Attack Ads

Wednesday March 21, 2012

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator,ÊWednesday March 21, 2012 Attack ads may force Rae's hand You can tell when Bob Rae is getting annoyed - the contrived chuckle is superceded by a sound like a sausage stewing in its own grease.ÊWhen he was asked about the new Conservative ads that attack his record as Ontario's NDP premier on CBC's Power & Politics, heÊstarted to fizz and pop. The ads ask if Mr. Rae "couldn't run a province, why does he think he can run Canada?" They have clearly chafed the interim LiberalÊleader. If the Conservatives are going to highlight all the bad news that happened on his watch, they should also mention the Toronto BlueÊJays won two World Series, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the Soviet Union collapsed, he told Evan Solomon. Eh?ÊMaybe he'd been out in the unseasonably sunny weather too long without a hat. "I'm not uniquely responsible" for the recession that sent unemployment and deficits soaring in Ontario in the early 1990s, he said. No -Êbut the NDP government made the worst of a bad job, by the account of even the most charitable observers. Mr. Rae now thinks the Liberal party has a "responsibility" to respond and defend his record as NDP premier. The party is planning toÊraise new money in response to the ad and mount a counterattack with those funds. This has triggered a backlash from a number of Liberals I spoke to Tuesday, who are uncomfortable about the idea of squandering theÊparty's meagre war chest to defend the man who is still, nominally, the interim leader. In public, Mr. Rae dismisses the thought he might run to be permanent leader as "idle speculation." But in his own mind, it seems, heÊalready has the job. If you doubt this, go to the Liberal.ca website and scroll to the Meet Bob Rae section, where he is introduced asÊ"Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada." (Source: National Post) Canada, Bob Rae, Stephen Harper, attack ads, tank, dirty, politics

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday March 21, 2012

Attack ads may force Rae’s hand

You can tell when Bob Rae is getting annoyed – the contrived chuckle is superceded by a sound like a sausage stewing in its own grease. When he was asked about the new Conservative ads that attack his record as Ontario’s NDP premier on CBC’s Power & Politics, he started to fizz and pop.

The ads ask if Mr. Rae “couldn’t run a province, why does he think he can run Canada?” They have clearly chafed the interim Liberal leader. If the Conservatives are going to highlight all the bad news that happened on his watch, they should also mention the Toronto Blue Jays won two World Series, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the Soviet Union collapsed, he told Evan Solomon. Eh? Maybe he’d been out in the unseasonably sunny weather too long without a hat.

“I’m not uniquely responsible” for the recession that sent unemployment and deficits soaring in Ontario in the early 1990s, he said. No – but the NDP government made the worst of a bad job, by the account of even the most charitable observers.

Mr. Rae now thinks the Liberal party has a “responsibility” to respond and defend his record as NDP premier. The party is planning to raise new money in response to the ad and mount a counterattack with those funds.

This has triggered a backlash from a number of Liberals I spoke to Tuesday, who are uncomfortable about the idea of squandering the party’s meagre war chest to defend the man who is still, nominally, the interim leader.

In public, Mr. Rae dismisses the thought he might run to be permanent leader as “idle speculation.” But in his own mind, it seems, he already has the job. If you doubt this, go to the Liberal.ca website and scroll to the Meet Bob Rae section, where he is introduced as “Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.” (Source: National Post)

April 4, 2007

Ask people for their opinions concerning those Conservative Party pre-election ads directed against Stephane Dion and the reaction you’ll receive is usually one of absolute disgust. Like someone has been forced to watch the worst kind of porn. Pure filth. “How low can the Tories go”, they’ll protest, or it’s “American style attack ads”, as a means to condemn the party while connecting it to that horrible neighbour to Canada’s south. “Is this where political decorum has fallen to in Canada”, people will rhetorically ask before they warn that, “it’s going to backfire on Harper.”

Please. The Dion ads were amusing, and they were hardly as offensive as some repulsive things we’re surrounded by in our everyday lives that ought to make people outraged. “Do you think it’s easy to make priorities“, the Liberal Leader famously whined. Apparently, you can download that quote off the Internet and program it as a cell phone ring.

To me it’s hard to condemn these so-called “attack ads” on politicians when it’s a cartoonist’s job to go after them daily in cartoons. Isn’t adversarial jousting supposed to be part of our Parliamentary system?

In my mind our political forums have two key ingredients:

a) the boring part — a forum for thoughtful intellectual debate (behind the scenes in committee rooms and on the floor of the legislatures which would send most people to sleep);

and,

b) the exciting part — a theatre which provides a verbal battleground for outwitting your adversary — be they put downs during Question Period, or commercials aimed against your adversary on tv in 20 second soundbites or newsclips.

I suppose there are limits to the art of playful chiding when it starts to look like bullying because the other side can’t/won’t play the wits game. The Libs think they’re taking the high road by not striking back, but instead they’re just looking like wimps. This weeks’ episode of This Hour Had 22 Minutes did a perfect parody ad of where the Liberals find themselves right now. The Liberal’s simply need to play the game.

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