[In the final days of the 2006 election campaign] The door ... had been opened for a final wave of attacks. Liberal outrider organizations -- feminists, gay-rights activists, law professors, aboriginal leaders, environmentalists -- came at us in human waves, claiming that Harper would roll back abortion rights, use the ...   more »

"People expect conservatives to be tough. They believe in the values of self-help, individual responsibility, criminal justice, economic realism, and national interest. They look ridiculous, if they go around snivelling and complaining about fairness every time an opponent takes a shot at them. Political campaigning is a civilized form of ...   more »

It seems pretty obvious from the content of their posts but Tom Flanagan confirms that Stephen Taylor and perhaps Steve Janke are the handmaidens of the PMO in the blogosphere. Flanagan, one of the key leaders on three of the four campaigns Stephen Harper has been engaged in over the ...   more »

Tom Flanagan's "Ten Commandments of Conservative Campaigning"

1. Unity The Conservative Party contains libertarians, social conservatives, populists, Red Tories, Quebec nationalists, and Canadian nationalists, plus many people who don't care much about any of these 'isms'. They all need each other. They can never win unless they try to understand each ...   more »

"Stephen Harper is now engaged in trying to do what no Conservative leader has been able to do for over a hundred years -- build a viable, long-term coalition that can win victories and survive defeats without immolating itself on a a bonfire of mutual recriminations."
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Adam Daifallah reviews Tom Flanagan's new book, Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power in today's Globe and Mail. Flanagan, the University of Calgary political scientist had key leadership roles in three of the four campaigns the Harper team has run over the last five ...   more »