Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

And now a word from the leader of the opposition

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:33pm - 81 Comments

Tags: attack ads, Michael Ignatieff, Stephen Harper

More by Aaron Wherry

David Wilks becomes a headline

As a result of this story and these videos, the Conservative backbencher gets noticed…
Today’s generalities

Bernard Valcourt becomes the latest cabinet minister to try to explain what will come…
‘I wish to clarify my position’

And now a statement from the office of David Wilks.
I wish to clarify…

Douglass

I liked his response. It was dignified, calm cool and collect. All things you want in a leader.

Neil

Either that, or…cold, impersonal, and smug. He has never made clear exactly what he wants from us. He has never given us a reason to come to him. He has never put his butt on the line in a leadership vote, except that one in which he lost because he couldn’t corral the support of his life-long friend and confidant Bob Rae. He still has never projected for a second what’s really important: “I’m Michael Ignatieff, and here is my vision of Canada.” (For that matter, neither has Harper…but at least we know from experience how he’ll act as PM, and most Canadians generally like it.)

http://scottdiatribe.canflag.com Scott Tribe

Uh.. where are you reading that gives credence to your claim that “most Canadians generally like” how Harper acts as PM?

Neil

Uh…why would you think otherwise? “Where are you reading” that most Canadians generally don’t like Harper as PM? Certainly, every hard-core lefty hates him more than Hitler, but you folks are a small minority.

Paul

Wow. A little bit of dignity for once.
Katlyn

The Conservatives could probably get a majority if they didnt perpetually behave like they were in opposition.
Wayne

What no fire and brimstone : Not A Leader.
MJ Patchouli

Dignified, erudite, handsome, compassionate. The perfect foil to harper. The more I see Iggy talk, the more I want him to be our prime minister. Sooner rather than later.

Bill Simpson

Or…pompous, condescending, diffident, humorless, flat, unemotional….Don’t get me wrong, I quite like Iggy as an individual, but sometimes he can come over quite badly and not everyone will respond as positively as you have.

Douglass

Agreed. Although, I think this time he was spot on.

Chuck VS Macleans

LMAO..

I have to give Macleans mag props, for coming to Iggy’s defence. It just makes me feel better that I don’t pay for this crap.

Macleans Aaron Wherry, liberal blogger, awesome. I am just glad that Aaron Wherry has the balls to come out and support the liberals as a PPG member. It is refreshing, that a journalist cuts the crap, good stuff Aaron.

Macleans Mag – “we support liberals deal with it”. LMFO..

http://coyne kc

On the othe other hand , you probably did pay for the crap that went into the Conservative add.

Chuck VS Macleans

Nah, I don’t give any money to politcal parties. Just like I will never give money to macleans(I once did, but I can go to theLPC website for this BS, that this lame post’s). But I still pay for CD’S, so what do I know…

Douglass

How are they supporting? I know there have been a lot of Iggy posts lately, but you can thank SH for that. The conservatives are the ones making Ignatieff an issue with the attack ads and what not.

Are the media supposed to put their collective fingers in their ears and ‘naner naner naner’ out Ignatieff’s response to those ads?

I question your logic.

cam

I am with Douglass… when Macleans.ca posted any of the Conservative ads over the past 3 years, did you voice the same objections?

Conservatives: dishing it out but not taking it since 2006.
Ted

I first saw the Iggy ads here on Maclean’s, bud.

http://deleted Sandi

Chucky boy, give it a rest. You go on all the Macleans sites with this paranoid crap. Considering how many contributors to Macleans (I mean journalists by the way) lean conservative – you sound truly silly. Ya, some lean a little left, but most lean right.

Chuck VS Macleans

Oh, ya.

The economy, thanks Iggy for supporting the Conservative budget..lol
stwe

does this mean they will launch commercials, or is this their response?
John

Support positive politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevlKbbGzdM
http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

I thought Libs were rolling in the dough. Why are they making YouTube videos, where 26 partisan Libs will watch it, to respond to national ad campaign? And if Canadians don’t care about this issue why is Iggy responding to it as well as going on nation-wide tour to try and make himself appear to be a normal Canadian who just happened to spend 40+ years of his life abroad.

http://scottdiatribe.canflag.com Scott Tribe

..because you do as Obama did to Republican attack ads, and as Clinton before him.. you nip it in the bud instantly. I’d like to see more then this from him and the Liberals, but it’s a good start.
MJ Patchouli

Perhaps steve harper is Iggy’s book publicist? So he’s drawing attention to Iggy’s long absence, as Iggy uses the criticism as a platform to shill the book that is about how Canadian he is.

