'Inner cat' could help politicians; Female voters may respond better to kitty vibe than to territorial canine
Harbour City Star - CanWest News Service
November 7, 2007
By: Deirdre McMurdy

It's often been remarked that politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Frankly, I think that cats make the strangest by far….

That tolerant fondness for cats is just another of the many things I share with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But, increasingly, it's also a source of growing concern: How can it be that a man who openly claims to appreciate cats have such blatantly canine political instincts?

For all the energy he spent scheming against the Opposition and "staying on message" in framing a second mandate, Harper apparently doesn't bother -- or care -- much about the approval of women voters.

Granted, we may not be quite as glamorous in Harper's eyes as, say, ethnic minority voters, but we do make up about half the population and run all the kiddy car pools in this country.

So making nice to us girls is the one thing he really needs to do if he's serious about winning a majority government and building from the Conservative party's predominantly male base.

That's not to suggest the prime minister should try to bridge the gender gap by humming the soundtrack to Hairspray during QP or serving crantinis in caucus, but just maybe it's time for him to start listening to his inner cat.

Polls consistently show that women are decidedly feline in their approach to politics and political parties: They're typically skeptical, suspicious, and they tend to bolt from loud noises or sudden movements to either the left or the right…

Still, it's hard to miss that the recent throne speech utterly failed to acknowledge the worthy social issues that are, for some annoying reason, traditionally assumed to resonate most with the chick demographic, such as child care and wage parity.

To be fair, the Conservatives obviously understand that shopping is a "women's issue," so Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was probably trying to court us when he made his ill-fated decision to "Stand Up for Consumers."

Sadly, as often happens with canine behaviour, he bowed and wowed before he thought it all the way through. After nipping at the heels of retailers for failing to lower their prices to better reflect the strength of the Canadian dollar, it turned out the book he claimed was more expensive here than in the U.S. wasn't. Awkward.

Still, the real point is not what Harper or his colleagues are or aren't saying to Canadian women. It's all about the tone of the content….

Yes, a decidedly canine voice, since you ask….

Still, according to research by pollster Angus Reid, 50% of men said they endorsed what the Tories said in the throne speech about Arctic sovereignty, compared to just 26% of women.

Small wonder.

It's just so dog to assume such a noisily aggressive stance, baring fangs and peeing copiously to scent-mark every ice floe and assert territorial rights to it.

Cats are every bit as concerned with staking their physical claims. They're just more subtle and less frantic about it.

In politics, as in everything else, we all accept that every dog has his day.

But the question is whether a dog can win a majority in an election where cats also get to vote.