Our work here is done

Rodney is gone now.

Jim Nunn is gone too.

Gone also are former Tory cabinet ministers:

Ron Chisholm, Barry Barnet,  Judy Streatch, Len Goucher,  Mark Parent, David Morse, Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Pat Dunn, and Bill Dooks. And of course Ex-Tory Ernie Fage.

The Tories are gone. And soon Rodney will resign as leader and hopefully from politics.

An era is over.

And not a wet eye in the house.

It’s been a blast commenting on the Tories of the Little Tartan Republic. Rodo McDodo and his merry band of Tories made it easy with all their scandals and bad judgments. They deserve everything they got tonight. Sorry no pity here.

Now it’s Darrell and the Dippers’ turn. And make no mistake there will be plenty to say about them too.

But not here. Not now.

This blog will retire with the Tory government.

Our work here is done.

Good luck to the new government.

Good luck to the Little Tartan Republic.

And good night all.

Today is the day: VOTE

And it’s a double header:

this could be the end for Sydney Crosby and his Penns.

And it could be the end for Rodney MacDonald and his Tories.

Let’s hope Syd the Kid pulls off another win. Go Penns

And let’s hope the Rodney just disappears from the map. Bye Bye Rodo.

This time tomorrow, we’ll know the winners and the losers.

Rodney MacDonald and Tories in free fall

The most recent poll by Corporate Research Associates has Preem Rodo McDodo in last place for personal popularity.

And his numbers are sliding from 27% popularity three months ago to 20% now.

Way to do Rodo! If you’re going down, you might as well go down big – and in flames.

He ran a unfocused government. Now he’s running a unfocused campaign. Add those two things together and you get a premier on the way out.

Guess the Tory Brain Trust from the PMO overestimated themselves.

Or maybe they alienated the caucus and everyone at the constituency level with overinflated opinions of themselves and that whole “we’re from the PMO” vibe.

Maybe the good people of Little Tartan Republic don’t like seeing the bigshots coming down and telling them how a campaign should be run.

Or perhaps this is exactly how they wanted things to go. Maybe the campaign team was instructed to get rid of Rodo.

You have to wonder with such a spectacularly unsuccessful candidate and a spectacularly unsuccessful campaign. It can’t just be bad luck for them and good luck for the province. It has to be deliberate on some level, either than or divine intervention.

The poll puts the NDP  at 37%, the Liberals at 31% and the Torie 28%. Three percent support the Greens.

Satisfaction with the overall performance of the Tories has plummeted from 54% to 45%.

Everyone was waiting for Bill Clinton, when Rodney’s name is called

The show is already an hour late. We’ve already been treated to the Canadian Tenors.

We’re waiting. It’s hot. It’s crowded.

And finally: the announcement.

Ladies and gentlement please welcome: … Rodney MacDonald.

The disappointment was palpable. Rodney? We wanted Bill Clinton.

The applaused couldn’t have been more muted.

Rodney’s introduction was cardboard, uninspiring and not very charming.

Mercifully, Rodney kept it brief. Even more mercifully, he left the stage and the building.

Clinton was inspiring, intelligent, charismatic and charming.

Rodney should have stayed. He has much to learn.

But maybe it’s too late for Rodney now.

Rodney falls on his sword, oops, record

Poor Rodney MacDonald. You almost feel sorry for the man.

His desperation grows with each passing day. And his bizarre campaign just keeps getting more bizarre.

Now he is trying to argue that spending the money legally required for the debt represents good leadership.

The reason? Because it was unpopular.

Oh boy.

Rodo, go back to school, man.

They’re bouncing you around like a ping pong ball. They’re making you look like a fool. They want you out of there. They’re hanging you out to dry.

Can you even see it Rodo?

Do have have a clue?

Yawn! Oh, sorry, we’re just waking up

Last thing we remember we were sitting down to watch the NS election leaders debate on TV last night.

Then we fell asleep or into a coma or something.

You’d think with all planning that goes into these things they could come up with something interesting, something to capture the imaginations of Nova Scotians.

Or at least something that will keep us awake.

You know, like a fresh idea or something?