Swirl into the deliciious vortex…

And now the youtube video is a viral hit — look already Aaron has posted it to MacLeans.ca, a popular and national site, and all of us have seen it. Maybe we’ve sent it on to others…

And now we’re commenting on it!

Swirl into the vortex…mmmm
DisplacedCanadian

Compared to the governing party, they’re hardly swimming in it.

And I think every time you bring it up, his time abroad grows and becomes a bigger lie. Nice going!

Critical Reasoning

Actually, Iggy has spent 45 years abroad, if you count his childhood. It’s arguably not fair to consider his childhood abroad when measuring his Canadian bona fides, so most critics restrict themselves to Iggy’s voluntary 34-year absence, from 1969 to 2004 (with the exception of 1978).

http://coyne kc

Ther are those who have argued that being away from 69 to 04, would make Iggy uniquely qualified to be PM.

Critical Reasoning

kc, some have indeed made that argument, which I find completely ridiculous.
http://coyne kc

CR
Actually it’s funny.. when you think about it.
wilson

Really, what political office did he hold in Britian and the US?
What critical political decision making was he part of?
How many G8, G20, IMF meetings was he invited to.

Douglass

“I thought Libs were rolling in the dough. Why are they making YouTube videos”

Possibly because we are not actually in an election. I know its hard to tell the difference what with all of the propaganda spiraling out of the PMO’s office.
Oh Boy

I love it — 40+ years! Now I guess we’ll hold Iggy responsible for his father’s foreign postings as a Canadian diplomat … when he was a little kid!

Grants and Munros and Masseys in your family … not Canadian enough. OxBridge, BBC, Harvard — too global for us Canadians.

Mike Pearson seemed qualified enough, yet he spent an awful long time living outside of the borders, too…

Strange.

Ted

This guy spent a few decades abroad too before return home to lead his country.

Ted

Now it’s 40 years? The number keeps growing. If this keeps up, Conservatives will be telling you he never lived here in the first place!

http://bcinto.blogspot.com BCer in Toronto

He’s actually not here now. He’s a hologram being projected from the Harvard Yard.
sf

And Liberals will be telling you they were never anti-American, that they’ve always been open to recruiting their leaders from America.

Paul Martin said Stephen Harper might become the most pro-American leader in the Western world, heaven forbid.

Now the Liberals have recruited an American. Should we believe them then, or now? Or just conclude that they’re lying all of the time?

DisplacedCanadian

That room is like, too worldly.
Charles Learmonth

This is the Liberal response to the Conservative arsenal unleashed last week?

Not a good sign. I thought Rocco Rossi said the Liberals had money to fight back. Guess not.

More to the point, Iggy looks about as sincere as a car salesman, although I’ll give him bonus points for hiring a videographer that can actually shoot in focus.

MJ Patchouli

not arsenal, arseholenal

Cons launched theirs on youtube too, then went to TV within a few days. Testing the waters, I guess? Or not…

D

Wow, a political leader talking to voters like they’re adults. How about that?!

Jim

I’m not sure if you’re an adult yourself, but if someone walked up to me on the street and talked in that smarmy manner I’d give them a piece of my mind.

D

Yeah, you sound like a calm, level-headed rational guy. Yeesh.

Katlyn

HEATHEN!
HE STUDIED ABROAD!
HE WRITES BOOKS!
MY GOD, HE HAS A PHD!!!!
OFF WITH HIS HEAAAD!!!
http://coyne kc

It is possible Canadians might actually want to know what a prospective PM was doing overseas; and it is possible that they might actually approve of what he was doing. A Canadian success story. After all you don’t have to like the man to appreciate his accomplishments. That’s what bugs most about con reactions to these adds, i’m not a particular fan of Ignatieffs, but that doesn’t give me the right to crap all over his career accomplishments – very few that could have been achieved within Canada.
madeyoulook

Exactly the right response. Bonus: Video was of better quality than a certain lamentable predecessor.

All good.

But did there have to be a cabinet of fancy china in the background? Sure, you’re the sophisticated one. Cool. But don’t over-sophisticate yourself, sir.

http://coyne kc

At leeast he didn’t have some grey poop-on on display.

http://coyne kc

Iggy could have rubbed it in. He could have filled that cabinet with his published work. I know i would have. In fact if i were him i’d be writing a book about…hmmm, maybe hockey.

Critical Reasoning

Insufferably smug. The way Iggy deflects these legitimate concerns is far too cute and patronizing for my taste.
SAB

The “new Canadian” angle was one I hadn’t thought of – well played.

Andrew (not Potter or Coyne)

Really? That’s honestly the first thing I thought of when I saw the ad.

Sean Stokholm

Nicely done. But where the heck is the Canadian flag? You wanna be the PM, you should look like one at every opportunity, I would suggest.

