People are saying how glad they are that he answers questions directly, without dancing around the issues; that it is so refreshing to have a Prime Minister that we can be proud of. Sara even sent an email which Jeff read on air (first!) saying that she appreciates the cheque she just received, and will be putting it towards the costs of child-caring her own three beautiful girls.
At the end of the interview, Jeff had asked the Prime Minister how he feels about his new role. Stephen Harper answered that he is enjoying it immensely. Jeff remarked how ironic it is that only a short time ago, Mr. Harper was considered to be 'unelectable', and suddenly he's Prime Minister!
Mr. Harper acknowledged that he has learned two things: (1) Don't ever believe polls, and (2) Don't ever write off your opponent!
Smart man. Just don't tell the opposition.
* * * *
UPDATE: This is awesome! The whole interview is now available on Jeff's program page. Just click on it about two thirds of the way down.
36 comments:
Nice Job on your email, here is mine in writing
I'd like to thank Mr. Harper for my $200 cheque I got yesterday. This money will go to my childcaring my own children... that he can bet on!
O.K. Here's mine:
Great interview, Jeff! Way to go.
You just stuck it to the Parliamentary Press Gallery big time. ;)
Harper sounded so candid and down-to-earth.
Cheers,
Joanne
I just heard 570 say that the full interview will be available on the site. That would be great!
Harper said something about Universal daycare being a "pipedream". The interview is well worth listening to. I will post the link when I find it.
yuppers PIPEDREAM LOL
pssst 3 beautiful girls lol
Really? Is that 3 daughters or two beautiful daughters plus a beautiful Mom?
you suck up you lol,,, 3 daughters one hubby, on dog, hamster, fish and 3 inlaws ,,,
lol! So, four beautiful females. I will have to change my post. ;)
Smart man. Just don't tell the opposition.
I think everyone recognizes that he's a smart man and a clever politician. That's never been in question.
I think everyone recognizes that he's a smart man and a clever politician
For sure he's stumbled a bit as he learns his way, but he's doing great. I notice a lot of people actually feel proud to be a Canadian again. I haven't heard that for a long time.
only smart people learn from their mistakes,,, it just depends on how many mistakes you make lol
Sara, that's what I always tell my kids. A mistake should not be regretted as long as you learn something from it for the future.
What is the definition of stupidity or something like that? - Always doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?
he's certainly no dummy. In May of last year I wrote Harper off as a footnote in history... boy was I wrong.
I hope Mr. Harper continues to not underestimate his opponents. He's done a very good job thus far of impressing and surprizing people of all stripes.
JDave, you might want to check out Red Tory's blog. He's got a lively debate going on right now about this very subject.
I listened to the show and was amazed how each question was answered with a answer, i expected the Liberal rants where Martin or Chretien would claim the subject must be studied further and wait for all the facts to come in.
Dan McTeague has claimed that the PM was to quick to take a stance and he should have stayed neutral to avoid appearing to take sides.
Right Dan, the best stance is to not have a stance andf then claim that's your stance to be nuetral.
You know, "A proof is a proof,and when you go it proven,what kinda Proof is a proof, it's when it's proven" .
if we were all just happy little housewives we wouldn't be living in CANADA!
Anonymous - You got it. No more Mr. Dithers. People appreciate that.
Before Harper came in, I didn't like Canada. I was, "to hell with this, I'm moving to Iran," but since our glorious leader was installed, I'm finally proud to be Canadian. God Bless Stephen Harper!
In all seriousness Joanne, I've always been proud to be Canadian, no matter who's at the helm. This is still a great country.
Not sure what you meant by your comments. Retraction perhaps?
PS, like my avatar?
Actually, Zac, a lot of people who called in to the radio station after the program said the same thing - that they are finally proud to be a Canadian again. No, I'm not going to apologize for expressing an emotion. I have a right to my feelings and emotions and I don't have to answer to you about that.
Your avatar is great. It reminds me of a large congregation at a church, or maybe an outdoor mass for the Pope.
Thanks Steve! Steve? His Momma's gonna get you for that! ;)
But hey, another proud-to-be-Canadian! Awesome!
May God bless Canada - our Prime Minister, and all it's Citizens..
Um, you do realize what Zac's avatar represents, don't you? If not, allow me to enlighten you. It is a field of dead bodies spread out in front of the doorstep of White House. But to you... this is like "an outdoor mass for the Pope." Holy shite, there's some rich irony there.
Ha-ha! Red, I should explain because everyone that read that is going to think I've totally lost it! I originally mentioned to Zac that I thought his previous avatar looked "preppy", and I meant it in a nice way, but he didn't think that was the look he was going for, so he changed it to something clearly unpleasant.
On Chucker's site we were discussing how we could get him to change it back and I said maybe if I told him it looked 'Christian' with all the crosses and such that he might take offence at that and switch again. I then told him that on his own site, and I think I had him for a moment, but then he read my comments on Chucker's site and the cat was out of the bag.
So all this is simply a little inside joke. Maybe the next thing he'll try is some horrible skeleton avatar or something! (BTW, they're all from CD covers).
