Democratic Debate

[CrossCuT]

your campaigns are waaaaaaaaay too long

Yes, yes they are. 

I know in Europe they only last 6 months and they arent nearly as big of a ridiculous money drain. Its really mind boggling. 

[PhuturePriest]

Yes, yes they are. 

I know in Europe they only last 6 months and they arent nearly as big of a ridiculous money drain. Its really mind boggling. 

In Britain campaigns last six weeks.

[Ice_nine]

Democratic Debate

No thanks.

[PhuturePriest]

No thanks.

This was the debate in a nutshell from our friends at SNL:

http://gothamist.com/2015/10/18/video_larry_david_is_bernie_sanders.php

[Winchester]

"Debate"

[CrossCuT]

In Britain campaigns last six weeks.

Ah maybe it was 6 weeks. At any rate, its way less wasteful than US campaigns. 

[dUSt]

Joe Biden should run. He seems so sane compared to these people.

[veritasluxmea]

I looked for a thread around here about the Canadian election results, but no one was talking about it and I didn't want to start a new thread so here it is. The canadian election results as explained by an unhappy Canadian. 

 

"So! The Canadian Election was yesterday, and unfortunately, the Conservative Party was ousted after having been in Government for almost 8 years.

I know Americans tend to avoid Canadian politics at all costs.. But I think in these days of growing international tension and turmoil, it might be a good idea to give y'all a refresher.

American friends, here’s what you need to know about the clusterf*ck that slowly unfolded before my eyes last night, and why it might effect you.

Basically, the short and rough of it is that Canada’s new overlord is this douche:

A 43 year old man that’s never held an actual job, besides teaching French part-time, and doing a little ski instruction, named Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau is a trust fund baby. A champagne socialist if there ever was one, born to and raised by this douche:

This douche was also our overlord at one time. His name is Pierre Trudeau. And, yes, that’s him chilling with Fidel Castro. Here’s him hanging out with a man he said he ‘admired greatly’, and who ‘brought a wonderful system to his people’ – Mao Zedong.

You know.. Cuz it’s not like Mao killed 30 million people or anything.

Good ol’ Pierre was truly what set socialism in motion in Canada. Prior to him, Canada was far closer to America in it’s political views, discourse, and rights – Because Pierre’s biggest claim to fame was pushing through the Canadian Charter of Human Rights… The document that effectively declared that all human rights come from the Government, which also has the absolute power to strip away those rights whenever it feels like it.

In addition to that bit of trivia, Pierre is also responsible for increasing Canada’s debt 1,100 percent during his term, and created an immensely divided Canada in which the rich natural resources from one province were funnelled in to support the provinces Pierre liked better.

Pierre was also a douchey trust fund baby. I think between him and his son, they’ve maybe worked the same hours as one normal Canadian.

And just like his papa, Justin spent his youth floundering around the globe on his dad’s dime, while intermittently starting activist groups and holding lectures about how the ‘rich need to pay’.

That’s not all Pierre passed on to his son… Justin loves communist dictatorships just as much as daddy. He was recently recorded talking about what a wonderful country China is, because, apparently, it’s very green and environmentally conscious.

(moS clean and green great nATION of CHINA thank chairman Trudeau)

Justin is also good at the economy, you know. He believes budgets can balance themselves, and that keeping an at-par book is unnecessary. In fact, he ran on attack ads aimed at how the other parties were promising to balance the budget and reduce the deficit, and that would reduce the amount of free stuff they could gibs people. 

Not concerned with how this guy could floop with the world yet, Americans? How about having a nation of people trying to spill into the US illegally to both sides?

Justin wants refugees! Lots and lots of refugees! Like Europe has, only more. In the first month, he says he is going to try and bring in 30,000 Muslims into Canada. For a population of only 30,000,000, that’s pretty serious. And the fact that he’s made it clear that that’s just a starting point should be even more concerning.

Y'all think those folks are just going to want to stay in Canada? Hm? Nah.

Government funded pro-Sharia tapes – Coming to a country near you (bordering you, to be exact).

Anyway, that’s just some of it, but I am reluctant to make this post longer than it already is. Just as well, all this might be making some of you shake your heads and wonder what the f*ck your friends to the North were thinking.

To be precise – We weren’t, really.

We had a guy in power that people hated, and it made them think of how to get rid of him… But that thought didn’t continue into who, exactly, would be replacing him and whether or not that would be for better or worse.

