Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Liberal power couple make the switch

Call me partisan, I don't care... but THIS IS HUGE.

Say whatever you want, but I think this is a MAJOR COUP. I'm sorry, but a policy wonk, a former NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY POLICY CHAIRPERSON at that, doesn't make a switch like that willy-nilly. Policy wonks have an ideological bent, and they stick with it... they are the ones that are nearly impossible to get to change their minds. It would be like Stephen Harper, again, a policy wonk, making the switch to the Liberals a few years back! (before he was Party leader)

Here's some of the article from the Globe & Mail...
OTTAWA — Liberal power couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz have publicly broken with the Liberal Party line on the Middle East crisis and are turning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper because of his support of Israel.

Mr. Schwartz's wife, Ms. Reisman, says she is leaving the party to support the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.

In an e-mail to friends, Ms. Reisman applauded film producer Robert Lantos's statement at a weekend rally that he would "hereby take off [his] life-long federal Liberal hat."

"I [am] right there alongside Robert. . . . after a lifetime of being a Liberal, I have made the switch," Ms. Reisman wrote. "Feels strange, but totally and unequivocally right."

A recipient of the e-mail confirmed that Ms. Reisman, who was the Liberal Party of Canada's policy chairwoman in the 1980s and who worked for Pierre Trudeau in his first election in 1965, had sent the e-mail to several friends, and that she has told others the same thing.

"She has told her friends in person and in e-mails that she is supporting the Conservatives under Stephen Harper this time," a close friend said yesterday. "She thinks that his position on the Lebanon issue is the right one."
To add insult to injury, add to that the loss of a major financial backer? (at a time when the Liberals are hurting financially, no less?) Check out these numbers donated to the Liberals! (jDave, you'll be glad to know that I was careful to check across ALL PARTIES this time!)
2005 - $2,000
2004 - $1,412
2003 - $2,847.98
2002 - Interesting... $7,672.53 to the Liberals, but $10,000 to Canadian Alliance! (was he starting to think about supporting the new horse?)
2001 - $914.50
2000 - $7,819.00 (plus $3,000 to Monte, then a CRCA candidate)
1999 - $32,248.00
1998 - $10,316.00 (plus $2500.00 to the PC's)
1997 - $44,800.00 ($5000 to JC and $5000 to PM... talk about fence sitting...LOL)
1996 - $37,676.00 (plus $3,875.00 to the PC's)
1995 - $12,744.00 (plus $4104 to the PC's)
1994 - $7,274.00
1993 - $6,699.00

TOTALS OVER LAST 13 YEARS: CA - $13,000, PC's - $10,479, and the Liberals...$174,422.92!!!
If you don't think that's a black eye, I don't know what is! Of course, now with the $1,000 limit (if the Liberal Senate stops stalling it) it will prevent him from the same kind of numbers, but my point here is that he's been a MAJOR backer for the last 13 years... to lose someone who has given so much to your party has got to hurt! And with that kind of financial influence, don't you think he might just carry other forms of influence within the ranks of the Party?

Personally, this ranks higher in collateral damage than having an MP cross the floor... and MP crossing may be more high profile in the press, but to have a major policy wonk and financial backer walk away, that's a major blow.

It will be interesting to see how this is played out in the MSM and the blogosphere.

h/t to Dust My Broom

5 Comments:

  • At Fri Aug 04, 01:54:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I can't say I'm surprised. i always had a feeling that Harper's picking sides would lead to something like this.

    But reisman and Schwartz...aren't they rich? and world travelled? Not exactly Harper's "people" are they?

     
  • At Fri Aug 04, 02:17:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Gee, surprised to hear you calling it a "major coup" to attract high profile Liberals when apparently all Liberals and their supporters are basically quasi-criminal scum - especially those of accomplishment, a distinction mostly unfamiliar to you on the far right.

    Schwartz and Reisman were and remain highly accomplished and successful business persons. They were supporters of the Liberals and now may shift, perhpas temporarily, to the Conservatives based on their strong religious beliefs as Jews.

    They were and are good people and any party would be lucky to have them.

    I wonder if you and your pals will continue to call them pond scum and "hacks" now that they are (maybe) on your side?

    Perhaps some of you will learn that peopl of accomplishment are not corrupt criminals because they happen to be (are have been) Liberals.

     
  • At Fri Aug 04, 02:25:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Hey Anonymous, I've never, ever, said that all card carrying Liberals are "scum" or "hacks"... my attacks have been typically on the Party itself, or the individuals within it that give it the bad rep it has earned over the years.

    In fact, if you've read my blog for any length of time, you're surely aware that I'm quite fond of some Liberals, such as Warren Kinsella... though he's not a card carrying one anymore. He's another one that I'd LOVE to have come over to the "Dark Side"... ;-)

     
  • At Fri Aug 04, 06:22:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'll take you at your word, but a quick read through most of the "blogging tories" indicates that you would be in the minority.

    Frankly I detest the ACTUAL scumbags in the party who used it for their own selfish purposes and those who abuised public trust as it was then extrapolated by most, including the MSM, which many of you view as Liberal-friendly, that basically all Liberals were crooks, liars and thieves.

    It was particularly sad that this broad brush was also used to (somewhat successfully) paint Paul Martin as well, who was always and remains a thoroughly decent, honest and thoughtful man.

    Of course he ran a rather directionless gov't and his coterie of advisors behaved like idiots, but he was and is a very good man. Ask your Conservative colleagues who actually served for some time in the house with him (like Deb Grey).

    Like all things, however, the tide will eventually turn and your side will feel the sting of that the burden of governance brings and being hurt by the actions of a few pigs in your own party (like in mine) seeking to enrich themselves.

    As for Kinsella, though he is very occasionally thoughtful on particular issues, he is one of the guys that drags politics down into the gutter like the rat pack before him, Volpe currently, and hacks on your side like Pallister, Kenney and, oh god, the worst of the worst, the little weasel Poilievre.

     
  • At Sat Aug 05, 11:09:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "Paul Martin as well, who was always and remains a thoroughly decent, honest and thoughtful man"


    .....oh man, that's a good one!

     

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