Gerry - Amen. And that's no joke. Even if this is just a brief interlude between Liberal governments, I thank God for the breath of fresh air.
that is a bit of a harsh avatar Zac,,,
in the end always your choice though...
I liked Chretien, but Martin oh man he was an embarrasment... every chance the guy got he was doing commercials! I remember I saw him on Corner Gas and I nearly lost it,,ewwwwwww
Martin was in it for the publicity which I have no respect for but Harper as well as Chretien was in it for the people... that I can respect
that is a bit of a harsh avatar Zac,,,
You've got to admit though, it doesn't look 'preppy'!
I agree with you 100% about Martin. I felt embarrassed as well. People from other countries would be looking at him and judging us based on the notion that we elected him!
jdave - when you said "Jeez, I never stopped being proud to be Canadian. Nobody I know is or ever was ashamed to be Canadian" you must be talking about your Liberal friends.
I as a conservative had definitely stopped being proud to be Canadian. I was embarrassed by our political leaders over the past 13 years as they hummed and hawed over every decision, pandered to special interest groups, stole our money, ridiculed foreign leaders and generally took this country in a direction that definitely made me a "not" proud Canadian.
So there, now you have heard from someone who was not "a proud Canadian".
I am thankful PM Harper has been able to restore that pride.
A.G. - Awesome comment. Thank you.
"If you wanna debate politics, that's fine with me, but don't start questioning your fellow citizens pride in their homeland. It's an insult to all Canadians."
How did jdave34 get to talk to ALL Canadians?? Nifty trick.
I wonder what the 34 in his alias stands for?
I wonder what the 34 in his alias stands for?
Maybe there are 33 other JDaves? *Shudder*
Gabby, JDave actually thought his comments were so inspired, that he copied and pasted them at Red Tory's!
Gotta agree with Proud K-W and Alberta Girl on this one (and.. of course with our hostess)
While I can't say that I lost 'pride' I have certainly been embarrassed to be Canadian over the last decade. Somehow we went from standing up for what was right with the world to fence sitting. We became a nation that wouldn't make a statement about anything. Loyalties swayed depending on who TPTB was at the time.
As far as leaders... Chrétien was a complete international embarrassment. Not only were his policies wishy washy, he never should have been allowed to speak on the world stage. He never failed to sound like a complete out of touch, idiot. PM was no better. I disliked him with a passion from the early 90's... and was known to predict that he would make the worst leader in our history should he ever get to the PMO. His dithering and double speak was beyond embarrassing.
Now.. while I don't necessarily agree with everything SH has done or said... I do appreciate that he makes a stand and then sticks by it. That's LEADERSHIP. There is no rule that says you have to agree with the decision, but at least you have to respect that someone is at least making a decision.
But further...I do feel pride at the hope the actions of SH is making. Starting to restore our military so we can proudly take our role on the world stage as real peace brokers and negotiators. He has taken a stand on terrorism, no, not because he is a George clone, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do. Just about everything this man has done, whether I agree with it or not, has been about making Canada stronger. It's been so long since we've had someone that didn't pander to all the special interest groups and vocal minorities, we've forgotten what its like to have principles.
Yes, Steven Harper has made me feel proud as a Canadian. As the old saying goes: "you've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything".
No, I'm not going to apologize for expressing an emotion. I have a right to my feelings and emotions and I don't have to answer to you about that.
Fine, speak for yourself. But when you say:
I notice a lot of people actually feel proud to be a Canadian again. I haven't heard that for a long time.
You are stating that a good number of Canadians weren't proud to be Canadian before January 23rd, which is a gross generalization.
I disagree with the government on plenty of issues but that doesn't mean that I am no less proud to be Canadian. One's feelings about the government are not somehow linked to feelings about one's country.
I have always been proud to be a Canadian. However, Harper is embarassing me as a Canadian with his "cart-before-the-horse" style and petulant attitude towards those who question him.
Yes, Stephen Harper has made me more proud, in that I will fight harder to protect our sovereign country from the corporate tunnel vision his party has ushered in.
By the way, when I was part of the Progressive Conservative Party, we did radio call in shows, and we had dozens of our supporters call in. They are hardly non-partisan, they are stacked in favour of the leader...it's called optics and all the parties do it.
What Harper does in the house, and how he responds to critics is more telling of his nature than a pre-planned and scripted radio show.
So Chris, you're implying that the people who called in were 'plants'?
Possibly, but I'm sure there are one or two out there who feel that Stephen Harper is a breath of fresh air. He makes mistakes; we all do. If you can find one person on this planet that doesn't, I want to meet him or her.
Acutally Chris has a very good point. We did that last election when our candidate appeared on the radio. You call up and lob him a soft ball question and then praise him up and down and listen to the anger in the host's voice as he slowly figures out whats going on.
You ask him questions about his record that he is proud of that the host may not want to cover. For us we asked about urban poverty, and infrastructure renewal. Basically about the money he brought to Hamilton.
I have doubt that your right when you say this:
I'm sure there are one or two out there who feel that Stephen Harper is a breath of fresh air.
In fact, I'd say a lot of people feel the same way. Harper's been effective, but we can't base national pride around such a thing.
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