Friday, August 22, 2008

Is that really the comparison you want to make?


Blogging Tory Michael takes a leap of faith and states that the only way Big Daddy can win a majority is by emulating ... wait for it ... Nixon’s 1972 re-election strategy.

A few weeks back there was an excellent article in Maclean's magazine by Paul Wells. In it he wrote that Stephen Harper's election strategy is remarkably similar to that of Richard Nixon. In 1972, Nixon was reelected with a landslide majority -he carried all but one state - by appealing to the 'silent majority'. He realized that the majority of Americans were not racists, civil rights crusaders, or hippies, they were conservatives. This is documented in a book I recently purchased entitled Nixonland, by Rick Perlstein.

Well. There’s no way I can fault that kind of reasoning. After all, Nixon was re-elected in a landslide, receiving over 60% of the popular vote and carrying 49 of 50 states. And he managed to govern for almost two entire years before becoming the only President to resign from office on August 9, 1974. To avoid the shame of impeachment. And almost certain criminal conviction for his part in Watergate.

Michael, I think you’re on to something here. No, really.

11 comments:

Mike said...

So we can expect the Liberal party HQ to be broken into soon and the burglars to be caught at the Capital Suites?

I'm putting up Ryan Sparrow for the G. Gordon Liddy role...

M@ said...

This is part of the BT delusion that they somehow represent the mainstream, that most Canadians are regressive and afraid of social change, are anti-abortion and pro-gun, are unconcerned about the environment and very concerned that Canadian corporations make big profits for shareholders, and are mindless racists. I'm happy to find that the opposite is almost always the case.

If the assumptions were true, Harper would already have a majority. There's no silent majority out there; there's just a honking, braying minority that's managed to scrape out a few more seats in parliament than usual.

If Charles McVety, Harold Albrecht, David Sweet, and the rest of the CPC's ultra-right-wing morons were actually the mainstream, wouldn't Harper have to worry a lot less about keeping them from making public statements?

Michael C said...

I was talking about his election strategy, not his leadership strategy! You guys really are the kings of spin!

Ti-Guy said...

I have no problem agreeing with this BT's assertion that Harper's election strategy is to gull the rubes, as Nixon did.

I was talking about his election strategy, not his leadership strategy!

So you think rube-gulling is principled?

Michael C said...

You lefties do it all the time here in Canada!

Romantic Heretic said...

Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice. ;)

Ti-Guy said...

You lefties do it all the time here in Canada!

Which lefties? I'm not a lefty. I'm just not a gullible rube.

There is no comparison to be made with Nixon, the 60's and 70's, opposition to the war in Vietnam and the American government's all-out war against social democrats and dissenters that can suggest that any of that is a moral lesson for our times. The Americans are still trying (and failing) to overcome that traumatic period.

pierre poutine said...

I was talking about his election strategy, not his leadership strategy!

Ah. You mean like his Southern strategy, that cynical and depraved exploitation of white voters' racism that pushed the Democratic south firmly into the Republican camp. A great model to hold up. An admirable example for Harper to follow.

toujoursdan said...

It would be interesting to see how it worked given that Holland, Belgium and Spain have full gay marriage but Poland and Bulgaria seem to be moving towards more homophobia.

Lindsay Stewart said...

so harper's holed up in the pmo talking paranoid smack and cussing ablue streak and threatening to "get" people? leadership or election, either way, awesome strategy. vote for the crazy, mean and dishonest ticket!

liberal supporter said...

That explains Harper claiming he "had work to do" instead of attending the Olympics.

Because only Nixon could go to China.