Political makeover
Martin Patriquin
Say hello to Stephen Harper, centrist. - Gazette columnist L. Ian Macdonald
In a way, political image makeovers are a little like a deathbed embrace of Jesus, or a tearful apology from a husband caught in the sack with several prostitutes. They may be dripping with emotion, even sincerity, but more often than not they are a product of cold circumstance - a cynical attempt at penance after a lifetime of sin, or at least an afternoon chock-full of deviant sex.
Here's the thing about makeovers, though: They tend to work. The mother of all examples, of course, is George W. Bush, who after years of pillaging the public school system as Texas governor, managed to sell himself as a "compassionate conservative" who wouldn't leave one single child behind. It worked just enough for him to steal the presidency.
A little closer to home, meanwhile, we find Preston Manning, who managed to detach himself, albeit with a little less efficacy, from his nasal, nerdy, Bible-thumping persona simply by investing in contact lenses, a few elegant ties and the services of a decent speech therapist. It also worked: He ain't leading the country, but he makes a killing on the talk circuit.
When he was found in an Alberta homeless shelter last year, stewed to the tits and mouthing off at the vagrants, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein didn't continue on with his characteristic booze-fuelled belligerence. Instead, he took to the airwaves, admitted he was a drunk, and asked, very publicly, for forgiveness. He remains
as popular as ever. Closer still, Jean Charest killed off a major political liability, his unruly locks, simply by getting a pre-election haircut.
Which brings us, a little reluctantly, to Stephen Harper.
Harper has fostered a kind of bland, flannel-grey image that has served him well. He speaks in a clammy baritone, and has the incredible ability to make anything uninteresting - his victory speech this past weekend, for example, sounded like sleep-inducing white noise. Everything out of his mouth is governmental, proper, prepared and staid, regardless of how wrong or offensive it might be. He is the human equivalent of the chinos he wears on the weekend, when feeling saucy. Effectively, his image is that he has no image at all.
This fabulously drab veneer has cloaked some of the more unelectable politics this country has ever seen. He is against abortion and for the death penalty, one of the more alarming schisms in his preferred brand of social conservatism. He is in lockstep with the current American administration when it comes to the "war on terrorism," which oversaw, among other things, the unjustified yearlong imprisonment of Maher Arar.
He is already standing on the short end of public opinion, not to mention history, as far as gay marriage is concerned. He has goaded Paul Martin, saying the Prime Minister is afraid to have "a philosophical debate" on issues that matter to Canadians - only to duck out of a similar debate with the NDP's Jack Layton, knowing full well that Jack would bring up the likes of gay rights, abortion, medicare and the Iraq war. If you forget about the sponsorship scandal for ten seconds, you could hang an election on three out of any of these four issues, and for Harper to say how he really feels... well, that might be giving the voters a little too much ammunition.
Yet over the course of one short weekend, Harper's image morphed. As of Monday morning, he wasn't the dangerous, recalcitrant geek we all know and loathe, but a unifying force for anyone in this vast country that might be pissed off at the Liberals. Editorials and columnists across the country praised Harper for shoehorning his way into Ontario, as though this were an indication of how golly gee swell Steve really is. And check it out! He speaks French!
L. Ian Macdonald, the Gazette's long-time columnist and master of stating the oblivious, went so far as to call Harper a "centrist" of the calibre able to run this country. "Canadian democracy is competitive again," Macdonald concluded, before finishing off with this masterstroke: "Harper's next challenge is to propose change."
Right.
Nothing's changed, except for the Ontario vote. Thanks to a mixture of ugly politics and truly prophetic gaffes - the Maritimes is "a culture of defeat" remains a personal favourite - Harper will get chump change in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. The Bloc Québécois can thank him, along with Paul Martin, for its come-by-lately success in this province.
Harper is going to flog the Liberal sponsorship scandal like an old mule, thus raising the possibility of a Conservative minority government - and more importantly, papering over a set of thoroughly unappealing opinions. The old Stephen Harper is gone: The bland social conservative of yore is now a bland alternative to Liberal excess. What a difference a weekend makes.
For a guy who has no real image to speak of, he's done a remarkable job of changing it in such a short time.
| The degradation of Canadian politics |
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An ironic header - as Canadian politics hasn't too far to go to be degraded.
It amazes me that the opposition on Parliament Hill spends every waking hour looking for a new scandal to point fingers at, and yet what has the Conservative party DONE on Parliament Hill? Every time I hear Harper's name in the media it inevitably involves Paul Martin and the Liberal government. In fact, every time I hear ANY Conservative MP talk, it is about something the Liberal party has 'done'. And yet the Liberal track record, while far from perfect, is a far cry from the wallow in the sewers the Conservative party put us through in the 80s.
The Liberals have done a LOT for Canada, yet what has the Conservative party done? Aside from creating the massive deficit that the Liberals eliminated. From Destroying domestic policy to the point that the provinces alll despise the Federal government? Wiping out social programs and leaving public institutions hung out to dry?
What has the Alliance done, aside from making racist, homophobic and xenophobic remarks on a regular basis? Aside from fueling the fires of the Alberta separatist movement and yet insulting Quebec and its residents on a regular basis?
The only thing Harper needs to change is his 'profession'.
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Ben Kalman
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{29 votes}
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What I find most disturbing is that people can take a change in external image as a change of internal politics and morals. Wow, Bush is no longer snorting coke and pretending to be an actor, but he's still completely loopy -as proved by his politics. How much money has the US spent on 'defence' since he's been in power? And how much on education?
