- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,208
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
Ten weeks ago the thought that there would be a real race in Carleton was unthinkable.
Although the riding is new for this election, the political history in the region is solidly blue and boast one of the highest profile Conservative candidates in the country. The riding seemed like a lock for Pierre Poilievre, a polarizing, fiercely partisan Harper loyalist.
Poilievre won three straight times in the former riding of Nepean-Carleton, which included many of the same voters headed for the polls Oct. 19. In 2011, he took the seat by 23,000 votes.
But as the Conservatives fortunes fell in Ottawa — fuelled in large part by an alienated public service — Liberal fortunes rose. According to the poll-tracking website threehundredeight.com, Poilievre went into Monday’s vote with a 78 per cent chance of winning the riding. Strong, yes, but down significantly from the 93 per cent chance the website had predicted three weeks before.
Tuesday morning, it’s possible that Poilievre may be the only Conservative left standing in the capital.
To his credit, Poilievre didn’t miss a debate, appearing alongside his rivals at all five all-candidate meetings, even though as an incumbent, he was the target of much of the anyone-but-Harper movement. And it was Poilievre who delivered a love letter to public servants on behalf of all Ottawa-area Conservative candidates when the party sensed its support collapsing in the capital.
Poilievre never swayed from Conservative talking points – low taxes, safe from terrorism, etc. which did nothing to soften his image with his detractors.
First-time candidate Chris Rodgers carried the Liberal banner. Smart and gregarious, Rodgers tirelessly campaigned door-to-door and staged roadside sign-waving rallies for morning commuters. Rodgers took leave from his job as an analyst with Public Safety Canada to run in the election, one of 13 public servants vying for a seat in Parliament.
In the final week of the campaign, when a federal union took its anti-Conservative message to Poilievre’s campaign office in Manotick, Rodgers stood alongside the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service as she urged Carleton voters to cast their ballot strategically.
The NDP candidate was another newcomer, Kc Larocque. But the young mother and small businesswoman paid the price as the NDP’s stock fell and the Liberals’ rose. The Larocque campaign even complained that some people claiming to be from the NDP were going door-to-door urging voters to back Rodgers as the best chance to beat Poilievre.
Curiously, the Green Party chose to run one of its best candidates in a quixotic run at Poilievre. Constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne is a former Liberal who had even run against Justin Trudeau for the party leadership.
“When I looked around to decide where to run, I couldn’t think of a better place than running against Mr. Poilievre,” Coyne told the Citizen early in the campaign. “He represents a style of governance and government with which I’m in fundamental disagreement.”
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
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Although the riding is new for this election, the political history in the region is solidly blue and boast one of the highest profile Conservative candidates in the country. The riding seemed like a lock for Pierre Poilievre, a polarizing, fiercely partisan Harper loyalist.
Poilievre won three straight times in the former riding of Nepean-Carleton, which included many of the same voters headed for the polls Oct. 19. In 2011, he took the seat by 23,000 votes.
But as the Conservatives fortunes fell in Ottawa — fuelled in large part by an alienated public service — Liberal fortunes rose. According to the poll-tracking website threehundredeight.com, Poilievre went into Monday’s vote with a 78 per cent chance of winning the riding. Strong, yes, but down significantly from the 93 per cent chance the website had predicted three weeks before.
Tuesday morning, it’s possible that Poilievre may be the only Conservative left standing in the capital.
To his credit, Poilievre didn’t miss a debate, appearing alongside his rivals at all five all-candidate meetings, even though as an incumbent, he was the target of much of the anyone-but-Harper movement. And it was Poilievre who delivered a love letter to public servants on behalf of all Ottawa-area Conservative candidates when the party sensed its support collapsing in the capital.
Poilievre never swayed from Conservative talking points – low taxes, safe from terrorism, etc. which did nothing to soften his image with his detractors.
First-time candidate Chris Rodgers carried the Liberal banner. Smart and gregarious, Rodgers tirelessly campaigned door-to-door and staged roadside sign-waving rallies for morning commuters. Rodgers took leave from his job as an analyst with Public Safety Canada to run in the election, one of 13 public servants vying for a seat in Parliament.
In the final week of the campaign, when a federal union took its anti-Conservative message to Poilievre’s campaign office in Manotick, Rodgers stood alongside the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service as she urged Carleton voters to cast their ballot strategically.
The NDP candidate was another newcomer, Kc Larocque. But the young mother and small businesswoman paid the price as the NDP’s stock fell and the Liberals’ rose. The Larocque campaign even complained that some people claiming to be from the NDP were going door-to-door urging voters to back Rodgers as the best chance to beat Poilievre.
Curiously, the Green Party chose to run one of its best candidates in a quixotic run at Poilievre. Constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne is a former Liberal who had even run against Justin Trudeau for the party leadership.
“When I looked around to decide where to run, I couldn’t think of a better place than running against Mr. Poilievre,” Coyne told the Citizen early in the campaign. “He represents a style of governance and government with which I’m in fundamental disagreement.”
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Related
查看原文...