Critical Reasoning

It’s folded up in his suitcase, next to the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes.
http://coyne kc

I think Iggy has one sewn on his butt, but he’s saving it for his next “tough” add where he moons Harper.

albertaclipper

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/05/20/steve-janke-tory-attack-ads-do-the-work-of-faint-hearted-media.aspx

The article above fits very well with Iggy has to say.

Tom

Steve Janke likes the Tory attack ads? Next thing you’ll tell me Jason Cherniak dislikes them.

anon

If I were a Conservative, I’d be hoping with everything I have that Ignatieff and the Liberals keep talking about the ads that are being run to attack them.

http://coyne kc

Which would be funny, since that’s what Ignatieff accuses them of – changing the channel.

D

Because not addressing the previous, egregious Conservative attack ads worked so well last time for Dion?

http://coyne kc

Oh i’m glad he responded. Dion’s passivity was disasterous – for him.

D

Agreed.

Mike T.

It doesn’t address some ways of slicing the “issues” that the ads and partisans here have raised . But its head and shoulders above the CPoC ads.

Critical Reasoning

I agree. The CPC ads were lame, especially their style and tone. The issues they raised are legitimate, however. There’s nothing wrong with questioning the Canadian experience and bona fides of a man who hopes to become Prime Minister.

Ted

Questioning his experience, sure, but questioning his bona fides? his patriotism and dedication to country? That is low and is backfiring.

Mike T.

I would have liked specific discussions of what exact pitfalls the cons expected due to his international vs. Canadian experience. How do you see his time abroad leading to failure in the PMs role, Mr. Harper?

catherine

I don’t think any Conservatives are thinking along those lines. They are thinking what can we do to get fewer people to vote for him and more people for us. They are trying to attach a feeling of ‘not one of us’ to Ignatieff in the hope that this will drive votes away. Thinking too much ruins the effect they are after. In fact, it works best if you don’t think at all.

Critical Reasoning

Nobody should dare to question the national dedication of a man who would have happily lived the rest of his life outside Canada, had he not been recruited by the Liberals.

http://deleted Sandi

Or, a PM that spent an awful lot of time speaking at right wing American think tanks (members – hmmm….Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld) runnind down his own country. Or, a PM who just can’t quite say he loves Canada.

Jim

That did not seem very sincere to me.

And althogh many Canadians live and work abroad, I don’t imagine many go on national US television and lecture Americans about the need to decide what kind of America they want and how it is as much their country as it is his (Iggy’s).

Nope, I will go with my gut feeling. Ignatieff is a dilettante carpetbagger that just wants to add the title of Prime Minister to his impressive resume.

I find it funny that the Conservative ads and website are labeled as personal attack ads when all they contain are quotes from the Count himself.

Parachuted into Canadian politics with barely three years experience does not a Prime Minister make. If I was a Liberal and a leader was installed instead of democratically elected, I would be quite upset. But it seems to me that Liberals will blindly follow just about anyone.

Well, if you Liberals were OK with an expat hawk with virtually no hands on political experience, I suggest that you should have installed Justin Trudeau…at least there is no question that he is truly Canadian.

Douglass

There is no question that Ignatieff is truly Canadian. Living abroad does not discount your citizenship.

sf

Is that you Iggy? There’s no question? All righty then. I had a question, but if you say I didn’t, it must be true.

Wayne

hit the nail on the head Jim. Indeed I keep waiting for the real attack ads! Just Visiting isn’t bad for the point it makes and getting it across … but I like down and dirty soldiers on the streets or the NDP one during the last election. Mushroom clouds are always effective too as it is this is pretty tame stuff as far as I’m concerned. I think the Tory war room is using a much kinder gentler approach than usual. By the way the zinger about Justin is perfect and you are aboslutely correct but don’t worry because if Iggy loses a single seat next election you can bet Bobby will stop holding his jacket and Iggy will be back writing and lecturing one and all full time – no doubt about it -
catherine

.I find it funny that the Conservative ads and website are labeled as personal attack ads when all they contain are quotes from the Count himself.

Ignatieff never said ‘Not in it for you. Just in it for himself’. But I guess Harper did since the PMO released this ad and that quote sounds a lot like Harper would describe himself if he was being honest. Since you like these ads so much, you will like “Harper – just in it for himself’, just a quote from the PM himself.

Mel

You would think with the amount of free media the press gave to the attack ads, they would at least throw t his up as the main story on macleans.

sf

If Wherry could, he would.

Wascally Wabbit

right tone.
right message
right timing…

And judging by all the talk – getting the right level of attention.

Definitely not produced by anyone named Zowski