Whooee! Well friends an' foes, pore ol' Stephane Dion is doin' worse than ever. The Trawna Star's got a poll out that says he's only got a 10% approval rating. They say that's the worst ever for a Liberal leader and even John Turner never went below 14%.
If I was a Liberal, I'd be talkin' about how to raise up Dion's popularity. I'd be suggestin' the Liberals make dang good use of the summer BBQ circuit to explain the tax-shift. Trouble is, when you're explainin', you're losin'. Like I said yesterday, Dion made a bigass goof when he leaked the carbon tax instead o' leakin' the other side of the tax-shift coin, massive income tax reductions.
If I were a Liberal and tryin' to sell the tax-shift, I'd make sure the phrase "tax-shift" was used way more than the phrase "carbon tax." I'd also try to invent a catchy slogan that captures the essence of the tax-shift. Maybe somethin' like "Tax what you burn, not what you earn."
If I were a Liberal, I'd have my ear to the ground and I'd be lookin' for counterpoints to every piece of negative spin that the opposition parties and pundits and skeptics are tossin' around. Since the Grits ain't already divulged details, they got time to make 'em up to suit whatever mud's comin' their way. End o' June, we're hearin'. That gives the Grits 6 weeks to cram all the necessary details to counter all the pre-emptive attacks. It'll make the pre-emptive attackers look dang stoopid, too.
If I were a Liberal, I'd make sure they get their most eloquent and polished speakers out on the hustings deliverin' a simple, concise and easily-intelligible tax-shift plan. Bob Rae and Iggy and Goodale gotta be stumpin' hard. I'd have plenty of hypothetical examples showin' how the plan affects average families, single parents, rural folks, small town folks, city folks, farmers, fishermen, seniors and the disabled.
If I were a Liberal, I'd make sure Dion goes to his English classes every week and I'd coach the hell out of him. Anybody else got trouble understanding what Dion's sayin' on that Mike Duffy Live commercial? I heard it 4 or 5 times before I figgered out he's sayin' "Watch Mike Duffy Live." Ma seen it for about the 10th time the other night and she sez to me, "What's he sayin'?"
Then, I'd get Dion and his polished English out there makin' the news all summer long.
I ain't a Liberal and the gal I adore, Earth Mother Lizzie May, is already ridin' high on approval. If Dion'd just be more like Lizzie, he'd maybe turn it around. Then again, if voters like the tax-shift plan Dion adopted from Green Party policy, maybe they'd rather get the real thing along with a real dynamic, credible leader.
JimBobby
Hey, JB. I am a Liberal and Dion has me very afraid. I'm afraid he's going to try to transform the next election into a carbon tax referendum. He's not strong enough to sell that initiative and making it the cornerstone of an election campaign could doom it in the public's eye forever. In other words I'm afraid Dion is risking irreparable harm to the environmental movement if he tries to use this issue to float him through a general election.
ReplyDeleteCheers
MoS
Whooee! Thanks for droppin' by, Mound. Yer right as rain, it's a worrisome prospect for Grits. I reckon what you mean by "irreparable harm" is Harper winnin' again.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the next election will hinge on this one issue, necessarily. The Con's have proven to be exceedingly good at hurting themselves with all of their hypocrisy. They sat Canajuns are more likely to vote someone out as punishment than to vote someone in on basis of policy.
I been on the tax-shift bandwagon a lot longer than most Grits. I think most Grits are just noticing that there is such a thing as tax-shift bandwagon and they're either chasing it or trying to decide whether to jump on.
Dion seems to have caught a lot of Grits by surprise. It's a long shot, I grant, but not a completely impossible sell. If he can keep some focus on this as a positive for the environment versus Harper's negative anti-Earth policies and the Con's provide more self-inflicted scandals, he's got a chance.
I think you're stuck with him and his tax-shift, unless he resigns. Best thing would probably be to embrace it and sell it as best you can.
JB
"Tax what you burn, not what you earn."
ReplyDeleteVery nice indeed.