Decontamination
There’s something called ‘decontamination’ that has been done to great success by Britain’s Tory party. It was done to change voter perceptions of the party. The main parts of it are:
- A gentler tone to political discourse including ‘an end to Punch and Judy politics’ where knockabout and personal campaigning trumps serious focus on the issues.
- Not constantly obsessing about the same issues but also talking about other issues – particularly the environment and social justice.
- Zero tolerance of racist or homophobic attitudes.
- Changing the look of the Conservative Party through the A-list and its drive to increase the number of ethnic minority and female Conservative MPs.
It’s directly applicable to Canada’s Conservatives.
Some perceptions of our Party are wrong. If you have any experience in the Conservative Party, you will know that it’s not homophobic and it’s not repellent to minorities. But unfortunately the public doesn’t accept that – for some reason it doesn’t appear to be so. Having the first Muslim MP, the first female PM, having the first metis MP since Riel was hanged, none of it passes muster with the public.
Some are right. ‘Punch and Judy’ politics, obsessing about the same issues – these are spot on.
If decontamination worked in the UK – will it work in Canada?
Blech. A pandering, simpering strategy by weenies for weenies. The difference between this and liberalism is what exactly?
Social Justice? The stubborn application of unworkable solutions to imaginary problems.
The Environment? The environment is smelly, dirty and covered in flies. Pave it over and train polar bears to kill terrorists.
God, electoral/party politics is a bore. Who cares who wins? Unelected bureaucrats for life really run every Western nation. Why play this pointless game of musical chairs?
It is all corrupt, shallow and pointless.
Kathy Shaidle
August 26, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I’m with Kate on this one.
The CPC has for far too long enabled Canadian Socialism to survive by stepping in and fixing the enormous problems it creates, or at least fixing enough that Canadian Socialism can keep going for another few years without collapsing under the weight of its own monumental stupidity.
If the CPC wants a majority, or even to become an effective Opposition, then they must stop playing Albert Speer to the Reichsleiters of the Socialist parties and start planning a restoration of civilised government.
Mulroney and now Harper have done their best to prevent the social and economic collapses which would otherwise have followed a decade or so of Socialist government. Preventing disaster is usually a good thing, but it also prevents voters from fully understanding the incredible dangers of Socialism.
ccurrie
August 26, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I used to think the same thing – I went nuts when the British Tories changed their logo to that tree. But it’s worked and it isn’t so much changing policies – but changing which policies you put front and centre & packaging them to convey this ‘quality of life’ message.
Check out the British Tories home page:
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=campaigns.display.page&obj_id=142460
Their policies are to the right of our Tories (look at their schools or immigration policy) – but they communicate them in such an effective way that they’re like 20 points ahead in the polls.
Gordon Brown is no less ineffective than Dion , but that’s not enough to win with a majority. It’s the sales job you do. 90% of decontamination is about appearances and shaping public perceptions of the party. Our policies and people are good, but our sales suck hard.
Robert
August 26, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Interesting how those who decry the tattiness and emptiness of electoral politics tend to be the same ones without any record of engaging in the political ground war to begin with. It is so easy to whine about the unfairness of the game when one hasn’t even logged time on the pitch.
Political life is unfair. Get over it. Then do something meaningful. Get Conservatives elected.
Or does having cadres of faceless bureaucrats pulling the levers just make the persecution fantasy that much easier to endure and rationalize?
Oh, right.
Paul Canniff
August 26, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Respectfully, Robert, our policies and people are not good. If they were, the entire human rights bureaucracy would have been shut down, real financial compensation awarded to its victims and an Order of Canada — and a sincere apology — offered to Ezra Levant.
Stephen Harper has done well standing by our allies in Afghanistan. That is more than could be said for the choices on offer and it is a good enough reason to support “our” party over the rest. But that is all he has done and it is not enough.
I am convinced a sincere conservative alternative would not only sweep the country but would carry the vast majority of votes from “new Canadians”, most of whom have a better understanding of the family, the virtue of honest work and the reason to honour Canada’s traditions (having seen a variety of horrifying alternatives) than 99% of what laughingly passes for our Establishment. But first Mr. Harper’s government would have to shut down CBC News and reign in a higher education system devoted to sedition and the will to decline.
I have no cause for optimism.
Flea
August 27, 2008 at 12:08 am
I’m with you Flea. I’m disappointed in Harper, but the alternatives area sooooo much worse. Great summary of the CHRC fiasco, too. That is exactly what should happen and the sooner the better.
Louise
August 27, 2008 at 12:00 pm
[...] ~ WE THINK ROBERT JAGO ROCKS, but a recent posting of his indicates (’Decontamination‘) just how far politically correct speech-fascism has [...]
Steynian 232 « Free Mark Steyn!
August 27, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Kathy, as a faceless bureaucrat, I can tell you that we don’t rule squat. When the PMO sends a bitchy email, we all jump. Why, you might wonder, when we have iron-clad job security? Because our faceless bureaucrat bosses depend 100% on the PM and his appointees at PCO for the end-of-career promotions that mean everything to them, including how big of a pension cheque they end up drawing. And everyone has leverage down the line. So party politics aren’t meaningless, they really do decide which guy (singular) ends up holding all the marbles in Canada. It’s important, and it’s depressing that there’s never a social conservative to vote for.
Jack Bureaucrat
August 28, 2008 at 12:55 am
Great snag on this policy rumor Robert. It seems like the type of disingenuous crap that has become part of EU politics and out of place in the UK but it worked so well for Blair (an MI5 bureaucratic authoritarian) to recreate himself as a labour populist.
Personally I think this PC “makeover” policy will fail in Canada. We may be an apathetic lot but snake oil politicking seems to only sell to the reality challenged environs of GTA or Montreal center….the rest of us distrust people/groups who try to present themselves as something they are not…we feel if they aren’t honest about their identity why would they be honest about their intent…you gain respect from your supporters and enemies alike for standing firmly by your principles. Something Harper was noted for until recently. I note that Harper’s popularity flat-lined (like Manning’s) when he began tailoring his opinion/policy to appease political opposition…people who would never vote for him in the first pace.
Canada needs a distinct right of center alternative to the 3 established leftist parties if for nothing more that the choice needed to keep democracy healthy. If we don’t have that, then we may as well share the totalistic fate of all other single party states.
WL Mackenzie Redux
August 28, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Social Justice? The stubborn application of unworkable solutions to imaginary problems.
Indeed, how many ways can we tell a white male who deserves a job that he can’t have it! If he complains he’s racist.
If no one wants to hire them it means we do not need immigration. Not roadblocks for white males
Especially now that men are more likely to be unemployed because of successful racist/sexist government hiring.
dinosaur
August 28, 2008 at 3:44 pm
[...] A few weeks back I got heat for saying the party should embrace the British Tory strategy of ‘decontamination‘. Decontamination [...]
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September 11, 2008 at 5:10 pm
[...] know before I said we Tories should ape the British and adopt the policy of decontamination. But the thing about decontamination is that it’s all appearances and packaging. It means [...]
All my idols suck « A dime a dozen political blog
December 11, 2008 at 7:49 am
[...] ugly and anti-modern. His whole talk reminded me of one of my own apostacies a while back – the idea of decontamination. I’d recommend checking that out – and also, if you do want to read more about this person [...]
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