Degaffing
Scott Reid has resigned as Conservative critic for official languages.
Does this reduce the Conservative score? No. The gaffe was still made, and the seriousness of it that I reflected in the score has in turn been taken seriously by Harper. They moved quickly to contain the damage, which might end up having the opposite effect that I suggested last night - that the Conservatives will be seen as very different from their Reform predecessors.
Then again, they could always move Larry Spencer in as the replacement.
I kid, but not without point. Harper might be a different man, and the party name may have changed, and there may be a whole bunch of moderates in the party that would never have run for the Alliance. But every social Conservative on that slate (and there are still plenty) is a time bomb for this party, even with quick resignations to follow. It won't take many of these sorts of errors for Paul Martin's message - the Conservatives are scary and right-wing and closet Americophiles - to stick.
Friday, May 28, 2004
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