Update:
The Liberal Party has continued to increase the overal number of contributors but the gap between them and the CPC is not closing,
How many of the 1677 contributors who STOPPED were Big Fish maxed out? June 2009 QTRLY 19,487 September 2009 QTRLY 17,810 A drop in 8.6% since the last quarter.
The percentage from the contributor make donations has begun to shrink, as they increase their overall numbers. That is generally considered a substantial early sign or weakness in fundraising.
Why are contributors scaling back their overall contribution, what is responsible for the loss of share of mind (wallet) in individual contributors?
1) Leadership, party dissaffection.
2) Personal financial hardship.
3) Ineffective marketing, communication strategy.
Feedback Systems-Tools are not able to quantify the reasons for the "share of wallet" dropping.
Celebrating the "flame" for it represents "hope" in us.
Michael Ignatieff ignoring the election results on October 14, 2008 when Canadians returned the Liberals with the lowest POP since 1867 gave a threatening speech rebuking the Government of Canada led by PM Stephen Harper in Sudbury declaring:
"After four years of drift, four years of denial, four years of division and discord-- Mr. Harper, your time is up," Mr. Ignatieff declared in an address to his national caucus at a retreat to prepare MPs and senators for the resumption of Parliament in two weeks.
"The Liberal party cannot support this government any further. We will hold Stephen Harper to account. We will oppose his government in Parliament." Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/Story.html?id=1954062#ixzz0VRHX5PMV
Four weeks later the Liberal Party of Canada led by Michael Ignatieff is again polling around levels unseen since 1867.
If the Liberals were successful in their motion to force an unwanted and uncessary election for November, the Government of Canada would be distracted to secure another mandate.
Are the Liberals more interested in stopping the Government in Canada taking "credit" for Global Recovery?
Are the Liberals concerned the Government of Canada may get credit for the pride and nationalism stemming from the Olympics?
The official opposition have decided to spend the month of September in attacking the government on:
Use of logos, advertising, colour blue, interference on funds, partisan advertising promoting EAP.
Conspiracy of interfering with the Olympic branding.
Incompetence on handling H1N1.
[fill in the blank] depending upon rumor in newspaper.
Official Opposition have made a tactical error in trying to gain the attention of the public without presenting any "real evidence" as they only press those attacks under legal protection inside the House of Commons.
Torch relay and bearers and crowds to welcome this historic event.
Canadians are NOT interested in politicians playing games. Canadians are tuning out the Liberal Party and their negative style of politics.
Sage Advice to be ignored by Liberals: Risk backlash over growing patriotism and nationalism
The Games reflect the Host country and the world at the time of the game. The world is now watching, do you keep attacking the federal government with the world stage watching to advance your party's interest ?
Be prepared for the judgement at the booth if you continue to talk down the recovery, allege corruption inside the HOC only, force an unwanted and uncessary election.
“First Nations communities should not be used as punching bags for a political party.” Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq
“We are in a pandemic situation where Dr. Bennett should know better.
Liberals are forced to apologize to soften damage playing political games and sending OFFENSIVE taxpayer funded flyer.
Liberal Party should be asked to PAY for the cost of that disgusting flyer using Aboriginals as props over a serious issue in an attempt to throw mud at the government.
Reasons for Sending the Disgusting Taxpayer Funder Flyer?
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant suggested the flyers had been printed before the outcome of the body-bag investigation was known.
...party’s intentions were honourable.
Reaction
Grand Chief Ron Evans of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs told a parliamentary committee the flyer was “very disturbing...it’s really troubling to our people.”
Where is the outrage and the MSM denouncing the Liberal Party?
The Economy
Half of Canadians (50%) are satisfied with the reaction of the federal government to the economic crisis,
while 46 per cent are dissatisfied.
Alberta (61%) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (62%) are home to the largest proportion of respondents
who are satisfied with the federal government’s response, while a majority of Quebecers (52%) are
dissatisfied.