Why was he so unpopular? Petty things, really. People thought he was ugly and socially awkward, and that’s really the be-all end all of that. His winning elections were made possibly entirely by the fact that the people running against him were uglier and even more socially awkward.

Last night, one of my campaign co-workers, saddened by defeat, summed it up pretty perfectly.

“We really are a hateful country, aren’t we?”

Yep. We sure are. (via the cranky conservative)"

Goodbye Canada, it was nice knowing you. I'm just purely amazed at the amount of people who believe socialists like Bernie Sanders can actually deliver what they promise. I live in an area that has been run by very liberal and socialist laws for a while and unfortunately I suspect it has directly worsened the homeless and economic situation in the area. For some reason the programs the state provides are mostly helping or being taken advantage of by people who already come from a "middle class home." They aren't greatly impacting or improving the quality of life of people in the lower-poverty side of things, at least not to the level they should. Then there's the interesting effect of capitalism in the area. There's actually some discussion right now on how to get the major job providers in the area to stay/if we should be trying to get them to stay, and what effect that's having on the area. Well, at least I enjoyed my political science classes when we went over these issues. 

[Nihil Obstat]

Basically we are screwed when the euthanasia debate comes up in the next little bit. That fight is already lost.

The only possible good we get out of this is that the Conservatives might just end up with a leader who is meaningfully pro-life by the time everyone is disillusioned enough with Trudeau to go blue again. I hear good things about Jason Kenney.

[CrossCuT]

douche

douche:

 

douche 

 

 douchey trust fund baby 

I know next to nothing about this dude, when when an article links a pic of him as a twenty-something and calls him a douche 4 times....Im inclined to find a different source that isnt trying to manipulate the subject to the Nth degree. Not sure you could find a more absurdly crude and biased article even if you tried.

 

So I looked at his Wiki page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Trudeau

Advocacy

Trudeau has used his public status to promote various causes. He and his family started the Kokanee Glacier Alpine Campaign for winter sports safety in 2000, two years after his brother Michel Trudeau died in an avalanche during a ski trip.[26] In 2002, Trudeau criticized the British Columbia government's decision to stop its funding for a public avalanche warning system.[27]

(left to right) Trudeau,Darfurian refugee Tragi Mustafa, an unidentified woman, and Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire(2006)

Trudeau chaired the Katimavik youth program, a project started by longtime family friend Jacques Hébert, from 2002 to 2006.[28] In 2002–03, he was a panellist on CBC Radio's Canada Reads series, where he championed The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston.[29]Trudeau and his brother Alexandre inaugurated the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto in April 2004; the centre later became a part of the Munk School of Global Affairs.[30] In 2006, he hosted the Giller Prize for literature.[31][32]

In 2005, Trudeau fought against a proposed $100-million zinc mine that he argued would poison the Nahanni River, a United Nations World Heritage Site located in the Northwest Territories. He was quoted as saying, "The river is an absolutely magnificent, magical place. I'm not saying mining is wrong [...] but that is not the place for it. It's just the wrong thing to be doing."[33][34]

On September 17, 2006, Trudeau was the master of ceremonies at a Toronto rally organized by Roméo Dallaire that called for Canadian participation in resolving the Darfur crisis.[35][36][37]

Political beginnings

Trudeau at the 2006 leadership convention

Trudeau supported the Liberal Party from a young age, offering his support to party leader John Turner in the 1988 federal election.[38] Two years later, he defended Canadian federalism at a student event at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, an elite Jesuit high school which he attended.[39]

Following his father's death, Trudeau became more involved with the Liberal Party throughout the 2000s. Along with Olympian Charmaine Crooks, he co-hosted a tribute to outgoing prime minister Jean Chrétien at the party's 2003 leadership convention and was later appointed to chair a task force on youth renewal after the party's defeat in the 2006 federal election.[40][41]

In October 2006, Trudeau criticized Quebec nationalism by describing political nationalism generally as an "old idea from the 19th century", "based on a smallness of thought" and not relevant to modern Quebec. This comment was seen as a criticism of Michael Ignatieff, then a candidate in the 2006 Liberal Party leadership election, who was promoting recognition of Quebec as a nation.[42][43] Trudeau subsequently wrote a public letter on the subject, describing the idea of Quebec nationhood as "against everything my father ever believed."[44][45]

