So I think we have some similarities in terms of reflecting what we believe to be on the hearts of our constituents. Immediately after the Republican convention in Philadelphia, Canadian writers began to draw their own parallels between Day and Bush. Paul Wells, a reporter with the National Post, wrote, Stockwell Day, with his athletic bearing, his great big mouth, and his cheerful refusal to sweat the details, is the most Bush-like of our leaders. Solberg agrees that there are similarities between Day and Bush but says they are far from being ideological twins. However, he explains, both leaders are facing publics that are ready for a change in the ruling party and a new national leader.
People sometimes get tired of that same old face.
One thing that really sticks in my mind about Reagan is he was able to say tough things that people would accept because of how he said them, and Stock has that ability, too. If so, Day will need it. Already his social-conservative views have created a backlash from Canada s liberal press and some of the public there. But pockets of collectivist opposition are not getting Day down or curbing his approach to the Canadian public, he tells Insight. He says the complaints come from what he calls the chattering classes that get excited when somebody makes the bold confession that they happen to be pro-life or that they believe the present definition of marriage should be maintained as defining it heterosexually.