Two-in-five Canadians (44%) either completely or moderately trust Harper to do the right thing to help the
economy recover, while just one-in-four (25%) feel the same way about Ignatieff. Mark Carney, the
Governor of the Bank of Canada, is also trusted by 44 per cent of Canadians, although 27 per cent are
undecided.
The problems are deep: not just an overall slide from their fall election rush, but a loss in traditional bases of women and ethnic voters. In Quebec, where being the main federalist option can win more seats, they're neck and neck with the Tories again.
The Liberal opposition, instead of creating a political alternative, is again engaged in mudslinging, hoping to get back into power by convincing the electorate that the government is bad and by making promises they know they will not keep.
An apologetic staffer in Ignatieff's office blamed the head-scratcher on technical gremlins.
Why is the CBC using videos from the Liberal Party vault?
The Video has been edited to ignore perfectly for the benefit of the Liberal Party and the source is the Liberal Pary vault.
In the past month, Ignatieff has been forced to backtrack on his threat to force an election at the earliest opportunity. And he's had to shake up his Quebec team after his provincial lieutenant, Denis Coderre, quit in a huff.
Coderre bitterly blamed Ignatieff's Toronto-centred inner circle for interfering in his job of recruiting candidates for the next election.
The addition of Donolo to the team wouldn't help Ignatieff shake the perception that he's too Toronto-centric. http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=165966
Liberal MP's have not prepared, no plan to deal with telephone calls about H1N1?
In our daily review of publicity stunts by Liberals, does a qualified medical doctor MP admits her office and her party is NOT prepared to deal with telephone calls from here constituents or she stoking the fears and confusion in Question Period?
Does she expect Ottawa to dictate to Federal, Provincial, Foreign Nationals experts in the medical field to have only ONE opinion?
"Peter will be given carte blanche to clean house and do whatever he needs to do," one source, who asked not to be identified, told CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/27/ignatieff-donolo.html
I have yet to meet a fellow taxpayer demanding they pay 40% more for the privilege of turning on their lights or heating their homes this winter. Can Dalton and Michael as Liberals win this debate?
Liberal Party of Canada
“We need to power Canada on clean energy. Clean energy is jobs. It’s trade. It’s rebuilding our place in the world and leaving Canada stronger and more prosperous than we’ve ever been,” Mr. Ignatieff said in a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
“At the heart of our next platform will be the most significant national investment in clean energy jobs this country has ever seen. This starts with a relentless commitment to renewable power.”
In his speech, Mr. Ignatieff said he would make renewable power a national priority by working with business, communities and all orders of government to design incentives that encourage new renewable power projects. This starts with a renewed commitment to renewable power production incentives that Conservatives are now failing to fund.
He's using taxpayers' money to massively subsidize wind -- paying 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity generated from wind turbines (19 cents for offshore projects) compared to the normal cost of generation of four to five cents.
Wind companies are scrambling to cash in, building and proposing thousands of turbines across Ontario, massive steel structures as high as 40 storeys.
The province has been flooded with so many applications for offshore wind farms that Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield announced last week it won't consider any more until next year, just so it can catch up on the paperwork.
Alarmingly, Ontario's mad rush to embrace renewable energy sources that aren't viable without massive public subsidies and are incapable, given current technology, of supplying "on demand" power to the grid, is being led by the same two politicians, McGuinty and Energy Minister George Smitherman, mainly responsible for the $1 billion eHealth boondoggle. (Smitherman used to be health minister.) http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/lorrie_goldstein/2009/10/27/11536651-sun.html
I look forward to the debate about paying for these subsidies.
