Revolutionary Moderation

Haven't been gaffing

So, here's the thing. I'm not averse to continuing to count gaffes - it's just that the candidates have slowed right down at it. I'm not saying they aren't still making mistakes (some of them huge), but they aren't making the sort of mistakes that have them apologising and feeling stupid. Instead, they're making the sort of mistakes that leave them trying to spin. Can you imagine the Liberals trying to spin Beer and Popcorn? Of course not - all they could do was slap their foreheads, say "D'oh!" (and then grab Reid by the neck with a "Why you little....!"), and move on. That, my friends, is what a gaffe looks like. But backpedaling from a rhetorical turn of phrase to debate the separatist forces on every street corner? Not a gaffe, however dumb it might have been, and however good it allowed Harper to look picking up the gauntlet.

Likewise the nearly-universally panned threat to remove Parliament from the list of legislative bodies allowed to use s. 33. Or the new Liberal attack ads. The Liberals have been making some stupid decisions, but they haven't been making "gaffes", at least not lately.

This brings me to Marc Garneau. He said that Quebec separation is a bad idea.

"I believe there are a lot of sovereigntists who have not worked it through till the end," Garneau said Wednesday. "It's a little bit like the Unites States going into Baghdad. It happened very quickly, but what after that?"

Some people want me to score this. Certainly, it put the backs up on some separatists, and had some Liberals scrambling for political cover. But I fail to understand the math: If "Alberta separation is a good idea" = gaffe, "Quebec separation is a bad idea" shouls not also count as a gaffe. Forget it. Too many times this election someone (from any party) is seen pandering to separatists. I'm on the side of those who speak truth, even hard truth. I'm drawing a line. Saying separation, anywhere, is a bad idea gets a pass from me.

So in short, I really haven't missed anything gaffe-wise. However, I haven't seen Duffy v. Duffy yet, so there's still time.

Edited for word usage. Hey, YOU write these things at three am.