Random Electioneering Bits - and Bytes...

While people get themselves all whipped into a lather over changing the ruling party in the government, there's a few things to consider before January 23:

Over here, we have a CPC candidate facing criminal charges for an attempted smuggling run. That may seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but this is the party that is claiming it is "corruption free". I don't know about you, but after the Gurmant Grewal affair last year, I'm not so sure.
[Update: 09:24 12/01/06]:For the first time ever, the CPC has dumped a questionable candidate

Then, we are treated to Stephen Harper attempting to deny his often stated positions on social issues in response to some of the more recent Liberal ads. Frankly, I'm unimpressed by those ads - they are the kind of 'schoolyard mudslinging' that I abhor anyhow. However, anyone who thinks that a Conservative Government isn't going to be looking at social conservative positions has missed a few things:

Elsie Wayne and the Traditional Definition of Marriage lobby. Please note that these groups have very long standing ties to the CPC and its past incarnations as the Reform and Alliance parties.

Long standing statements by Stephen Harper that reflect his ties to the hard core social conservative movement.

Twits like Clan Byfield who run lobby organizations that think the CPC owes them a debt of some kind.

Not to mention this article where the "social conservatives" are deliberately lying low until the CPC gets elected. If you think they are going to lie low after that, you've got another thing coming.

Why the Liberal campaign isn't playing on this like a violin is beyond me. The CPC isn't running a hidden agenda campaign - it's a suppressed agenda campaign - and a very nasty one at that.