The Conservative leader’s campaign offers a hint of scorched earth as he goes after Kathleen Wynne and Rachel Notley.
ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO
Now that he’s campaigning against premiers like Alberta’s Rachel Notley, Stephen Harper has added another chapter in the saga of the outsider, giving the early days of his 2015 re-election bid a hint of scorched earth, writes Tim Harper.
Stephen Harper has always seemed most comfortable as a self-styled “outsider,” no matter how oxymoronic that might sound from someone who lives at 24 Sussex Drive.
Depending on his needs, he can find elites in courtrooms or newsrooms to rally his troops and he likes to tell us he avoids the trappings of office, from power lunches to black tie soirees.
But now that he is campaigning against provincial premiers, Harper has added another chapter in the saga of the outsider, giving the early days of his 2015 re-election bid a hint of scorched earth.
It’s starting to look like Harper against the world and he appears to like it this way.
But it also reveals a glaring blind spot for this man—his inability to accommodate anyone who does not share his ideological bent.