Revolutionary Moderation

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.