Saturday, June 13, 2009

Flanagan: Harper needs to rebuild reputation

Professor Tom Flanagan and I have had our disagreements in the past.

The former campaign manager for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Flanagan believed the Conservative Party needed to push "incremental" conservatism, whereas I took the position that the party should stress more of an aggressive conservative vision.

Anyway, it seems Flanagan and I are starting to sing from the same hymn book.

In an update of his book Harper's Team, he argues the Prime Minister needs to rebuild his reputation.

Flanagan writes there is now a widespread impression "that [Harper] stands for nothing in particular, except winning and keeping power” in Ottawa.

“This is a major loss for a political leader ... once seen as a man of conviction," writes Flanagan. "How long will voters continue to support someone who is thought to be mainly a cunning tactician, especially if a run of mistakes makes him seem not even particularly cunning?”

That's an excellent point.

Of course, it's a point I made more than two years ago.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know it's over when even your mentor thinks it's over.

Pissedoff said...

I made the point in 2006 that Harper was liberal light. I voted for him because he was the best of a bad lot.
I didn't vote in 2008 and will nor vote tory as long as he is the leader. He has said a lot of things and done nothing re CHRC,big government and the global warming fiasco.

Anonymous said...

Yeah... Mr. Harper should push for a Conservative agenda in the middle of a recession in a minority government. The Liberal media will help him in such a politically astute move. Morons!!!
Why not wait until there is an election and run on a Conservative platform?
It sure would beat political suicide just trying to satisfy the Conservative base (Me)

Anonymous said...

Gerry,
You are doing good job of luring Liberanos into summer election trap.
Keep it up.

Peter L said...

Harper has been painted by the liberal media as being a tightfisted opportunist with little or no morals and they've been VERY successful at it. Frankly, I think that Harper could raise the dead and the media would portray him as trying to usurp Jesus. He simply can do no right. It's a shame really because we will never know what he could achieve with a majority government. The media are in love with Ignatieff and will be Obamaizing him to the Prime Minister's seat next election, even with no platform to speak of. The Liberal and their media ware desperately longing for the good ol'Librano days and are very happy to see things like Flanigan calling down his old boss, makes a great anti conservative story.

treb said...

Nothing new here folks.Just more idiots who think they are comparable to PM Harper in brains and yet show they have none.PM Harper will survive very well without friends like Gerry,loyal to the core Nicholls and whoever the hell Flanagan is.And pissedoff we didn,t get your vote last time and we don,t want it this time and PM Harper will keep you from voting tory for a long long time.Thank goodness for that.