Conservative, Liberal, Democratic or Green?

[jBirch]

The Canadian election is now winding up with the last televised debate.

What are the issues of interest?

Have you made up your mind, and if so, for whom are you voting for?

James.

[Fencergrl]

Gosh... I don't know.

I hate the thought of the Liberals spending more money on our non-existent "gun problem". I don’t want to see the Conservatives take away the right for gays to marry… The NDP don’t stand a chance. A vote for the Green party sends a message that the environment is important, but it’s a bit of a throwaway vote. Although I really like their platform better than most parties.

I live in a fairly strong Liberal riding, so voting for the Conservatives might help swing things over.

On the other hand…. my husband is voting Conservative and I traditionally say I’ll vote differently than him. I commonly will discuss Marijuana or Green Party policies just to get him upset that I’m cancelling out his vote and wasting one of only approximately 15 chances in my lifetime to vote federally. LOL… I love elections… he’s out of town, so I only have a few days to find all the Green Party signs I can find to erect on our lawn…

Geez... I would love to find a Marijuana Party sign, I'll have to scour the neighbourhood!

In the end I'll probably vote Conservative, even though I have some serious reservations about it.

[Fencergrl]

Arrrgghhhhh.... all the negative ads between the liberals and conservatives are making me want to vote NDP!

[jBirch]

Green for me. It is a bit insulting to our collective intelligence though, isn't it? Like anyone is actually going to buy that garbage?

James.

[Fencergrl]

Yeah... I hear ya. Part of me wants to vote Conservative just because they are most likely to beat the Liberals. However, I really don't want the Conservatives in power either.

I would like to give the Green Party or even the NDP a chance, but the rest of the country won't.

So do I vote for a party I don't really want in power or toss my support behind parties that I know won't get elected but would benefit from my vote because it means more funding for their party?

As the election comes closer and close and I find myself overloaded with election crap, I find myself as usual leaning heavily towards the Green party. The one party I don't see screaming for my attention.

[ThatReallyHurt]

Nothing wrong with voting for who you want, FG...

I'm traditionally Liberal.

I'm annoyed about voting Liberal. Every party gets too comfortable after being in power for a while. Mulroney did it, Trudeau did it. But at the same time, I would really like to see what the Liberals are going to do about the corruption and arrogance that's been proven. All the other allegations are just that - allegations, doubtless half of them are outright fabrications by the other parties. Martin's biggest problem now (and for the past seven years or so) has been Jean Chretien. I used to like the former PM, but I can only handle someone acting like a boob on the world stage so many times. Then, what he did during the Gomery inquiry really made me wonder if old J.C. is still trying to stick it to Martin for replacing him.

I'm concerned about voting Conservative. Back in the old days, I would have considered voting for the PC party. Really, I would have. Reform just didn't do anything for me - I kept seeing them as a bunch of people who were trying very hard to get something they'd never get, and several of those people struck me as being a little too passionate about some of the things they believed in. I liked Preston Manning, he struck me as being a pretty honest guy. Then, there was the whole morphing into the Canadian Alliance. Poor Preston must have spent a lot of time sitting in front of the TV crying, watching what he'd worked so hard to build get dismantled by Stockwell Day and the party yahoos who couldn't seem to keep their personal feelings and raw emotions out of their comments to the media. Then, the last shreds of the PC party are eaten (it's not like they had a choice to join, if they didn't, they were going to end up about as big as that party that floats in the air or whatever) by the CA, and the Conservatives are born. I'll be honest, Steven Harper worries me. Not in a "going to start enriching uranium" sort of way, just a "what the heck is going to happen" sort of way. How much experience do the candidates (or current MPs, for that matter) from the Conservative party have? Yes, there currently seems to be less corruption in the party, but is it because they're a better party, or just because they don't know enough to have figured out how to do it yet.

BQ... I like Gilles Duceppe. I think he's a very charismatic and intelligent leader who really cares about what he's doing and cares about the voters he's trying to represent. If he was leading any party besides the one that's trying to break Canada up, I'd vote for him in a second. Well, that and the fact that I don't think there's a BQ candidate running in my riding...

The NDP never struck me as where I wanted to put my vote. Their policy on the military was the main thing; the NDP propensity to fix problems by throwing money at them was another.