But no, not here in the Little Tartan Republic where banality rules and new ideas are chased out of the room where old politics is still played.

We didn’t expect it would be interesting. We just hoped it wouldn’t put us to sleep.

Yawn.

Bye Bye Rodney

Check out the new poll results

Turns out Nova Scotians aren’t as stupid as you had them, Rodney.

Turns out that people don’t like it when you flip flop and bounce on trampolines.

Turns out that your campaign team has completely missed the boat.

Turns out that your government is probably going down on June 9th.

Poor Rodney just set himself on fire again

We’re starting to wonder if Rodney MacDonald isn’t doing this on purpose because he wants a career change.

Maybe it’s not just the Tory backroom boys that want him out. Maybe Rodney is sabotaging himself.

Just last week he was striding around telling everyone he couldn’t possibly free up monies for infrastructure work. He was trying to smear the opposition. The other parties said he could get a special warrant to free up the $130M for projects.

But Rodney said no, he couldn’t do that. Well, guess what he’s just done? Got a warrant to free up the money.

Oh Rodney, you don’t even see the optics, do you? You are making it look like you’re using the the economy of Nova Scotia to play politics. You mistake is being so obvious.

What makes it worse is that they knew all along that is what they’d do. Finance Minister Jamie Muir said so.

He’s leaving politics so he can say whatever he likes.

We can only surmise that the contradiction between Mr. Muir’s statements and Rodney’s are the result of poor communication.

Or maybe Mr. Muir wants Rodney gone too.

Let the circus continue.

Pot. Kettle. Black. Rodney MacDonald

Behold the words of Rodney MacDonald:

“Instead of dealing with the effects of the recession head-on, the NDP has chosen to ignore it. There is no plan for helping Nova Scotians weather it.”

Ha.

Hahahaahahahahahahaha. Nice one, Rodney.

This is the premier who didn’t get around to doing his budget until the last minute – the only premier in Canada to fail at this.

Our Rodney was too busy protecting his political backside to worry about the impact of the recession on this province.

Rodney MacDonald is the worst kind of hypocrite:  one who doesn’t even have enough sense to know when he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.

The fact he keeps making a fool of himself and his party by doing this give voters comic relief and confirmation of what a clown the man really is.

Why do NS politicians always hector us?

Perhaps it’s the self-righteous streak that runs through the Canadian character.

Or maybe the lack of sophistication that limits Nova Scotia politics.

Perhaps, it’s down to the fact that Nova Scotian politicians have always traded off  charisma in order to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator.

Whatever the reason, political players always sound like they are hectoring.

Listen to Stephen Harper.  His vocal rhythms and inflections are that of school principal giving the student body a good telling off.

“Now, don’t make me have to tell you again.”

Likewise Rodney MacDonald. He doesn’t speak to the people or reach out to them with his verbal inflections.  He lectures and at times, he chastises.

John Hamm often sounded like a rural pastor irritated by poor church attendance.

Stephen MacNeil is following in the same tradition. This shows up in Darrel Dexter’s speech patterns as well, but he is a better speaker than the other two.

We doubt that they do this on purpose. But we also doubt they realize what a turn-off they are.It’s more a legacy issue, probably with roots extending back into to the tradition of the dour Scots Wee Frees. Not exactly a charismatic lot.

Nova Scotian politicians have never sought much inspiration beyond the borders of this small province. They just inherit patterns through the habit of generations. And so the hectoring has become calcified in our lackluster political culture.

That’s too bad because it turns people off. Especially young people who are looking for vision and new ideas. Perhaps that is why they are leaving the electoral process in droves. And perhaps that explains why Nova Scotia politicians keep hectoring.

If Nova Scotian politicians had vision, they would look to inspiring political speakers – the Obamas or Clintons of this world.

Even Danny Williams and Frank McKenna set better examples. Just because we’re from the east coast, doesn’t mean we have to be dull.

These speakers draw you in and make you feel a part of their mission. Not on the receiving end of their hammer.

But we doubt that Rodney MacDonald and his merry band of hectorers would have much interest in seeking enlightenment outside the 52 constituencies of this province. That’s not their style.

We have our own way of doing things in this province, however small-minded and uninspired.