Clinton Wins Ohio and Texas
Depending on which camp you talk to, you will hear two different stories. For Clinton, she won both Ohio and Texas, which is what she needed to do to stay in the game. At the same time because of the way delegates are divided up, Obama managed to maintain his delegate lead so despite three losses last night, he still is the front-runner. Clinton will still have a tough time catching Obama, however, at least she can claim some momentum. I suspect this might go all the way to the convention. While some worry this may divide the party, I am not sure this will totally be the case. The reality is most Democrats want the Republicans out so badly they will unite behind whoever wins, whereas McCain faces the difficulty of convincing the conservative base in the Republicans he shares their views, but at the same time not so far right he alienates the moderate vote.
In other news on the home front, but still in relation to the primaries, it appears the leaked memo of an Obama economic advisor saying Obama's position on NAFTA was just political posturing was leaked from the PMO's office. This is quite serious and I hope there is a thorough investigation. We should not interfere in other country's elections. If Ian Brodie was in any way involved, he needs to be fired immediately. While I would have a tough time imagining Harper doing this, not because he doesn't privately want McCain to win, but simply because trying to even appear like he is supporting the Republicans is politically stupid in a country where they are so unpopular. That being said, anything is possible. While the Liberals certainly have been undiplomatic in the past in terms of showing favoritism towards the Democrats, they have never tried to intervene directly in the process. As for how it will affect relations, it could put the chill on them, mind you I cannot see relations between a Liberal and Republican administration being any better. Unfortunately, it seems both parties are more interested in supporting the party closest to their ideology than realizing that whoever occupies the White House there will be issues we agree with them on and ones we do not. For one thing, the Democrats are to the right of the Liberals as any party who ran on a platform similiar to the Liberals would get clobbered much like the Liberals did on Monday in Alberta, which like the US, is more conservative than Canada as a whole. Likewise, even though Harper may be privately as right wing as the Republicans, he would not only lose the election, but would get clobbered if he governed that far to the right. The worry is that he will try to get as close as he realistically can. As for the impact, this no doubt hurt Obama, although I should note most polls showed Clinton a bit ahead, so what would have been a nail biter was a more comfortable win. In terms of the NAFTA positions, I suspect both are posturing much the way Chretien was in 1993 when he promised to review NAFTA, still if either do as president or even the Republicans as a matter of fact, try to re-open NAFTA, we need to make clear that it will not be a one way street. I would much rather they explain to the people the benefits of NAFTA and how the job losses in Ohio have nothing to do with it. Immigration is not very popular in the Republican party, yet McCain was willing to stand his ground on the issue despite being offside with most of his party. Still, I suspect NAFTA will be a dead issue by November.
On the home front, the war of words between the Ontario government and federal government is heating up. Besides being politically stupid, considering that it is next to impossible to win without doing well in Ontario, I think the federal government should respect the voters of Ontario and the decisions their government made. It is true they won't see eye to eye, but the federal government and provinces should learn to work together regardless of their ideological differences. In British Columbia, Gordon Campbell enjoyed strong relations with Chretien, Martin, and Harper, so it is possible to work well with people of different ideologies. And it has paid off in terms of what British Columbia has received. Its too bad that we don't have people like Campbell at both the federal and provincial level here in Ontario. Besides, this seems more of a case of Flaherty trying to settle old scores with his former provincial rivals. If this is the case, my advice to Flaherty is to step down from federal politics and try and run for the Ontario PCs, as they will likely need a new leader before 2011. The provincial opposition is suppose to be the one who goes after the provincial government's policies, not the federal government.
The final issue is C-10 which gives the government more power to censor films going against public policy. This is very worrisome as I am a staunch defender of freedom of expression. It is one thing to argue against ending tax credits altogether (and note we are talking about tax credits not subsidies for those who argue we shouldn't have to pay for things we don't like) but quite another to pick and choose. I support amending the bill so films that break the law won't get tax credits as originally intended, but those that are fully legal can qualify without having the government play the role of moral judge. It is especially troubling that Charles McVety is championing this. This guy is the Pat Robertson/Gerry Falwell of the North who seems all about imposing a theocracy and his views on everyone else. Even most right wingers find him too extreme, so I am quite troubled the government would even listen to a wacko like this and if this was by mistake, hopefully this serves as a warning of its dangers.
