NDP unleashes the first Mulcair Ad

[mentalfloss]

NDP releases first ad featuring Thomas Mulcair

The New Democrats have released their first TV ad featuring newly-minted leader Thomas Mulcair, with the clear goal of strengthening his image in Quebec and branding him as a warm and engaging successor to Jack Layton.

In the ad, which is in French, Mulcair rolls up his sleeves, puts his hands on his hips, and pledges that an NDP government would listen to Quebecers and create a greener and more prosperous economy.

"It is possible. We have a vision, a goal to build a future together," Mulcair says, speaking in French.

Mulcair, who is often viewed as a hard-nosed and sometimes angry politician, is portrayed in the ad as warm and engaging -- characteristics that made Layton popular in Quebec and within the party as a whole.

Layton led the NDP to its "orange crush" success in Quebec in the last election, which vaulted the party to Official Opposition status and knocked the Liberals down to third place.

Layton, who died of cancer last August, was also known for sporting rolled-up sleeves, which enhanced his image as a leader who was willing to get down in the trenches and fight for Canadians.

CTV News Channel's Mercedes Stephenson said the new NDP ad appears to invoke the spirit of Layton in a number of ways.

"He's got a big smile, he looks very friendly, the way they've positioned him in the ad is very clearly attempting to try and capture that feeling of warmth with the voters, friendliness, the idea that we're all in this together, language that Layton liked to use," Stephenson said.

"It worked for them before and everyone knows he's not going to be a second Jack but everyone's hoping for somebody who can duplicate his attraction, especially in Quebec."

NDP releases first ad featuring Thomas Mulcair | CTV News
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[Colpy]

Reasons Mulcair and the NDP will not displace the Tories next election:

1. The split on the centre-left and left between NDP, Liberals and Green parties.

2. The impossibility of satisfying left-wing Quebec and main-stream Canada.

3. The death of western rural support for the NDP, largely because Mulcair wants to resurrect the gun registry, and force the NDP caucus to vote for it. (see above)

Reasons Mulcair and the NDP should not displace the Tories next election:

1. Dual citizenship means dual loyalties, and is completely unsatisfactory in the Prime Minister of our country.

2. The NDP's choice to adhere to a "50%+1" policy on Quebec separation, their failure to acknowledge the Clarity Act, and the clear instruction of the Supreme Court on Quebec separation.

3. The NDP constitution demand for the dismantling of capitalism, and state ownership of the means of production.

Harper and the Conservatives will eat these people for breakfast in an election campaign.

 

[petros]

The death of western rural support for the NDP, largely because Mulcair wants to resurrect the gun registry, and force the NDP caucus to vote for it.

You think guns are the most important issue of western rural voters?

 

[Spade]

Guns and Pilsner! Sheeeiit, I'd even vote Reeefoooruuum!

 

[B00Mer]

I think Canada would do good to adopt the gun laws of our neighbors to the south..

You can not count on Government 100% of the time.. and a gun is your first line of defense.

Proud member. NRA

 

[taxslave]

You think guns are the most important issue of western rural voters?

About the only one that crosses party lines.
By kissing a$$ in Quebec the NDP will loose support in the west.

 

[Spade]

George Carlin -"Who Really Controls America" - YouTube

 

[skookumchuck]

Many of the NDP supporters i have known in BC have no warm and fuzzy feelings about paybec. They would vote liberal instead if push comes to shove with Mulcair.

 

[petros]

About the only one that crosses party lines.
By kissing a$$ in Quebec the NDP will loose support in the west.

Quebec will still be the same cluster**** no matter what and when it comes right down to it Harper's support will be based on performance and honesty. So far the honesty thing isn't working out so well.

 

[Cliffy]

George Carlin -"Who Really Controls America" - YouTube

Looks like George's wisdom is falling on deaf ears. People still thing politics is real and that they have a say in who runs the show. The dumbing down process seems to have been successful.

 

[Colpy]

You think guns are the most important issue of western rural voters?

It will be important enough after Mulcair tries to re-introduce the long gun registry.

These guys never learn.

George Carlin -"Who Really Controls America" - YouTube

Looks like George's wisdom is falling on deaf ears. People still thing politics is real and that they have a say in who runs the show. The dumbing down process seems to have been successful.

Brilliant comedian.

Like the vast majority of artists, a complete idiot when it comes to political reality.

 

[Praxius]

Reasons Mulcair and the NDP will not displace the Tories next election:

1. The split on the centre-left and left between NDP, Liberals and Green parties.

Who gives a crap about the Greens?

