Guest Post on Stephen Harper

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Weird and Weirder":


It's interesting to do a bit of research on Stephen Harper's beginnings, his education and initial work experiences.

Harper was born in Toronto and completed his schooling there through his secondary school graduation. He enrolled at U of T but dropped out after two months. He then moved to Edmonton where he found work in the mail room at Imperial Oil. Later, he advanced to work on the company's computer systems. He took up [post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in economics, completed in 1993.

Harper became involved with politics as a member of his high schools Young Liberals Club. He later changed his affiliation because he disagreed with the National Energy Policy of the Trudeau government. For the next ten years he toiled in the political back rooms of the Reform Party, including the position of policy chief. Harper became leader of the National Citizens Coalition. He was skeptical about the Reform Party's United Alternative initiative, arguing it would serve to consolidate Preston Manning's hold on the party leadership. In 2000 the United Alternative created the Canadian Alliance as a successor party to Reform. As the battle for leadership took place Harper's positions on a number of issues hardened. On social issues Harper argued for 'parental rights' to use corporal punishment against their children and supported raising the age of sexual consent. He described his potential support base as "similar to what George Bush tapped."

I'm not going to go any further except to refer to a portion of his speech last night where he attacked academics (himself one), judges (how many Supreme Court nominations has he made?), Senators (again how many of these are his creation?) bureaucrats, bankers, big business (is the Keystone Pipeline not part of several big businesses?) diplomats, lobbyists and the Rideau Club.

He appealed to his "base" - the little guy, "cab drivers, the small business owners, the farms and foresters and fishermen, the factory and office workers, the seniors...those honest, hard-working Canadians, old and new," as Harper put it.

Will this speech be a success for Conservatives? if it isn't, it will be because it didn't matter what Harper said.