Interesting how many candidates are falling by the wayside this election, how many parties are not tolerating unacceptable statements. As Robert notes, now we have Toronto Conservative candidate Chris Reid let go for his opinions arising after the terrible terrible events that led to the death of Tim McLean on that bus this summer. Reid's bloggy quotes comments included:

...Passengers and the bus driver stood by and watched another person being butchered, and couldn't muster up any courage or self sacrifice to intervene. This is where socialism as gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population.

The trouble is not that Ried had a strong repulsion to a plainly horrible event. The trouble is that he revealed a personally held conception of the universe that can ascribe the acts of others to "socialism". Anyone who can find comfort in that sort of conception can find a boogieman in any issue - meaning they do not hunt for the real issue or a real problem but sit back satisfied in their pre-set two-dimensional simplicity. The same idea can satisfy the easily satisfied with nutty ideas like socialism holding back Saskatchewan from oil wealth, never mind that it long lacked the same degree of cost effective viability that neighbouring Alberta's does due to geology and, in ant event, simply lacks the reserves. Picking up the ball from a true believer, David played the Devil's advocate in that earlier debate and, as always, got the Devil's due for his efforts.

Let's call both hugging or attacking such "-isms" what it is: a belief system. And one built around scapegoating, that hallmark of the whacked. No matter what one's political outlook is - from conservative to green, from free marketeering to rigid regulationists - when one's understanding devolves to a matter of such unthinking obstructionist belief, your role (at best) should be voter or follower or maybe lawn sign jockey. Leadership? Not so much.

Good for the Tories to understand the difference. To win the people they will have to win with substance.