Trudeau announced his support for leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy shortly before the 2006 convention and introduced Kennedy during the candidates' final speeches.[46] When Kennedy dropped off after the second ballot, Trudeau joined him in supporting the ultimate winner,Stéphane Dion.[47][48]

Rumours circulated in early 2007 that Trudeau would run in a by-election in the Montreal riding of Outremont, but he instead announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Papineau for the next general election.[49][50][51] Trudeau faced off against Mary Deros, a Montreal city councillor and Basilio Giordano, the publisher of a local Italian-language newspaper for the Liberal nomination. On April 29, 2007, he easily won the party's nomination, picking up 690 votes to 350 for Deros and 220 for Giordano.[52]

2008–2013

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election for October 14, 2008, by which time Trudeau had been campaigning for a year in Papineau. On election day Trudeau narrowly defeated Bloc Québécois incumbent Vivian Barbot.[53] Following his election win, Edward Greenspon, editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail, noted that Trudeau would "be viewed as few other rookie MPs are—as a potential future prime minister—and scrutinized through that lens."[15]

The Conservative Party won a minority government in the 2008 election, and Trudeau entered parliament as a member of the Official Opposition. Trudeau was the first member of the 40th Parliament of Canada to introduce a private member's motion, in which he called for a "national voluntary service policy for young people". The proposal won support from parliamentarians across party lines.[54] He later co-chaired the Liberal Party's April 2009 national convention in Vancouver, and in October of the same year he was appointed as the party's critic for multiculturalism and youth.[55] In September 2010, he was reassigned as critic for youth, citizenship, and immigration.[56] He was critical of the Harper government's legislation targeting human smuggling, which he argued would penalize the victims of smuggling.[57]

He encouraged an increase of Canada's relief efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and sought more accessible immigration procedures for Haitians moving to Canada in the time of crisis. His own riding includes a significant Haitian community.[58]

Trudeau was re-elected in Papineau in the 2011 Canadian federal election, as the Liberal Party fell to third-party standing in the House of Commons with only thirty-four seats. Ignatieff resigned as party leader immediately after the election, and rumours again circulated that Trudeau could run to become his successor. On this occasion, Trudeau said, "I don't feel I should be closing off any options," but added, "because of the history packaged into my name, a lot of people are turning to me in a way that [...] to be blunt, concerns me."[59] Weeks after the election Toronto MP Bob Rae was selected to serve as the interim leader until the party's leadership convention, which was later decided to be held in April 2013. Rae appointed Trudeau as the party's critic for Post Secondary Education, Youth and Amateur Sport.[60] Trudeau was acknowledged as the "rock star" of the party, and after his re-election, he travelled the country hosting fundraisers for charities and the Liberal Party.[61][62][63][64]

During March 2012 Trudeau took part in a charity boxing match on behalf of "Fight for the Cure" with Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau.[65] Trudeau won the fight in the third round, and the result was considered an upset.[65][66]

Liberal Party leadership

2008 Trudeau promotional photo by Jean-Marc Carisse

After Dion's resignation as Liberal leader in 2008, Trudeau's name was mentioned as a potential candidate to succeed him, with polls showing him as a favourite among Canadians for the position.[67][68] However, he did not enter the race and Ignatieff was later acclaimed as leader in December 2008.[69] After the party's poor showing in the 2011 election, Ignatieff resigned from the leadership and Trudeau was again seen as a potential candidate to lead the party.[70]

Following the election Trudeau said he was undecided about seeking the leadership and months later announced he would not seek the post because he had a young family.[71] When interim leader Rae, who was also seen as a frontrunner, announced he would not be entering the race in June 2012, Trudeau was hit with a "tsunami" of calls from supporters to reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership.[72]Opinion polling conducted by several pollsters showed that if Trudeau were to become leader the Liberal Party would surge in support, from a distant third place to either being competitive with the Conservative Party or leading them.[73][74] In July 2012, Trudeau stated that he would reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership and would announce his final decision at the end of the summer.[75]

2013 leadership election

See also: Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, 2013

On September 26, 2012, multiple media outlets started reporting that Trudeau would launch his leadership bid the following week.[76][77] While Trudeau was seen as a frontrunner for the leadership of the Liberal Party, he was criticized for his perceived lack of substance.[78][79] During his time as a member of parliament he spoke little on policy matters and it was not known where he stood on many issues such as the economy and foreign affairs.[80][81] Some strategists and pundits believed the leadership is the time for Trudeau to be tested on these issues; however, there was also fear within the party that his celebrity status and large lead may deter other strong candidates from entering the leadership race.[82][83][84]