2. The impossibility of satisfying left-wing Quebec and main-stream Canada.

It's not impossible, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten to where they are now.... every election the NDP has only gained more and more seats.... they must be doing something right.

3. The death of western rural support for the NDP, largely because Mulcair wants to resurrect the gun registry, and force the NDP caucus to vote for it. (see above)

Well we'll see how that goes if it does.

Reasons Mulcair and the NDP should not displace the Tories next election:

1. Dual citizenship means dual loyalties, and is completely unsatisfactory in the Prime Minister of our country.

A very short sighted and narrow view on Dual Citizenship, speaking as someone who's a Canadian Citizen and may very well seek my Australian Citizenship someday.

It's very easy to hold loyalty towards two countries without those loyalties conflicting.... and Harper & anybody who thinks like him are morons to think otherwise. (reasons already posted in another thread relating to Harper's views on D-Citizenship)

2. The NDP's choice to adhere to a "50%+1" policy on Quebec separation, their failure to acknowledge the Clarity Act, and the clear instruction of the Supreme Court on Quebec separation.

51% is Democracy at its core.... it's apparently good enough for voting in MP's.... and apparently it's good enough for Harper to win Majority in our system of government.... or wait, he only won 37.65% of the votes..... but apparently it's not good enough for this particular topic.

So what is?

60%?

75%?

90%??

98%???

Let me guess.... whatever % you think is needed to ensure they'll never leave Canada.

3. The NDP constitution demand for the dismantling of capitalism, and state ownership of the means of production.

Sounds good to me.

Harper and the Conservatives will eat these people for breakfast in an election campaign.

Yeah good luck with that....

 

[Cliffy]

Brilliant comedian.

Like the vast majority of artists, a complete idiot when it comes to political reality.

There is no political reality, there is only entertainment for the masses; a diversion to keep their focus on anything but the reality of their servitude.

 

[damngrumpy]

Reality check please. Its funny how personal reactions sometime miss some
very important points.

1 Only a year ago people were saying the NDP could never become the official
Opposition, but they are. so who is to say the political winds will blow against
or for them three years from now.

2 It makes sense to run the add in Quebec and in French its a test run after all.
Why is is some people have to have the idea if you are nice to Quebec you
can't be nice to the rest of Canada. That is a worn out position that most of
us abandoned long ago.

3 At the moment it would not be good to position Mulcair as a hostile politician
he is trying to win new friends not push people away.

4 The center left vote may not be a factor in three years. people are watching
incompetence of the current government closely, robocalls, over priced jets
and budget shortfalls in the billions since they took office.

Canadians are a funny lot, they don't vote governments into office they throw
governments out and if they are angry enough who know what will happen there
are three parties in Canada and the vote split could provide some very interesting
results depending on the mood three years from now.

 

[wulfie68]

You think guns are the most important issue of western rural voters?

They may not be THE most important issue for western rural voters (really, we could probably just say rural and exclude the western), but the long gun registry is important: it forced gun owners to make a choice of obeying an invasive, unjust and ill-founded law or become criminals. Thats not something people took lightly, and many had enough resentment towards Chretien, Rock & Co. that they chose not to obey it. These are people who are fundamentally decent people at their core, but they felt the gov't was pushing too far and they don't want to be forced into that position again.

1 Only a year ago people were saying the NDP could never become the official Opposition, but they are. so who is to say the political winds will blow against or for them three years from now.

True but except in the most extreme cases the winds take a while to build...

2 It makes sense to run the add in Quebec and in French its a test run after all. Why is is some people have to have the idea if you are nice to Quebec you can't be nice to the rest of Canada. That is a worn out position that most of us abandoned long ago.

You're partially correct: you CAN be nice to Quebec without being adversarial to English Canada in broad generalizations, but when you start defining your policy, making Quebec happy means you will inevitably ruffle feathers elsewhere, because Quebec's demands tend to be extreme and would have to be met at someone else's expense.

3 At the moment it would not be good to position Mulcair as a hostile politician he is trying to win new friends not push people away.

And the day will come where he has to get off the fence and people will judge him on where he stands on issues important to them.

4 The center left vote may not be a factor in three years. people are watching incompetence of the current government closely, robocalls, over priced jets and budget shortfalls in the billions since they took office.

And when they look at the pros and cons of the issues they will have to make their assessment. Polling isn't showing a lot of change in the stances of most people and Harper has shown himself to be able to take it up a notch on the campaign trail.

