nomination – mackaycartoons

Friday September 28, 2018

September 27, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 28, 2018

8 takeaways from the Brett Kavanaugh-Christine Blasey Ford hearings

The eyes of the country are on a small hearing room on Capitol Hill Thursday, where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers, are testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trivia from the south

I’m watching right alongside you — and the nation. The testimony so far has been gripping — and the whole hearing, featuring both Ford and Kavanaugh, will be worth watching to get a full picture.

But several moments and themes have already stood out. Below you’ll find a contemporaneous set of takeaways that I think are worth taking note of as I watch the hearings live. Again, these takeaways are in the order of the actual hearing.

1. Ford is credible

2. The manner of questioning is, um, not great

3. Grassley’s tin ear

4. Hatch’s ‘attractive’ gaffe

5. Mitchell’s swings and misses

6. The silence of Senate Republicans

7. Kavanaugh’s angry and emotional opening statement

8. No one is more outraged than Lindsey Graham

(Continued: CNN)

Tuesday September 26, 2017

September 25, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 26, 2017

Donna Skelly seeks Conservative nomination

Ending months of speculation, Coun. Donna Skelly says she is seeking the Conservative nomination for the new provincial riding of Flamborough-Glanbrook.

“It’s been a tough decision. I love what I do, and I’m really proud of what I’ve done so far on council,” Skelly said.

“The truth is I think I can do more for the entire city at the provincial level.”

Skelly, who was elected to Hamilton council in a March, 2016, byelection, says she submitted her nomination paperwork and was interviewed by PC officials last week.

“At this point, I haven’t been approved as a candidate yet.”

It’s widely believed the party has been courting the high-profile former CHCH TV broadcaster with the intention of either acclaiming or appointing her.

PC riding association president John Demik could not be reached. But would-be candidates Nick Lauwers and Dan Sadler have previously said the party told them it would not back their bids, strongly suggesting there was a preferred choice in the wings.

“I am not being appointed, I can tell you that,” Skelly said, adding she has no idea how many nominees the party might approve.

Skelly notes that the waning popularity of the Liberal government means a lot of people want to run for the Conservatives.

If Skelly doesn’t have to face an open nomination contest, she’ll definitely be squaring off against fellow Coun. Judi Partridge in the June 2018 election.

Partridge was recently acclaimed the Liberal candidate for the same riding.

Skelly represents Ward 7 on the central Mountain. Partridge represents east Flamborough’s Ward 15.

Both reside within their wards and the boundaries of Flamborough-Glanbrook, a sprawling riding encompassing part of Hamilton south of Rymal Road, some of the Mountain brow, parts of Ancaster, all Waterdown, Carlisle, Glanbrook, Binbrook and upper Stoney Creek.

Skelly says the media might have fun reporting on the battle between the two councillors but she and Partridge get along “really well” and will conduct themselves professionally.

“It will be a healthy competition, put it that way.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

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Thursday September 21, 2017

September 20, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 21, 2017

What happens when the big tent is a mirage

At this rate, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown will be fighting the looming election on crutches, the result of his own party repeatedly shooting him in both feet.

August 23, 2017

Already facing numerous controversies and even a police investigation around candidate nominations, the PCs wounded themselves yet again, this time with the local riding association in Cambridge accusing party headquarters of rigging the nomination process in favour of its preferred candidates. The party apparently shortened the nomination deadline, arbitrarily and without consultation, so that local candidates planning to run were left with insufficient time to sell enough memberships to be competitive. The preferred candidates, critics charge, are already signed up and selling so locals won’t have a legitimate shot.

Party brass deny the allegations, but the damage is done, especially considering that this scandal is just one of many all around the same thing: PC party management overriding local members in making nomination decisions. Three local riding associations and numerous executives have resigned in protest. A former minister under Mike Harris has said electing Brown would be the worst possible choice. Allegations include ballot-stuffing, falsified membership forms, party-funded memberships and other irregularities.

Criticizing Brown and his team for this is like shooting fish in a barrel. Suffice it to say they’ve had months to make an impression. They’ve made one, all right, but it features corruption allegations, disdain for the grassroots and undemocratic behaviour. Hardly the sort of momentum they had hoped to create heading into the election next June.

September 12, 2017

In fairness, the PCs may be the poster children for this sort of nonsense, but the NDP and Liberals have had their own troubles, though not to the same degree. And the worst part? It’s completely unnecessary.

