Sunday, August 11, 2013

Why Tim Hudak Is Such A Failure As A Political Leader


I realize that the subject of Ontario politics is likely of little interest to those residing outside of the province. Yet I can't help but think that the dynamics at work here are not much different than anywhere else in the country, especially when one is talking about the qualities that make for an effective political leader.

In today's edition of The Star, Michael Taube, a political analyst and former speechwriter for Stephen Harper, offers his opinion as to why it is imperative that Tim Hudak, the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, should step down as soon as possible. The reasons he adduces for this position, in my view, miss the larger problem epitomized by people like Hudak.

Essentially, his indictment of the hapless Hudak revolves around the contention that he doesn’t have the personality, strategic skills or the common touch that [Mike] Harris cobbled together in two successive majority governments.:

Hudak flip-flopped on seemingly solid policy positions, including opposing the HST, eliminating human rights commissions and removing the health tax. His proposal for a public sex-offender registry should have been a no-brainer, but was sold poorly and turned out to be a negative factor. Opposition rivals claimed Hudak has similar policies to the U.S. Tea Party movement, and he just couldn’t escape the comparison. He even caused a communications nightmare for his party by using a loaded term “foreign workers” when opposing a Liberal plan for a $10,000 tax credit for first-time hires of immigrants.

Such an analysis strikes me as shallow and incomplete at best. While it is true that young Tim has failed to inspire confidence in the electorate, Taube's narrow ideological lens suggests that a good portion of Ontario is awaiting a leader who steadfastly projects the kind of right-wing values epitomized by Mike Harris, unquestionably the most divisive and, in my view, detested premier Ontario has ever seen. I give the electorate here a little more credit than that.

Judging by the fact that the NDP under Andrea Horwath has made some impressive gains in the province, and current Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne has inspired some respect for her willingness to raise difficult questions about transportation funding, my thought is that the voters of this province are more progressive and savvy than Taube gives them credit for. They are not looking for a return to the mean-spirited and ideologically-driven agenda so lustily embraced by Mike Harris; they are tired of the right-wing bromides that promise everything and deliver little more than misery for the masses and profligate perks for the privileged. They are hungry for policies that will be of use and relevance to themselves and their fellow citizens.

The fact that the Liberals were not trounced in all five recent by elections suggests that despite the many scandals they have been involved in, the electorate still regards them and the NDP as far preferable to the kind of anti-union, pro-corporate policies propagated by the province's right wing.

May I suggest that the time for reactionary political parties as represented by the likes of Tim Hudak is passing quickly?



8 comments:

  1. Your suggestion is spot on, Lorne. Ontarians have Hudak's number. They've seen the movie before and they aren't not going to purchase a ticket to "Mike Harris -- The Sequel."

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    1. Until Conservatives can escape their own hero worship of Harris, Owen, I think they stand little chance of being perceived as a viable political alternative to the present government. And a good start for them would be to recognize that the electorate is not as easily manipulated by promises of easy gain with no pain as they seem to think.

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  2. Lorne, as a Liberal you should encourage Hudak to stick around. With him as a leader of Cons, Liberals stand a better chance to win the next election.

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    1. In fact, that is exactly what an editorial in The Star the other day suggested, LeDaro. The Conservatives seem to face a real problem, in that any semblance of the kind of progressivity that John Tory represented when he led the party doesn't seem to work for them, perhaps in part because that turf is already claimed by both the Liberals and the NDP provincially. They will likely continue as a party of extremism for some time, at least until the next election.

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  3. I think that another reason that Ontarians are reluctant to give Hudak the reins of power is that most most people who remember the Harris regime really remember seeing no tangible benefits from it. Hospitals were closed, teachers and nurses were fired by the truckload, the deregulation free for all (free fall?) gave us Walkerton, the riots at Queen's Park and the execution of Dudley George, workfare that promised job training but was more like punitive community service (aka forced labour litter collection), and seeing valuable provincial assets sold off such as the cash cow 407 highway. And all the while the only beneficiaries of these changes seem to have been the Bay Street set. Now in Sparky McAusterity we see someone even more doctrinaire than Harris, and short of Ford Nation or the Harper Reich I think most folks a pretty leery of seeing a "Common Sense Revolution" on steroids...

    N.

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    1. An excellent précis of the depredations of the Harris years, Neil. People need to be periodically reminded of the real cost of Mike 'The Knife's' government. I am taking the liberty of featuring your comment in my next post so more people will see it.

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  4. You're more than welcome to, Lorne; I have a great deal of respect for your blog and it's a "must read" in my books.

    I would love to come up with a caption for the obvious bromance that Skippy McCorporatism is feeling for you-know-who (insert appropriate, anatomically disturbing pejorative here), but I haven't had my coffee yet...

    N.

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  5. Many thanks, Neil. Let us know if you come up with an appropriate caption for our 'lovebirds.'

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