Harper's politics scare me. Canada is known the world over as a pretty liberal, open-minded country, one that punishes its criminals fairly, but tries to ensure that people are able to live their lives as they wish as long as they don't cause harm to others. His politics are no alternative to the current state of affairs, unless you want to regress to the era when people were burned at the stake for having children out of wedlock, or practising 'alternative', natural medicine.
We really need to ask ourselves who we want to run the country: why do people want to hold such a position of responsibility? Could it possibly be for the power??? The best people to govern are surely not those who are begging for the position, and surely not those who want to needlessly restrict the lives of citizens because of their own beliefs and fears.
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Ellen Reid
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{12 votes}
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| Behold--here cometh the political bull! |
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Whoa, are you actually serious Patriquin?
You actually wanna stand by that comment and still expect us readers to take you seriously as a journalist? You're actually trying to argue that George W. Bush is the mother of all makeovers?
Are you insane?! In the first place, he DIDN'T manage to sell himself as a "compassionate conservative" who wouldn't leave one single child behind, and in the second, the fact that he HAD TO STEAL THE PRESIDENCY proved that it didn't! Not only is your example ass backwards but it doesn't even add up even if we apply insane troll logic.
Ok, I'll arguably give you the Preston Manning and Ralph Klein examples but the Jean Charest (yeah, right...) and Stephen Harper one pretty much left me with the conclusion that you'd taken leave of your senses this week. Geez, in what universe do you gather that Stephen Harper is a "unifying force for anyone in this vast country that might be pissed off at the Liberals". If the Liberals are so far gone that Harper of all people is starting to look appealing then we as a nation are SCREWED. Not, George W. Bush screwed but still pretty screwed.
I swear you're pretty much the only person who's buying this line of bull. I know canadian politics suck but when we're really hard up if ultra-conservative Republicans wannabes are our only salvation. Look to the U.S. and tell me how well it's worked out for them?
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Pedro Eggers
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{11 votes}
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| What can we do? Quebecers are weak! |
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I have never seen such a country, particulary the province of Quebec, that no efforts are made by the population of Quebec when something really bad happens such the cut of bed in hospitals, the increase of the school's bill, the commandit's scandal!
Everybody let it go! If we want the society to be changed, we need to go out in the streets and protest!
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Mathieu Romero
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{1 vote}
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Normally, I stay out of this post-column fray, but I'd like to clear a couple thing up. It has been suggested on this forum that Bush didn't manage to sell his 'compassionate conservative' handle in the pre-September 11, pre-Afghanistan, pre-Iraq War presidential campaign of 2000.
In fact, he did. His campaign rhetoric about not leaving any children behind, as laughable as it was, helped garner him a huge chunk of undecided/swing voters, particularly in the mid-West, and including the all-important Hispanic vote in California. After years of making a mess of Texas, Bush sold himself as compassionate conservative, and many, many people bought it. All he needed was a slick image consultant and a handful of catchy slogans ('compassionate conservatism'; 'leave no child behind') to get enough votes to steal the election in Florida.
This is what you call a successful makeover.
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Martin Patriquin
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{3 votes}
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Centrist? In what world are we living in that Harper is even remotely considered a centrist? Centrist? Not likely. Almost all the politicians mentioned in the article are living examples why democracy is in the dumps right now.
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Sam Truglio
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{4 votes}
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| I'm tired.I'm tired.I'm tired. |
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I'm tired. I'm tired of all this political crap! I have an interview tomorrow. I have been on unemployment since September of 2003. I went out and bought a new blouse, a new skirt and I also went to get a haircut. So, sue me!! I wanted to have a change. I wanted my image to reflect a well-groomed, confident woman. That's what we are primarily judged on when we are fist introduced to new people. I see no qualms on presenting yourself in a better light.
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Pamela Wright
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{5 votes}
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Hold on, Harper's image morphed? When? He looks like the same ultra right suit that he always was before. At least in my eyes. I'm sorry, if this man's a centrist then I've got a couple of bridges to sell you. Centrist? Only if your definition of center tilts to the right.
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Eric Bertrand
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{3 votes}
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I would not hide it, I've been voting for the Bloc Québecois for the last two government. But Harper may try to get a make over. The only thing it would change for me is that I would consider voting for the Liberal. It's not that I think best of them. It's more about how I think Harper could make it worst.
As long as another political party doesn't qualify as a "centrist". The Liberals are in business. I do not believe Harper will give his party a good shot at winning with a majority government. Quite sadly, there is no serious runner up. Watching the canadian political ground lately is quite like watching the Yankees in baseball. If you remember "Catch Me If You Can", it's the stripe everybody keeps looking.
Of course lately, we are all aware of the sponsorship scandal. But it will not be enough to sweep the Liberal out of Ottawa. Not if they know what card to play and Indeed Harper gave them plenty to come out with a full house once again.
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Nicolas Gauthier
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{1 vote}
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| Leave the U.S. alone! Who cares about the states? |
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For c*****'s sake people, stop looking at the states as a role model. We are our own country. Why does anyone care what the states are doing anyway? Please someone answer this question for me. my email is racheldesjardins@hotmail.com
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Rachel Shanholtzer
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{1 vote}
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| I hate Mr. Bush and Mr. Charest |
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These are one of the two most corrupted politicians in the world and I hate them for everything they stand for. The war in Iraq is still going on and we have protested for nothing because our messages never got to them. Mr. Bush is the dumbest president in America's history who has done nothing to benefit the American people.
As for Mr. Charest he is the worst leader and needs to be booted out so that we can get in a great leader who knows how to shape up this city. Canadian politicians right now are so full of themselves and they need to vanish and get an honest government into office. We will see a lot of changes happening by the end of the year.
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Carmela Sicurella
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{2 votes}
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