Green intrigues me, but they don't seem to be able to get over that hump... I've yet to see a TV commercial done by them... I don't think I've even seen a newspaper advert. They also seem to have a lot of good ideas, but no real substance behind how to implement them.

Marxist-Leninist... well, some days you've just got to wonder what would happen, eh?

I'm probably going to vote Liberal. I know, I know... all that money siphoned off and now sitting in some putz's bank account. I had an argument with a buddy the other day, he's really bitter with the scandals, and he's really getting bent out of shape with every new allegation that comes out. In a weird way, I find myself leaning more back towards the Liberals every time I hear about a new scandal breaking - even completely unsubstantiated rumours are picked up by the media and turned into a full-blown crisis. There's so much mudslinging, it's stupid. I miss the days when a politician would try to sway your vote by telling you how good they were, not by pointing out how bad their opponent was. The bottom line for me with the Liberals now is look at the state of the country right now. We're doing pretty well (unless you read the Sun, where every single columnist is slamming Paul Martin and they try to make it seem like we're all just imagining the budget surpluses, high dollar, and low unemployment), and there's no good reason right now why that should change. I suppose there's no good reason why it should change regardless of what party wins the election, but I don't like fooling around with something if it's working (even if it's making strange noises).

If I don't vote Liberal, I think I might go Green. Have to see what my gut says on the 23rd.

[Furry]

I've already voted (special advance balloting...Christmas Day). I voted for my riding's Conservative incumbant.

Generally speaking I like to describe myself as a Red Tory, so it's still difficult for me to vote Conservative. I was not happy with the merger, but have come to accept it. I'm still not a fan of Harper though, partially because I'm more of a debt-reducing conservative rather than a tax slashing one, but also because of a left-over dislike of the Alliance/Reform. I'd be much more comfortable with MacKay or Bernard Lord (partially because I'm from Nova Scotia originally).

On administrative matters I think the Conservatives are the best option by a far margin. This means running the day to day government, budgeting, international relations and pretty much everything to do with being in government. Except for one thing, changing it. I want the Conservatives to run the country, not change it.

My major concerns about the structual changes that are possible. Namely changing the way our system works between the courts and Parliament and changing the Senate.

Paul Martin's idea about taking the Fed's ability to use the Notwithstanding clause was more kinds of idiotic than I care to get into, but I actually worry about the Conservatives going too far in the other direction with the primacy of Parliament, etc. That and the appointing of judges, I'd like to have a clearer idea of just what changes they would make to that.

The Senate is my biggest worry though. It either needs to be left alone or there needs to be a real dialogue on it. Senate reform should not be something that is done because you're in power and it's your idealogical preference. It needs to be measured, more carefully considered than any other decision, and made with more public consultation than anything else. I still worry about some idealogues from the Conservatives that won't be keen on doing anything other than having elected Senators, the change must run deeper than that if we're to actually have an effective Senate and an effective Parliament afterwards.

[Dmitrivna]

I voted Green, even though it was close between that and Liberal.

Personally, I agree with Green the most out of those options. I had to do a Civics project recently on a political party and I was assigned the Green Party. I agree with most of their platforms much more than Conservatives or even Demeocrats.

[Fencergrl]

Dmitrivna... LOL... you're well on your way in being a Southern Canadian! (just ask Go? if that statement confuses you).

TRH... Vote Liberal, I don't think they'll get in but I don't want to see the Conservatives win by a land slide.

However... if you vote Green, that will at least send a message that the policies of the Green party is something that Canadians care about. As the Green party gains support, other parties start paying more attention to the environment, medical, etc...

Personally, I like not having ads, signs and negative TV commercials being thrown at me. I don't like the manipulation and the clutter. For me, that's part of the Green's appeal... although I suspect it has to do with lack of funding more than anything else. So voting for them gives them funding... and the ability to do what I despise... god I hate this!

[jBirch]

I'm with Furry on pretty much everything (including the Nova Scotia thing).

Problem is, I live in the middle of Redneck ultra-right wing conservative. So I either vote hopeless Liberal, hopeless Green (under 30 for crying out loud), hopeless NDP or raging Conservative for government.

I've voted Liberal in the last couple of elections mostly because I really liked Jean Cretien. Paul Martin is the worst thing to happen to the Liberals in a long time. About the conservatives, I pretty much like all the Red Tories (Belinda, Peter, Bernard, heck, even Harris) and think they'd do at least a not bad job. Personally, I'm hoping that the Convservatives win with a minority.