Parties have the right to choose their candidate in any riding, and party HQ is the final authority. They just need to be honest and transparent. It’s a tough sell, admittedly, but surely just saying out of the gate that a candidate has been chosen is preferable to making promises of grassroots inclusivity, accepting party membership fees and then kicking sand in the face of local riding associations.

The optics of having party central choose candidates are not good, granted. It’s tough to sell a big-tent, inclusive party vision while suits in boardrooms quietly make critical candidate decisions. But in the case of the Ontario PCs, that’s what is happening, and they’re compounding the problem by claiming to be one thing but demonstrating through their actions they are the polar opposite. Hand-pick candidates if that’s what you want to do. But at least have the integrity to be honest about it. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)

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Wednesday April 27, 2016

April 26, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 27, 2016

Ted Cruz, John Kasich join forces to stop Donald Trump

Ted Cruz and John Kasich are joining forces in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald Trump the Republican presidential nomination.

April 20, 2016

Within minutes of each other, the pair issued statements late Sunday saying they will divide their efforts in upcoming contests with Cruz focusing on Indiana and Kasich devoting his efforts to Oregon and New Mexico. The strategy — something the two campaigns have been working on for weeks — is aimed at blocking Trump from gaining the 1,237 delegates necessary to claim to GOP nomination this summer.

The extraordinary moves reflect the national strength Trump has shown and the inability of Republicans who oppose the New York billionaire to come together to stop him. Dividing up some of the remaining primary states by putting forward one strong alternative to Trump in each could be enough to take away delegates and curb Trump’s run to the nomination.

January 20, 2016

“This is a nationwide campaign and we’re making a decision where to focus our time, energy and resources,” Cruz told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham on Monday. “We are now focused very, very heavily on the state of Indiana. It is significant that John Kasich is pulling out of Indiana and allowing us to go directly head to head with Donald Trump.”

Kasich said Monday despite the agreement, he still wants Indiana voters to support him.

“They ought to vote for me,” he said during a gaggle with reporters at a Philadelphia diner.

“I’m not campaigning in Indiana and he’s not campaigning in these other states, that’s all. It’s not a big deal,” Kasich said.

Trump is the only candidate who can realistically get a first-ballot victory — there’s no mathematical path for Cruz or Kasich to clinch the nomination heading into the convention. The billionaire is poised for a strong performance Tuesday, when Republicans in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island head to the polls. (Source: CNN)

Friday October 31, 2014

October 30, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 31, 2014

Bratina touted as a ‘game changer’ for federal Liberals

The Liberals believe outgoing Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina is the man who will finally wrestle Hamilton East-Stoney Creek away from the New Democrats.

“We’ve got a game changer here,” Tyler Banham, president of the Ontario Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) said Wednesday night at Bratina’s nomination meeting.

“Bob Bratina has never lost an election and I like to say (Liberal Leader) Justin Trudeau has never lost an election.”

About 70 people attended Bratina’s meeting at the Renaissance Centre on Barton Street East, including Hamilton’s provincial cabinet minister Ted McMeekin, Hamilton Centre Liberal candidate Anne Tennier, former mayor Larry Di Ianni and former Hamilton alderman Mary Kiss.

Bratina was acclaimed to the post two days after the municipal election saw Fred Eisenberger elected as his successor. The one-term mayor opted not to run again to become a Liberal candidate. He was Ward 2 councillor from 2004 to 2010.

New Democrat MP Wayne Marston has held the riding since 2006 when he defeated Liberal cabinet minister Tony Valeri. He defeated Di Ianni in 2008. In 2011, he received 45.2 per cent of the vote. The Liberal candidate garnered 13.2 per cent.

Bratina told reporters after his acceptance speech — in which he said his life had “a sense of destiny” — that Marston was a “fine person,” but said Hamilton has lost from not having a government MP and that the government after the election will be lead by Trudeau.

“It’s really not a matter of personalities,” he said. “It’s about getting back into power of Canada, which is the federal government. We have had a great tradition in this area of Liberals being in power and influencing the government.”

He said that hasn’t happened under Marston, Hamilton Centre NDP MP Dave Christopherson and Hamilton Mountain NDP MP Chris Charlton “and it’s time for a change.”

He said he was so impressed by Trudeau he decided not to run for mayor again and seize the opportunity to run for the Liberals.

“I’m the ideal candidate for this riding at this time,” Bratina said.

Marston welcomed Bratina into the race, explaining “I don’t go to war with people.” He added he was not worried about Bratina. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)