“I understand the dramatic cries of outrage that must be flung at the government in power – often backed by somewhat scrambled statistics. But is infrastructure stimulus money being distributed unfairly? NOT!” She says that having first-hand knowledge of political “spin” and the “slings and arrows of the press,” she is a non-partisan now who can set the record straight. Ms. Parrish says that Mississauga is receiving a huge amount of dollars from various stimulus programs and it was city staff, not federal and provincial politicians, who decided which projects to fund. So there! “The feds and the province decided how much we’d get. Council decided where it would be spent. And we are grateful for that autonomy,” she writes. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/ottawa-notebook/carolyn-parrish-lauds-stimulus/article1338103/
WORSE THAN DION?
"The Liberals, these days, just have no traction at all," said Darrell Bricker, CEO of polling firm Ipsos Reid, which provided its latest results exclusively to Canwest News Service and Global National.
Mr. Dion received 26.3% of the popular vote last fall as his party lost to Stephen Harper's Conservatives. The Liberals had not done that poorly at a general election since the country's very first general election in 1867.
If not now, when? For the Love of God,When? Feb 27, 2008-BCer in Toronto
....The problem is, we rushed into a leadership race after the election defeat without ever really acknowledging the deep rot that has set into the Liberal Party, let alone doing anything to fix it. We created this rot, this sickness through years of Chretien/Martin civil war, preceded by years of Turner/Chretien civil war, going back who knows how many generations. A rot worsened by years of majority government with noses bellied-up to the trough, by self-important organizers that put winning and position before policy and what's right, by a deep sense of entitlement, by a bloated party machine dependent on big corporate donations.
Unless we ever get serious about reforming this party and returning (or, since they've never really had it, giving) power to the grassroots then it's hard to really care where we go from here. Dion will stay an indecisive yet willing captive to a divided caucus running its own multiple agendas until enough of those factions decide their interests warrant an election. We'll then finally have an election that, at this rate, we'll lose. We'll pin it all on the leader, he'll probably fall on his sword, and we'll have a leadership race. We'll look for the most messiah-like, crown them, the Conservatives will begin their predictable attack ads and the cycle will begin all over again. Remember, you read it here first.
Jeff Jedras wrote an honest and scathing post about his party. His post was written nearly twenty months ago ago and was very critical of the Liberal Party. Does Jeff Jedras think the Liberal Party has fixed their problems?
Ekos Poll show every demographic over 25 voting with their "wallets" and choosing the CPC during a period of Economic difficulty.
The elusive Female Vote has moved away from the Liberals. The Liberals love to produce papers and reports and hold meeting to demostrate they care about the female vote.
The last Liberal bastion stronghold has been the Large Urban Centres. Many immigrants who arrived under the Federal Liberal Governments are no longer holding to support them.
The CPC have done the heavy lifting and have been listening for years in tackling the problems facing this community. The dividends have been slowly paying off. Many Liberals simply don't get it, they are stuck on the scary Harper narrative. These voting blocks have slowly been moving away from the Liberal Party. The internet can produce many reasons why the voters are turning away in larger numbers from the Liberal Party.
The opposition parties have begun to attempt to frame the CPC in a negative frame by invoking ADSCAM. Is that a smart move or another mistake by the Liberal Party. The story of ADSCAM is still in the News especially in QC with on going trials.
The sponsorship program, designed to enhance the federal government's profile, funnelled millions of tax dollars to Liberal Party-friendly advertising firms for little or no work. The adscam was instrumental in virtually wiping out the Liberal Party in Quebec, driving the Grits out of power in the 2006 federal election. www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/10/21/quebec-sponsorship-scandal-scoc-globe-appeal.html
Does it make sense for the Liberal Party to ask voters to compare EAP to Adscam?
Framing
Language always comes with what is called "framing." Every word is defined relative to a conceptual framework. If you have something like "revolt," that implies a population that is being ruled unfairly, or assumes it is being ruled unfairly, and that they are throwing off their rulers, which would be considered a good thing. That's a frame.
If you then add the word "voter" in front of "revolt," you get a metaphorical meaning saying that the voters are the oppressed people, the governor is the oppressive ruler, that they have ousted him and this is a good thing and all things are good now. All of that comes up when you see a headline like "voter revolt" — something that most people read and never notice. But these things can be affected by reporters and very often, by the campaign people themselves. ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-001361.htm
Does it make sense for the Liberal Party
to scream scandal every other week?
This WEEK in the NEWS......October 24, 2009
Silence on corruption in Quebec must end: investigator
A group of about 40 investigators, prosecutors and civilian employees from government organizations like Quebec's construction commission will join an integrated squad put together after months of media reports alleging corruption involving construction companies and municipal governments, making it the dominant issue in elections in Montreal and other cities.www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-paper/Silence+corruption+Quebec+must+investigator/2140148/story.html
The former head of the Liberal Party of Canada's Quebec wing will find out in a few weeks whether Quebec Court Judge Suzanne Coupal bought the remorse card when she sentences Corbeil Dec. 4.2009
The defence is asking for an absolute discharge, while the Crown wants Corbeil to spend between 18 and 24 months behind bars and pay back the people he defrauded.
Since 2006 the Liberals and the opposition have been alleging alleging scandals, abuse, scary Harper almost without fail. Has the public finally had enough of the opposition "crying wolf"?
On a much brighter note Global Warming might help our tourism
National Economy Turning the Corner for Half of Canadians
Federal Liberals are denying the recovery by using selective information
Amateur Hour Extended: Most Basic Facts Wrong
Strange but true Don Martin thinks the Liberals had a good week pushing a fake scandal.
Since late June, positive views on the economy have increased by 12 points, while negative assessments have declined by 11 points.
Canadians are now four times more likely to believe that the stock market will be higher a month from now (26%) than to think it will be lower (6%).
Also, more than a third of respondents (36%) expect the Canadian economy to improve in the next three months, while less than one-in-ten (8%) foresee a decline.
A majority of Canadians (56%) rate their own personal finances as "good" or "very good" (56%), but two-in-five (40%) deem them "bad" or "very bad."
The Recession
Since the summer, Canadians have become less dramatic when assessing the current recession. While half of respondents (53%) describe the current slowdown as the worst recession in twenty years, the proportion has declined by 10 points in three months. In fact, 30 per cent of respondents—up eight points since July—now rate the current state of affairs as a "minor recession."
However, the proportion of respondents who believe Canada will get out of recession in 2011 increased this month to 52 per cent, up 10 points since July.
The Government
Almost half of Canadians (49%) believe the actions of governments across Canada will help the economy recover slowly, while 18 per cent—down six points since July—think their actions will make no difference to the economy.
It is natural for the sitting Government to benefit from the bad times as it is logical for them to take the heat for the bad times. The critics and naysayers who have been talking down the recovery, ignoring all the good news are losing support amongst Canadians. The Liberals, NDP, Bloc appear to be more interested in taking cheap shots than in helping the government move forward.
The [federal Liberals] draw conclusions based on the analysis that they’ve done,” deputy premier George Smitherman countered Thursday outside Queen’s Park.
Why are a few MSM chasing the Liberal's latest faux scandal or feuling the "invisible" outrage?
"I think the Prime Minister understands that this is not going over well with Canadians." (Bob Fife, Power Play, October 21, 2009) Does Bob Fife has a special Poll taken in Narnia, Liberals are consistently below 30% for over four weeks since declaring an election threat.
"Now we are seeing more and more information, more and more statistics that say... if you're a Conservative voter, you're much more likely to be benefiting from the government's $61 billion stimulus effort." (James Travers, Power Play, October 21, 2009)
Without a thorough or complete review of 100% of the $ 61 billion, some suggest you can make a case for favouritism. That is simply inconsistent and borders on delusional.
A review of the $ 61 billion requires a detailed and thorough analysis. Highlighting a specific riding or project worth $ 100 million predicts absolutely NOTHING and is a perfect example why the invisible outrage and crying wolf from the opposition will result in other representative of Provincial, municipal gov't to step up to discredit this latest smear. I did not understand why any government would benefit from delaying release of information until this latest stunt. Opposition are being selective and trying desperately to manipulate data by being selective in what they bring forward in review of spending.
