I don't think most Americans realize just how much damage has been done to America's reputation, internationally.

I've been to the US a lot, traveled the country. Spent god only knows how much money shopping there and online from US based companies. Heck, I've even imported cars from the US.

I can't see myself doing any of those things, can I avoid it, any time soon. I realize I'm probably not in any sort of majority, feeling this way, but I'm not alone, either.

True but the only reason Canada didn't go with the exact same choice with Poilievre was we elected Trump and Canada panicked and U-turned politically so right back at you Canada, you should be thanking the US for providing a stark enough warning to Canada not to elect Poilievre.

Y'all are just as capable of the same bigotry and violence and Carney only increases the explosive nature of fascist blowback coming for Canada domestically by being such a vapid, useless/clueless, technocratic status quo maintaining leader the same way Biden did.

Is Canada superior in this aspect or did the US just beat Canada in the race to launch off the cliff of fascism?

https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/how-canadas-liberals-won/

The impact of Trump’s ‘51st state’ rhetoric, along with his oscillating tariff threats, can be seen in the [below] chart showing popular support for various Canadian political parties.  During the last week of January, support for the Liberals began to rise rapidly. For the Trudeau government, Trump’s words and behavior triggered a rally around the flag effect of epic proportions. An upsurge in Canadian nationalism—or patriotism, if you will—swept millions of voters into rethinking their partisan commitments. As unpopular as Trudeau was, he spoke for many Canadians when he concluded that the country’s very independence was on the line. Moreover, having announced that he would step down as party leader, the Liberals were free to look elsewhere.

^ red circle highlights when Trump is elected November 5, 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4jd39g8y1o

Opinion polls at the start of the year had the Conservatives over 20 percentage points ahead of the Liberals. But after the resignation of former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the arrival of new PM Mark Carney, as well as the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, that lead evaporated.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2144023/polling-federal-rapid-shift

"Right now, we have a steep curve in favour of the Liberals, the steepest I have seen in my years covering the polls in Canada," said Philippe Fournier, an analyst with 338Canada.com (new window).

An Abacus Data poll conducted between Feb. 20 and 25 still has the Conservatives ahead by 12 points. But it also shows a fairly quick upswing for the Liberals — a nine-point jump from where the party was a month ago.

Fournier said the rapid gains the Liberals have made can be attributed to three factors: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing he would be stepping down, interest in the party's leadership race and the return of U.S. President Donald Trump.

https://www.ekospolitics.com/index.php/2025/01/liberals-break-30-points-following-trump-inauguration/

The Liberal resurgence seems to be driven by three factors. First, Justin Trudeau’s resignation produced a modest but noticeable boost to the party’s standing. Second, the extensive media coverage of the Liberal leadership race accelerated this rise. Finally, the cavalcade of radical announcements from the freshly inaugurated Donald Trump has spurred a renewed sense of national identity, prompting Canadians to rally around their incumbent leaders in a show of solidarity.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4jd39g8y1o

Opinion polls at the start of the year had the Conservatives over 20 percentage points ahead of the Liberals. But after the resignation of former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the arrival of new PM Mark Carney, as well as the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, that lead evaporated.

https://theconversation.com/pierre-poilievre-the-most-successful-unsuccessful-leader-in-canadian-politics-274358

Poilievre managed to pull together, and even expand, the coalition of Conservative voters, appealing in particular to younger male voters, and was making inroads with labour voters — at least until Donald Trump showed up for his second term as American president.

Thanks largely due to Trump’s threats to make Canada a 51st state, Liberals performed even better in the election. Defying the odds, newly minted Prime Minister Mark Carney led the Liberals back from what seemed like certain defeat, assisted by the emergence of a far more more belligerent United States following Trump’s return.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/canadas-liberals-celebrate-a-stunning-win-and-as-populist-challenger-poilievre-loses-his-seat

"We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons," he said.
"As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," Carney added. "These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ... ever happen. But we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed."

Poilievre hoped to make the election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and housing prices rose.

But Trump attacked, Trudeau resigned and Carney, a two-time central banker, became the Liberal Party's leader and prime minister.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michael-taube-how-poilievre-can-regain-his-lost-political-momentum

That’s the secret to Poilievre’s previous success in polls and surveys. It wasn’t simply because Justin Trudeau was prime minister and Canadians wanted to get rid of him, although that helped. It was more related to Poilievre’s ability to imagine a Conservative version of Canada that was more viable and tangible than the Liberal version that Trudeau and later Mark Carney peddled. Non-traditional Conservative voters, including blue collar workers, young people, women and independents, gravitated towards it. If U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariff battle had never materialized, Poilievre would be prime minister today.

Hence, Poilievre needs to fight the battle for the imagination of Canadian voters once more. He should focus on rebuilding Canada-U.S. relations, emphasizing border security, supporting trade liberalization and healthier free markets, expressing clear support for Israel, and critiquing the rise of North American-style socialism in New York City (Zohran Mamdani) and Seattle (Katie Wilson). He should take the lead on issues that will likely become significant matters, including: protecting free speech, monitoring the growth of artificial intelligence, supporting enhanced market choice for telecommunications, ending supply management for the dairy industry — and more.

https://thewalrus.ca/poilievre-wins-by-election-prepares-for-second-act/

We know what ultimately happened. Within a month of US president Donald Trump’s election and his trade war on Canada, the massive Conservative lead disintegrated and the party went into free fall. In my estimation, that result was less a verdict on Poilievre than the outcome of a political storm that no one could contain. The objectivity of the Canadian electorate had largely been trumped—and Trumped—by the subjective analysis of one specific issue: the tariff battle.

The skills Poilievre used to surge in the polls can help him surge again. Appealing to “red meat” conservatives and the party faithful is important, but building a far-reaching political movement in a country that’s voted Liberal for nearly 60 percent of its history is extraordinary. It’s how you survive in politics—and thrive in a challenging political environment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-trump-smith-analysis-1.7496125

The most controversial statement of the federal election so far was uttered before the campaign even started — not by a federal politician, but the premier of Alberta.

In an interview taped on March 8 with a right-wing American media outlet, Danielle Smith said that, while there would always be disagreements, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would be "very much in sync with … the new direction in America" and that Canada and the United States would "have a great relationship" for as long as Poilievre and Donald Trump were in office.

"If we do have Pierre as our prime minister, then I think there's a number of things that we could do together," Smith said. "Pierre believes in development, he believes in low-cost energy, he believes that we need to have low taxes, doesn't believe in any of the woke stuff that we've seen taking over our politics for the last five years."

Liberals have, for months, been trying to link Poilievre and Trump, either substantively or stylistically — Chrystia Freeland, for instance, used the term "maple syrup MAGA" to describe the Conservatives last fall. And so Smith's comments — which only came to wider attention last weekend — were a gift to the governing party.

https://leadnow.ca/poilievreproof/

We are too fucking close to falling in the same hole. We've been importing US politics on a 5-10 year delay for 60 years, and I hope the nightmare below the 49th finally makes enough of us choose a different path.

Imagine being okay with imperial, executions and not having universal healthcare.