In other news on the home front, but still in relation to the primaries, it appears the leaked memo of an Obama economic advisor saying Obama's position on NAFTA was just political posturing was leaked from the PMO's office. This is quite serious and I hope there is a thorough investigation. We should not interfere in other country's elections. If Ian Brodie was in any way involved, he needs to be fired immediately. While I would have a tough time imagining Harper doing this, not because he doesn't privately want McCain to win, but simply because trying to even appear like he is supporting the Republicans is politically stupid in a country where they are so unpopular. That being said, anything is possible. While the Liberals certainly have been undiplomatic in the past in terms of showing favoritism towards the Democrats, they have never tried to intervene directly in the process. As for how it will affect relations, it could put the chill on them, mind you I cannot see relations between a Liberal and Republican administration being any better. Unfortunately, it seems both parties are more interested in supporting the party closest to their ideology than realizing that whoever occupies the White House there will be issues we agree with them on and ones we do not. For one thing, the Democrats are to the right of the Liberals as any party who ran on a platform similiar to the Liberals would get clobbered much like the Liberals did on Monday in Alberta, which like the US, is more conservative than Canada as a whole. Likewise, even though Harper may be privately as right wing as the Republicans, he would not only lose the election, but would get clobbered if he governed that far to the right. The worry is that he will try to get as close as he realistically can. As for the impact, this no doubt hurt Obama, although I should note most polls showed Clinton a bit ahead, so what would have been a nail biter was a more comfortable win. In terms of the NAFTA positions, I suspect both are posturing much the way Chretien was in 1993 when he promised to review NAFTA, still if either do as president or even the Republicans as a matter of fact, try to re-open NAFTA, we need to make clear that it will not be a one way street. I would much rather they explain to the people the benefits of NAFTA and how the job losses in Ohio have nothing to do with it. Immigration is not very popular in the Republican party, yet McCain was willing to stand his ground on the issue despite being offside with most of his party. Still, I suspect NAFTA will be a dead issue by November.
On the home front, the war of words between the Ontario government and federal government is heating up. Besides being politically stupid, considering that it is next to impossible to win without doing well in Ontario, I think the federal government should respect the voters of Ontario and the decisions their government made. It is true they won't see eye to eye, but the federal government and provinces should learn to work together regardless of their ideological differences. In British Columbia, Gordon Campbell enjoyed strong relations with Chretien, Martin, and Harper, so it is possible to work well with people of different ideologies. And it has paid off in terms of what British Columbia has received. Its too bad that we don't have people like Campbell at both the federal and provincial level here in Ontario. Besides, this seems more of a case of Flaherty trying to settle old scores with his former provincial rivals. If this is the case, my advice to Flaherty is to step down from federal politics and try and run for the Ontario PCs, as they will likely need a new leader before 2011. The provincial opposition is suppose to be the one who goes after the provincial government's policies, not the federal government.
The final issue is C-10 which gives the government more power to censor films going against public policy. This is very worrisome as I am a staunch defender of freedom of expression. It is one thing to argue against ending tax credits altogether (and note we are talking about tax credits not subsidies for those who argue we shouldn't have to pay for things we don't like) but quite another to pick and choose. I support amending the bill so films that break the law won't get tax credits as originally intended, but those that are fully legal can qualify without having the government play the role of moral judge. It is especially troubling that Charles McVety is championing this. This guy is the Pat Robertson/Gerry Falwell of the North who seems all about imposing a theocracy and his views on everyone else. Even most right wingers find him too extreme, so I am quite troubled the government would even listen to a wacko like this and if this was by mistake, hopefully this serves as a warning of its dangers.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:52 PM
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