On October 2, 2012, Trudeau held a rally in Montreal to launch his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party.[85] The core people on his campaign team are considered longtime friends, and all in their 30s and 40s. His senior advisor is Gerald Butts, the former President of WWF-Canada who previously served as principal secretary to ex-Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty. Other senior aides include campaign manager Katie Telford, and policy advisors Mike McNeir and Robert Asselin, who have all worked for recent Liberal Party leaders.[86] His brother Alexandre also took a break from his documentary work to be a senior advisor on Trudeau's campaign.[87]

During the leadership campaign three by-elections were held on November 26, 2012. The riding Calgary Centre was expected to be a three-way race between the Conservatives, Liberals and Green Party. A week before by-election day Sun Media reported on comments Trudeau had made in a 2010 interview with Télé-Québec, in which he said "Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda." Trudeau's campaign advisor said that the comments were being brought up now because of the close race in Calgary Centre.[88] The following day, Trudeau apologized, saying he was wrong to use "Alberta" as "shorthand" in referring to Stephen Harper's government.[89] The Conservatives held onto Calgary Centre in the by-election by less than 1,200 votes. Liberal candidate Harvey Locke said he lost the by-election on his own and that comments made by Trudeau did not influence the outcome.[90]

Fellow leadership candidate Marc Garneau, seen as Trudeau's main challenger in the race, criticized Trudeau for not releasing enough substantial policy positions. Garneau called on him to release more detailed policies before members and supporters begin to vote.[91] Garneau later challenged Trudeau to a one-on-one debate, and said that if Trudeau could not defend his ideas in a debate against him, he wouldn't be able to do so against Prime Minister Harper.[92] Trudeau also clashed in debates with challengerJoyce Murray, who was the only Liberal leadership candidate to speak out strongly in favour of electing the House of Commons with a system of proportional representation; Murray favours a system which supplements individual districts with list seats to make a party's seat share for a given region identical to vote share. She challenged Trudeau on the issue, especially over his assertion that voters wanted proportional representation because they didn't understand the consequences of adopting it.[citation needed]

On March 13, 2013, Garneau dropped out of the leadership race, saying that polling conducted by his campaign shows that he would be unable to beat Trudeau.[93][94][95]

With Joyce Murray the last challenger receiving significant press time, more Liberal politicians and public figures declared themselves for Trudeau. Trudeau was declared the winner of the leadership election on April 14, 2013, garnering 80.1% of 30,800 votes.[96] Joyce Murray finished in second place with 10.2% points, ahead of Martha Hall Findlay's 5.7%.[97] Trudeau had lost only five ridings, all to Murray and all in BC.[98]

Liberal leader, 2013–present

Justin Trudeau attending a local fundraiser in Regina, 2013

Polls conducted during the leadership race showed that support for the Liberals would surge if they were led by Trudeau. Days after winning his party's leadership a poll showed that the Liberal Party was the choice of 43 per cent of respondents. This compared to 30 per cent for the governing Conservatives and 19 per cent for the Official Opposition New Democrats.[99]

According to EKOS Politics, in October 2013 Trudeau's approval numbers improved to a 48–29 Approval-Disapproval; Thomas Mulcair's jumped to a slight lead at 50–25, while Stephen Harper's ratings sank to 24–69.[100] A December 12–15 (2013) EKOS poll showed the Liberals preferred by 32.1% of voters, the Conservatives by 26.2%, the NDP 22.9%. Likely voters, estimated by removing those who didn't vote in 2011, moved the parties into a logjam: Liberals 29.1%, Conservatives 28.5%, NDP 27.2%.[101]

In 2013, Justin Trudeau chose to give up his seat at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, in deference to Irwin Cotler as representative of the Liberal Party of Canada, because of Cotler's work for and with Nelson Mandela in fighting apartheid.[102]

On January 27, 2014, Trudeau and MP Carolyn Bennett escorted Chrystia Freeland into the House of Commons, as is traditional for by-election victors.[103]

Trudeau launched an internet video the week before the 2014 Liberal party convention titled "An economy that benefits us all" in which he narrates his economic platform. He said that Canada's debt to GDP ratios have come down in recent years and now it's time for Ottawa to "step up".[104]

