Harper’s Gutter Ball Politics Stinks Of Desperation As Election Comes Down To Wire

 A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

To paraphrase something posted this past September by Margaret Wente – a Globe and Mail columnist Harperites can hardly brand as a liberal or leftie, by the way – it is looking like Harper is “toast.”

That is especially so in the last couple weeks of this unusually long Canadian election where Harper and his minions are down to throwing gutter balls, not only at their political opponents, but at a couple of women who wear veils and almost anyone else who engages in “cultural practices” they deem to be “barbaric.”

Stephen Harper in the Toronto, Ontario area, using what looks to critics like a game show shtick to claim that a federal Liberal government would hike taxes to pick the pockets of average Canadians.

And now, with polls showing Justin Trudeau pulling ahead of both the Conservatives and the NDP, Harper and his puppets have resorted to stirring fear in the minds of average Canadians about how much they claim they will be ripped off financially if the Trudeau Liberals win enough seats to form a government.

At one of his most recent campaign rallies, Harper invited a member of what we are led to believe is a typical Canadian family from the crowd to join him in front of a big red sign reading; “The Cost of Liberal Tax Hikes.”

As Harper lists some of the pledges in the federal Liberal Party’s platform, like its vow to get rid of the Conservative’s income-splitting scheme, Canadian tender is spread out on a table in front of the sign and the dollar figures keep adding up – all suggesting that a family could stand to be fleeced for as much as $3,360 annually. Of course, Harper doesn’t mention the plans the Liberals have promised for putting more money in people’s pockets.

The whole bit looked like a Harper makeover of ‘The Price Is Right’ with the obligatory Tory fear-mongering mixed in. Only the set for the show – red sign included – looked like it was slapped together in a garage by that pair of nerds from ‘Wayne’s World’, making one wonder where did all that corporate funding for Harper and his campaign props go. And Harper played Bob Barker (if I were good ol’ Bob I’d sue) like the same soulless stiff he is when he sits down at a piano and mutilates a Beatles song which, for a Beatles fan, is one more reason to send him packing.

If it wasn’t obvious enough with all of Harper’s pandering to his base with promises of a snitch line for “barbaric cultural practices,” the desperation around this game show shtick – complete with clown princes Doug and Rob Ford sitting at ring side – is palpable as his party slips as the Liberals begin to show a lead in the national polls.

But while it looks like Harper and his Conservatives are going down for the count – after all, as anyone familiar with the game of bowling can tell you, you lose throwing gutter balls – there are still a few frames left in the game and anything can happen.

So if you are among those of us who are convinced that Harper has got to go, don’t stop fighting for that now. James Carville, who helped Bill Clinton win two terms in the White House, used to say that when your opponent is down, keep kicking.

Or as the recently departed baseball legend Yogi Barra was reported saying: “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

And it ain’t over until we take a cue from the high turnout of voters for this Thanksgiving weekend’s advance polls, and go out in droves this coming October 19^th and put an X next to the name of the candidate in our riding that has the best chance of beating the Harper Conservative.

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