The country's prospects are actually brighter than they were in the summer. China's economy is growing faster than the Bank of Canada thought it would, lifting global growth and boosting commodity prices. Canada's labour and housing markets also continue to surprise analysts with their resilience.
UBC law professor Michael Byers said while public figures sometimes make mistakes, Ignatieff's statement was related to his own position on torture, "a matter on which he wrote extensively while a Harvard professor, with those writings having since been subject to intense scrutiny."
"For him to get the facts wrong on the highest profile case of torture involving a Canadian citizen is deeply worrying.
"It suggests a certain lack of attention to detail, and perhaps even concern, on a matter that was engaging the Canadian public, a commission of inquiry, and courts in both Canada and the United States at the very same time that he was expressing opinions on torture in The New York Times."
When the CBC and Jane Taber calls out the Liberal Party
as being desperate trying to keep this story alive.
Rock bottom can't be far behind!
Wayne Easter’s stunt to embarrass government MPs today misfired. Instead, he embarrassed himself. - Jane Taber
Top Liberal attack dog's pawprints are all over this one
Party is getting way too much mileage out of that dumb cheque gaffe
Liberal MP David McGuinty, not known for understatement, declared: "We believe this is probably the most massive propaganda effort of any kind seen at the federal government level in Canadian history."
His memory is either short or selective. There was something called the sponsorship scandal, that grew out of the Liberal government's effort to show the Canadian flag in Quebec after the near-death experience of the 1995 referendum.
Another Liberal MP, Wayne Easter, held up a door knob to illustrate routine maintenance, as opposed to new infrastructure dollars, on a federal building in Prince Edward Island. He should be careful about having his picture taken with a doorknob--it invites comparisons.
On a day when the Liberals could have loaded the bases, they never even got to first.
Cheque scandal just partisan smoke
That such subjective analysis can pass for serious journalism is a testament to the 24/7/365 multi-media news model that favours headline grabbing content without context over the most basic research necessary to pass a high school civics course.
Yes, a few Tories took a justifiable hit for party logos on photo-op cheques last week. It was wrong, period. It serves as a reminder to elected officials at all levels: It is not your constituency, it is the constituency that you represent. And it’s never mythical government money, it’s taxpayers’ money (often from future generations via deficits) that is being spent.
But to assert that a cabal of government ministers and senior officials is doling out federal funds by riding name and postal code is ludicrous. What’s next: Elvis to the Senate?
The CPC increased the gap in Ontario.The Liberals are dropping in Quebec and British Columbia.The Liberals are continuing to lose support EVERYWHERE while the NDP have gained except the Prairies.
EKOS Seat Projection
In terms of regional strength, the Conservatives would be able to claim that they were a national
party, representing every region with a significant number of seats, including Quebec, where we
estimate they would hold 10 seats.
The Liberals, in contrast, would hold just 10 seats west of Ontario, almost all of them in British
Columbia. They would trail the Conservatives in every region in the country except Quebec,
where, despite having similar popular support to the Conservatives, they would win a few more
seats due to a more efficient distribution of votes.
Speaking at an Ottawa daycare centre, Ignatieff said he wouldn't support the Conservatives on confidence motions, but added that he won't actively pursue attempts to bring them down.
Liberals will not cooperate and will trigger an election on confidence votes. Liberal Senators stop blocking some legislation that was supported unamiously in the HOC.
Running communications for a political party is a trying task at the best of times. Even more so when you're competing with...yourself.
Angus Ried Poll
In mid-October, the Liberal leader has seen his standing drop dramatically. A majority of Canadians (51%) say their opinion of Ignatieff has worsened over the course of the past month, while only six per cent report an improvement. The Grit leader's momentum score is -45.