On October 19, 2015, after the longest official campaign in over a century, Trudeau led the Liberals to a decisive victory in the federal election. The Liberals won 184 of the 338 seats, with 39.5% of the popular vote, for a strong majority government;[105][106] a gain of 150 seats compared to the 2011 federal election.[105] This was the second-best performance in the party's history. The Liberals won mostly on the strength of a solid performance in the eastern half of the country. In addition to taking all of Atlantic Canada and Toronto,[105] they won 40 seats in Quebec – the most that the Liberals had won in that province since Trudeau's father led them to a near-sweep of the province in 1980, and also the first time since then that the Liberals won a majority of Quebec's seats in an election. The 148-seat gain was easily the biggest numerical increase for a single party since Confederation, and marked the first time that a party had rebounded from third place in the Commons to a majority government. CBC News offered the following commentary: "Trudeau’s astounding success also highlights the reversals of fortune for both the Conservatives, who have governed since 2006, and the NDP, who were first in the polls going into this 11-week campaign".[105]

In addition to the appeal of his party's platform, part of Trudeau's success has been credited to the Tories' negative ads backfiring. Namely, that negative campaign such as the "Just Not Ready" campaign was judged by the public as unfair and mocking of the Liberal leader.[107] Even so, the advertising campaign lowered public expectations of Trudeau's performance that even Conservative personnel noted that he would impress people if he showed any display of competence in public events such as the televised debates.[108] That proved to be the case, and Trudeau took advantage of his opponents' underestimation of him to impress the public with his articulate and passionate manner to garner support throughout the campaign until his party won the majority government.[109]

With the result beyond doubt, Harper announced he would resign all his leadership posts before the new parliament sits, though retaining his seat as an MP.[110] In accordance with constitutional convention, Harper will inform Governor General David Johnston that he no longer has enough support to govern. Trudeau will next advise Johnston he can form a government with his new majority, after which Johnston is expected to formally invite Trudeau to form a government.

[Anomaly]

Reminds me that profanity and coarse language is detrimental to serious discussion.  One must have a beer in hand for proper context.  

[veritasluxmea]

 

I know next to nothing about this dude, when when an article links a pic of him as a twenty-something and calls him a douche 4 times....Im inclined to find a different source that isnt trying to manipulate the subject to the Nth degree. Not sure you could find a more absurdly crude and biased article even if you tried.

 

So I looked at his Wiki page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Trudeau

Welcome to tumblr. If you thought that was bad, I haven't even touched the feminist or black pride side of that website- imagine that, except three times worse. I've gotten used to reading passionate articles like that and picked out where I do/don't agree with them. I'm interested in what she has to say as a conservative living in Canada. I was hoping any other Canadians around here would post their thoughts on the election, if they followed it...? I skimmed though the bio and didn't read anything that invalidated was she said. 

[CrossCuT]

Welcome to tumblr. If you thought that was bad, I haven't even touched the feminist or black pride side of that website- imagine that, except three times worse. I've gotten used to reading passionate articles like that and picked out where I do/don't agree with them. I'm interested in what she has to say as a conservative living in Canada. I was hoping any other Canadians around here would post their thoughts on the election, if they followed it...? I skimmed though the bio and didn't read anything that invalidated was she said. 

Quick tip: dont get your news from tumblr.

[Nihil Obstat]

Welcome to tumblr. If you thought that was bad, I haven't even touched the feminist or black pride side of that website- imagine that, except three times worse. I've gotten used to reading passionate articles like that and picked out where I do/don't agree with them. I'm interested in what she has to say as a conservative living in Canada. I was hoping any other Canadians around here would post their thoughts on the election, if they followed it...? I skimmed though the bio and didn't read anything that invalidated was she said. 

The most important short-term takeaway right now for Catholics is that Trudeau will fully legalize and protect euthanasia. The debate is unnecessary at this point because Trudeau has the numbers to do whatever he wants. God help us.

[veritasluxmea]

Quick tip: dont get your news from tumblr.

I've read this over a couple times and I'm not sure if you honestly think I get my primary news sources from tumblr, or are just complaining about the rant in any way you can. I may be stupid but even I'm not dumb enough to trust tumblr. I agree that passionate opinion rants aren't the best way to have a debate, but that's not what I'm looking for here. Come on, I'm sure everyone finds "articles" like this (when they agree with them) entertaining and interesting. I'm pretty sure you don't live in Canada, but what do you think about the election results and Trudeau? Have you been following it (or are now) and do you think it means anything for America?