Harper not about to have sex with sheep. Nope nope nope

That appears to have been the gist of the point made to the CBC news camera of a Harper-Con supporter at today's Conservative campaign event. Point taken. And lo and behold! The Ford brothers - even the crack-cocaine smoking one - are trotted out to help rally the faithful in a Toronto riding the Conservatives are desperately hoping to hang on to in the dying days of their uber-ugly campaign.

Hey, everybody, let's sing:

The wheels of the bus fall off, off, off; off, off. off; off, off, off...

Election theme song from Hey Rosetta! & Yukon Blonde

Land You Love

Land You Love - Hey Rosetta! & Yukon Blonde from Phil Maloney on Vimeo.

This brings a tear to my eye everytime I play it. Thank you, Hey Rosetta! and Yukon Blonde.

Share! Share! Share!

Dipper Blood & Grit Guts

Dang!

Best debate ever. And maybe because it couldn`t be fully appreciated if you didn't already live in la Belle Province and have a good ear for Québefrancais, but dang!

I watched all the debates, and this one took the cake. For once, Harper was on the defensive and getting pummeed all throughout. Trudeau and Duceppe - and especially Mulcair - smacked him down for the best 120 minutes of the past 10 years.

On more than a couple of occasions I was animated towards my TV like nothing you have seen since the last Habs playoff games.

That said, Mulcair mostly made the gorgeous passes while Trudeau potted the goals. Anyway, I loved every minute. For once, Mulcair was himself mostly. The attack dog making sure Harper won't get away with anything. And Mulcair allowed himself to be himself, and not some weird uncle with the fake smile trying to sell you crystal meth as some hard candy.

Trudeau blew everyone out of the water on debating points, and called Duceppe "mon amour" at one point, completely endearing himself to all québecoise (according to my Québecoise wife) and providing a bit of candor to his otherwise ironclad demeanor. The niqab was debated responsibly. The Middle East conflict and our role therein was debated (marginally) intelligently. Everything I saw in two hours surpassed the past five years of HoC theater. Bravo, all.

Bonus points to JT for calling out Harper on his cowardice vis a vis gay marriage and abortion rights; plus for saying a couple of real truths over the course of the night.

- 30 -

Harper's new ads: Shut Up, I'm Talking I and Shut Up, I'm Talking II

The greater Dictator, dictating (courtesy Huffpost)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/14/tory-campaign-ads_n_8134536.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics

Will the really smart Trudeau - Sacha - please stand up?

Dear Justin,

I was very disheartened to hear our current PM today distort your thoughtful positions on restoring diplomacy with Iran and pulling out of the bombing campaign in the Iraq-Syria joint civil war.

That said: nice ad!

I have to say though, that I was previously crestfallen to see all Liberals in HoC vote for C-51 because it is such an aberration; yet I know the victory taken from the NDP on their vote against was purely Pyrrhic, as the bill was going to pass with or without either party's votes, and I believe your braintrust presumed it was mostly only a set-piece to provide the Cons (literally now, given Del Mastro's new status) with fodder for attack ads.

However, it does speak to how desperate Harper must be, with so much of his bench dropping off. If the likes of Pollivere (forgive me but I really don't care if I am misspelling his name, which itself is as pretentious as his very ken), and Kenney and Raitt and Lebel and Kirstie Alley - or, you know, the one that looks like her and wants to single-handedly breathe dragon-fire onto the Supreme Court, Ambrose or something - if they constitute Peevey Stevie's shining Cabinet stars,... that tells me his cupboard is just about bare.

I looked with an open mind at the NDP platform today, and while my progressive-minded bent was aligned with much of what they put out there, in a practical sense, I couldn't square much of their plans with the individualized needs of the provinces (standardized daycare, Senate abolition, and minimum wage in particular). The line you spoke last week in response to the Senate was perfect - that when you get the ear of the provincial premieres, the conversation should focus on bread and butter issues; not some navel-gazing exercise with horse-trading for constitutional tweaking this way and that, as Senate abolition would constitutionally require. That was only a burning issue for a week, really. Not a game-changer, so I think once people think about it, they'll see your stance is the best one of the major three parties.

With so many Liberal provincial governments currently in power, doing right by the provinces is a winning strategy, as their own ground troupes might be more invigorated to fighting for you, and it does nothing to irk most voters. As a former GPC supporter, I was particularly wowed by the stuff proposed on realchange.ca and I hope there will be more like it.

Mulcair has a singular option for Proportional Rep that we are bound to swallow should he win in October. Your 18-month consultative plan is much better policy. So is most of the LPC policy. Keep putting it out there and explaining in plain language where it surpasses NDP policy and don't ever forget to use the other differentiator: the LPC is the only party that is not in the hard-line hawkish Israeli back pocket. Hopefully Duceppe - a hard-scrabbly type who won't get bested by the NDP twice - will do the heavy lifting in shining this light on the NDP for you. His francophone sovereignist constituency was turned-on by Layton and can be equally turned-off by Mulcair, knowing how fully he stands behind whatever Israel does, no matter how horribly the Palestinians fare under their occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Lastly, keep being you. Resist kowowing to the cynical politics of most of our political class, and please continue to speak off-the-cuff without fear. Your genuineness is what made people believe in you from the get-go, after all. Mulcair is stronger and fiercer, yes, but the soft power you so effortlessly harness is what sets you apart.

P.S.: Do tell me that your bro Sacha is not going anywhere; because as long as he remains the RFK to your JFK, I think the "Not Ready" meme is going to be DOA (imperfect as that metaphor admittedly is).

Warm regards, Scott Murray (formerly of Papineau riding, now in Dorval) - 30 -