The political right in this country is showing signs of stress. Before those on the left begin to cheer there are problems that haven’t knocked on your door yet. It would seem we are about to imprison ourselves in the trappings of a false sense of what liberty really means. When the strident voices on the right and left, have become so unfocussed they are now screaming inward.

In Alberta the United Conservative Party is starting to come unglued. Some see Wildrose taking control and moving the ideology further to the right. Jason Kenney is patching holes in the dyke. It has become a public spat and in politics that does not serve the interests of the party. The wave of discontent and the waring factions will sooner or later see Kenney heading for the life boats. The Party convention on the weekend was one of crisis management for Kenney.

Translation, the knives are out. One of the blind sides is the changing demographic when it comes to voters. The NDP fortunes have changed and Notley leads in the polls and has for months. The lead will shrink but the conservatives are not in control of their destiny.

Federally the Conservatives demonstrated why they lost the election. Again managing the causes has become as futile as herding cats. Many long time true blue conservatives see O’Toole as a reverse Moses who has taken them into uncharted territory at the doorstep of the wilderness. The ideals many sought to erase O’Toole adopted and embraced. O’Toole has a conflict in that western conservatism and eastern conservatism are of a different species. The struggle for control of the party has begun. Ontario although divided by tiny cracks in the foundation is relatively safe from strife only because their trip to the polls is about seven months away.

So why is it the conservatives always implode? Think about it. Except for brief periods of disruption the dysfunctional Liberals end up in charge of the political agenda. Lets go back a ways.

Diefenbaker, Joe Clark, Scheer, Kim Campbell who barely got to take her shoes off and run across the carpet. Brian Mulroney outlasted his popularity and Stephen Harper is considered by many to be in the worst Prime Minister column. To be fair in some cases they were the victims of infighting, a few socially unacceptable comments by those who should know better and their public portrait as painted by the opposition parties.

What’s the difference between the right and left? First the Liberals usually wash their dirty linen behind closed doors or in friendly coin laundry facilities. The ND sometimes to their detriment engage in verbal public battles and the Greens if asked to form a firing squad would form a circle.

The secret ingredient in all of this is the truth or lack of it. The Conservatives publicly proclaim to have a monopoly on the truth. The NDP claims to have a monopoly on virtue. The reason these two parties don’t connect with voters is because the Liberals deal in the public perception of what truth is.
The truth is perception is more real than reality because perception can be tailored to fit individual opinions.

Here is an example of what I mean. Public perception is that Justin Trudeau won the last election. The truth is Justin Trudeau survived the last election. The Liberals drew a new picture of the devil and named him Erin O’Toole. The Liberals spoke of positive policies for the future while running a public fear blitz campaign. The difference? They convinced the public they won when in fact they survived

The unfortunate reality is the opposition parties either do not understand or do not want to understand what makes voters tick as they are too busy convincing people their ideas are the right ones for the country.. the Liberals are flexible and change the agenda saying they already have a plan for that and it works. The key to Liberal image is party discipline. Anyone seen to be rewriting the script is booted and labeled unworthy.
It works.

Fred Steele