I am a Yellow Dog Conservative

Canada’s current election is really making me fatigued.

See, I am a ‘yellow dog’ conservative. 

 

A yellow dog

(the wonderful yellow dog in the picture is available for adoption.  http://www.paws-saipan.org/homeless.asp)

This phrase comes to me from my father, from his French Canadian grandfather, who proudly exclaimed to all who would listen that he would have voted for the Conservative party even if they ran a yellow dog.   I recently learned the common historical roots of the phrase.  It stems from a 1900 governor’s race debate in the United States, but became commonplace during the 1928 presidential race in the United States, where a senator crossed party lines to vote for the opposition and another senator in rebuking him, stated he would vote for the Democrats even if they ran a yellow dog as the candidate. 

My father, his father, his father’s father, we have all voted Conservative since we had the capacity to vote.  Its just who I am, and who they were.  I grew up knowing they were the ‘businessman’s Party’, just like Bank of Montreal was known as the businessman’s bank, when and where I grew up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat

The problem with being a yellow dog conservative is that sometimes you don’t like the party leader although you in principal, lean towards the parties lines of political thought.  Every time I watch the Leader’s Debate when it is held in French, I am a touch wistful that I cannot vote for the charismatic leader of the Bloq Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, as he is the most well-spoken of the lot of them.  I come from a historical line of separatists, but our family lives in Ontario now, so that dream has long gone, and there is no sense wasting a vote.  I always watch the French debates in French, for the pure pleasure of watching Mr. Duceppe slaughter opponents in his native tongue.   Much of his vigour gets lost in translation to English. 

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/bloc/p/gillesduceppe.htm

But seriously – why did they use a MIME in one of their commercials! 

http://www.presentpourlequebec.org/bloc.aspx?bloc=44d228fa-77fb-45c0-a297-8d3cc396cc82

http://www.presentpourlequebec.org/dossiers/campagnePublicitaire/pubTele081002.asp

I am tired of the political rhetoric.  I’m tired of the Liberals lying.  I would never vote Liberal.  Period.  I do not like their philosophies and I can’t think that a federal Liberal leader would lie any less than Jean Chretien did or Dalton McGuinty (the Liberal Ontario Premier) does.  Plus I am French Canadian (so have some facility in listening to speakers with French accents) and still cannot understand about 1 out of 3 words that come out of Stephane Dion’s mouth when he speaks in English.   I’m not being mean here – how would Mr. Dion do on the world stage?  Not well, I’m guessing. 

But I’m tired of not LIKING Stephen Harper, and while he tends to do what he says he will, he has an infuriatingly condescending manner about him in the debates and comes off looking like a liar or shifty. Or something that causes me to nash my teeth.

I won’t say anything about the New Democrats, or the Green Party.  Other than to say that Elizabeth May was severely outclassed at the leader’s debate, and her French is reprehensible.   And I question that she was qualified to attend the leader’s debate, despite the press blather to the contrary.  And she need some serious wardrobe assistance.   Both her and Jack Layton need to come up with some party platforms that are more sophisticated than, “Stephen Harper did it”.  Of course, I am prejudiced anyway – since I think that the country should have a two party system – Conservative or Liberal – so that perhaps some effective majority governments could get elected.

Come to think of it, how could I not vote for Stephen Harper?  He is surely some kind of god, since in one year of running a MINORITY government in power, he is apparently, according to the 4 other parties, responsible for every ill that has ever been visited upon this country.   Somehow, it gets forgottent that a MINORITY government can do nothing without the cooperation of the other parties. 

And for the record – leaders NEVER WRITE THEIR OWN speeches.  I really could care less that some writer for Stephen Harper plagarized a speech that was given by the Australian Prime Minister, so long as he actually believed what he was saying.  It was a pretty good speech.  The writer shouldn’t have stolen it, but I think there has been far too much made of it.  The guy got fired.  Rightly so.  How could Harper possibly have known? 

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=dafea59b-825c-436f-b11e-43b04c20a72a

If you want to blame Stephen Harper for something, blame him for that insipid sweater vest he wears in his television ads.

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579/102768

Or blame his for his tacky American style ads.

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579/104099

If I were Harper’s strategist, I’d tell him to stop looking so goofy and sneaky.  I don’t know how you get someone else to do that.   And for the sake of the civilized universe, LOSE the sweater vest, Stephen and that infuriatingly earnest look of yours.  I still wouldn’t vote for Stephane Dion, but at least he looks to be sincere and genuine when he speaks.  There is something in Stephen Harper’s eyes that reminds me of the old Reform Party, and their old leader whats-his-name, Stockwell Day.  You know, I’m a pretty conservative Catholic and I gotta say that something about Stockwell Day still scares the be-jesus out of me.  And I don’t like that glint coming out of Harper’s eyes somedays. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockwell_Day

The point of all of this is that when even us yellow dog Conservatives are getting tired of our leader, Stephen Harper, something is seriously amiss.

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )