the Folks coming in to run the government would not be the same folks who ran the campaign - but in practise, it seems like the people running the campaign were the smart ones. They were the disciplined team that cranked out policy announcements, kept on top of the issues, and were smart about communication.
But this first week, well, it tells a different story. In making a cabinet Harper, in a couple of strokes, managed to dispel a great deal of goodwill from the press, the public (who were told that the Conservatives were going to different), and within his own party - all those competent, hardworking Conservatives who dreamed of a spot at the Cabinet table, only to be snubbed in favour of a Liberal turncoat and an unelected backroom boy parachuted into the Senate.
To say that this has been a disappointing week would be an understatement.
Parliament does not resume until April 3rd - so there is time for them to recover - and who knows? This whole ‘controversy’ might blow over by then and become a distant memory - provided that when Parliament does re-convene the Conservatives govern smartly and don’t fuck that up too...Otherwise, we might just as well start writing cheques to the Natural Governing Party - because if the Conservatives screw this up, than it’ll be a loooong time before we see them back in the driver’s seat.
It seemed like such a good idea - that the Folks coming in to run the government would not be the same folks who ran the campaign - but in practise, it seems like the people running the campaign were the smart ones. They were the disciplined team that cranked out policy announcements, kept on top of the issues, and were smart about communication.
But this first week, well, it tells a different story. In making a cabinet Harper, in a couple of strokes, managed to dispel a great deal of goodwill from the press, the public (who were told that the Conservatives were going to different), and within his own party - all those competent, hardworking Conservatives who dreamed of a spot at the Cabinet table, only to be snubbed in favour of a Liberal turncoat and an unelected backroom boy parachuted into the Senate.
To say that this has been a disappointing week would be an understatement.
Parliament does not resume until April 3rd - so there is time for them to recover - and who knows? This whole ‘controversy’ might blow over by then and become a distant memory - provided that when Parliament does re-convene the Conservatives govern smartly and don’t fuck that up too...Otherwise, we might just as well start writing cheques to the Natural Governing Party - because if the Conservatives screw this up, than it’ll be a loooong time before we see them back in the driver’s seat.