About election reform (I Love that Word, Reforrrrrrrrrrrrm!) I'd like to see a more visibly effective (and less visibly biased) Senate, a more visibly effective Monarch and more reasonable representation in Parliament.

James.

[Squall_Leonhart]

you don't have apathetic, or ignorant of enough politics to define oneself.

[SJB]

I'm voting for the NDP. They have no chance in my riding but it's still my vote.

After being born and raised in Alberta and living through the Klien revolution and watching it's effects (which I will list if anyone is interested) I have no interest in a Conservative government at the Federal level.

My favourite Conservative promise is the "no funding cuts/more transfers to social programs AND you get tax cuts".

How god**mn stupid are people these days? You need taxes to FUND social programs.

Augh.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by jBirch

Green for me. It is a bit insulting to our collective intelligence though, isn't it? Like anyone is actually going to buy that garbage?

James.

James... I expected to see a thread from you on our new government... or are you feeling a "little blue"? Sorry I couldn't resist!

Man... I couldn't believe the strength of the Tories in Alberta! Every single riding... Wow! It was interesting that the Tories won it with rural Canada. Very few ridings in the major centres.

I'm not sure why, but I was also surprised by the strength of the NDP in BC. Any big surprises out there for anyone?

My riding was a tight 3-way race. Anyone know any links that show the number of votes each candidate got?

[jBirch]

Sorry Grl, work called...

And yeah, it was surprising to see the sweep of Blue across Alberta. The rural areas are more receptive to a small-c conservative message and I think that the cities are terrified of it.

It'll be interesting to see if Harper can tug the party more left (the closer to centrist it goes, the better a chance for a majority next time). If the Conservatives start going right, I think they'll be decimated next time. If they tack left, the rest of the parties are in serious trouble. I'm really curious to see who the Tories side with in the house. Bloc, Liberal or NDP + Independent? There won't be an election until the Liberals sort out the leadership (as they are needed to make the house fall) and it'll be the Liberals timing the next election.

Gonna be interesting for the next little while. I'm wondering how long it will take for the Hard-Line Reformers to shoot the new party in the foot.

James.

[Fencergrl]

Yeah... pretty exciting election here though. LOL... being compared to a good hockey game around the office. Canada eh?

Generally everyone seems happy. Most people wanted the Tories, but didn't trust some of them doing something stupid. So restricting their power seems like a good thing.

The Liberals had just too many scandals... this really hurt them.

The Bloc is non-existent outside of Quebec.... which I always found odd... why have a local following for something national??

Unfortunately... the NDP or Green party didn't have a chance, but it's nice to see they got some support.

[Furry]

The Green Party needs a new leader just like the Liberals. Though the only safe ones after this election are Harper and Layton. Duceppe could find himself wishing he took on Boisclair and the others for the PQ leadership.

And I really hope there is a solid control of the "crazies" as I like to call them. Though I think the **** is going to hit the fan after the SSM vote doesn't go their way.

[umbrella]

The party that most closely speaks to the issues I am interested in is the Democratic Party. However: I am not a slave to it. I vote Republican if the person running has the personal character I admire.

For example: Bill Clinton does not make me happy: his unfortunate conduct in the white house is too easily recalled in the paper - if re-elected, we need only to "reach for a star" - and our country would once again be thrown into turmoil. I believe that a candidate like Jimmy Carter could be a winner. He's fair; intelligent; not scared of things and more importantly has an open mind to many people. He's not afraid to talk with the Palistinian people and at least try to bring them together with Isreal in a peaceful way. [visit Camp David in your textbooks]. The problem was that Isreal became too wealthy too soon; because they came to the US for 'help' constantly claiming they were being harrassed first by the Palistinians then by Russia. It's my personal belief that while there was some griping, here and there at the initial building of Israel; we went overboard in overprotecting them.

So you can see; the wedge that was driven between the US and USSR; the US and Palistine; by who? and it was easily accomplished since a huge population of people living in the US for centuries are from Israel, our Christmas songs are about Israel [born is the king of Israel], etc.

[PiratePeter]

you premise this post by speaking to the canadian government.

do you mean political affliation in canadian terms or american?

[jBirch]

Canadian.