Canadians are a funny lot, they don't vote governments into office they throw governments out and if they are angry enough who know what will happen there are three parties in Canada and the vote split could provide some very interesting results depending on the mood three years from now.

Unless something radically changes, I don't see it. The "right" said the same thing during Chretien's tenure and it didn't materialize. I'm not saying it can't just that we are a pretty complacent culture and not prone to making huge changes very often.

 

[mentalfloss]

Love the harpoon predictions from the CPC crowd.

Keep it up. That attitude really did you some good in the Ontario election. Alberta also says hi, rofl

 

[Colpy]

Praxius;1573711 Who gives a crap about the Greens?

Practically nobody, obviously.....

Praxius;1573711 It's not impossible, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten to where they are now.... every election the NDP has only gained more and more seats.... they must be doing something right.

I really believe the NDP was a protest vote, that the party and policies did not undergo the scrutiny that they will as opposition.........and that they were (in 2011) not on the CPC radar, and so were not targeted in the same way as the Liberals. Face it....they replaced the Bloc in Quebec, and the Bloc is far to the left of the average Canadian in the RoC. They literally can not serve two masters.

Praxius;1573711 Well we'll see how that goes if it does.

Well, according to the CBC, Mulcair has already expressed his desire to re-introduce the registry. I know he does not make policy alone, but his public statement of such a thing simply illustrates the divide between the Quebec left, and the rural left in the west. Jack tried to side-step the issue for a reason........

Praxius;1573711 A very short sighted and narrow view on Dual Citizenship, speaking as someone who's a Canadian Citizen and may very well seek my Australian Citizenship someday.

Cool. I don't have a problem with that at all. Good luck with the Australian citizenship. Not planing to rum for PM anytime soon, I hope???

Praxius;1573711 It's very easy to hold loyalty towards two countries without those loyalties conflicting.... and Harper & anybody who thinks like him are morons to think otherwise. (reasons already posted in another thread relating to Harper's views on D-Citizenship)

It may be easy, but in this case it is highly inappropriate, and a political time bomb. If you are going to literally be the first citizen of a nation, there should be no shadow or duality in your loyalties. Simple as that. And there are a LOT of people out there who will agree with me. Good Lord, Ignatieff took it on the ear largely because he simply lived abroad.........at least he was only Canadian.

51% is Democracy at its core.... it's apparently good enough for voting in MP's.... and apparently it's good enough for Harper to win Majority in our system of government.... or wait, he only won 37.65% of the votes..... but apparently it's not good enough for this particular topic.

So what is?

60%?

75%?

90%??

98%???

Let me guess.... whatever % you think is needed to ensure they'll never leave Canada.

Any national constitution that I ever heard of, including the Canadian one, requires considerably more than 50% + 1 to be amended. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, there must be a "clear majority" on a "clear question"............and that "clear majority" would only mean the Canadian gov't enter into negotiations with Quebec........soooooooo, argue with the Justices and the Canadian Constitution..............

Two thirds majority sounds sensible.

Praxius;1573711 Sounds good to me.

Ahhh....capitalism and property rights are what made the west dominate in the world for the last 500 years. It made you rich and free. State control of the means of production has beenm a disasterous failure anywhere it has been tried.

Man, the left are not quick learners.

Praxius;1573711 Yeah good luck with that....

No luck required. Canada is a fairly conservative country. And with the shift of the power base west...........Mulcair and the NDP are the voice of the past.

 

[petros]

It will be important enough after Mulcair tries to re-introduce the long gun registry.

These guys never learn.

15 years ago it would have been an issue but isn't one now.

 

[Colpy]

15 years ago it would have been an issue but isn't one now.

Soooo.....you really think that, after the last 17 years of strife, a couple of billion dollars, resistance, protest, non-compliance and political confrontation that any other gov't could come forward and say "Let's set up a universal registration system for long guns.........it will only cost $2 million"....and NOT pay a huge political price????

uh huh.

 

[petros]

Soooo.....you really think that, after the last 17 years of strife, a couple of billion dollars, resistance, protest, non-compliance and political confrontation that any other gov't could come forward and say "Let's set up a universal registration system for long guns.........it will only cost $2 million"....and NOT pay a huge political price????

uh huh.

Yup. Nobody saw the jackboots kicking down their doors that the doomsayers predicted. Life went on and little changed.

Wheat Board being killed by far dominates the concerns of the western rural citizen.