Why won’t you be my friend?
Dejected, rejected, apple-munching politician suddenly feeling lonely. Boo-hoo.
Cry me a river, crocodile.
I swear I don’t mean to keep harping on Pierre Poilievre but for crying (as it were) out loud.
This piece got my goat.
Pierre Poilievre was feeling dejected and disappointed after the stinging federal election loss in April, sources close to the Conservative leader said, and he dialed back his public appearances for the better part of two months to reassess his strategy and regroup.
After that period of self-reflection, which was marked by private calls and visits with dozens of MPs, staff and supporters, Poilievre is re-emerging from a relatively dormant period — ramping up his federal byelection campaign, weighing in publicly on perceived Liberal missteps and speaking to the press.
“It’s been hard on him,” one Poilievre confidante, who spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named so they could speak freely about internal matters, said of the election loss. “All of us, we”ve had to eat some humble pie.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Humble pie is just about the only thing that didn’t get anywhere near the Poilievre inner circle since April 28. This is a bunch of people I’ve been watching for years, and I see zero sign that they’ve absorbed any lessons or are planning to change their tactics or anything else, for that matter. Except maybe for losing the aviator shades.
What they’re doing, as far as I can see, is try to appeal to people’s sympathy. That’s after years of taking a hard edge on everything and everyone, supporting the truckers who occupied Ottawa, calling people childish names, telling Jordan Peterson Canadians are stupid, and weaponizing apples.
When you build a movement based on alienating people who don’t agree with you, and you don’t win, you find yourself very lonely.
Karma, man. She sure is a bitch.
Later, when I’m done spitting nails, I want to give some thought to how Poilievre and his crew is hurting the conservative movement in this country and why that’s a terrible thing. For a diverse democracy to work as best as it can, we need at least two mainstream parties that are competitive. I’m not a member of either. I want both to be competitive, for the good of everyone.