Bob Tarantino for Leader Of The CPC. [Emphasis in original.]

Remember a couple of weeks back when Paul Martin was unveiling a new promise every day? Why were the Tories not unveiling planks from their election platform? Why is there no equivalent of the Red Book or the Common Sense Revolution? Why are we wasting time with byzantine parliamentary tactics? Perhaps it's because the choice which is being presented to the electorate is so mundane: 'switch the managers of the ship of state; we won't rock the boat too much; we'll just be less corrupt; we promise'. The Conservatives should not be afraid of being conservative. And should not be afraid of telling Canadians what that means. To pick a random example, are we in favour of greater privatization of the health care system? Great. Explain that. Explain why. Explain what the proposed changes will mean. Don't shy away and mewl that discussions about greater privatization are the work of independent think tanks and in no way reflect what the party's policies actually are. Then maybe we'll start seeing dramatic changes in public support. We can be sure of one thing at least: the current strategy isn't working.