The Final Days: Winnipeg

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 13, 2008 at 5:51 PM - 0 Comments

Judging from the angle of his head, viewed from 20 rows back, it looked like Stephane Dion caught a nap between Quebec and Manitoba. He awoke in time to speak before a hundred or so supporters in an airport hangar just off the tarmac at Winnipeg International Airport. 

Not his finest stuff. The cavernous venue let the momentary bursts of energy float away. It was cold and grey outside. The latest poll numbers were no good. And anyone there was, presumedly, skipping Thanksgiving dinner to be present. 

Still, the assembled seemed quite taken by his closing stanza. They always do.

Onward to Vancouver.

The new Brangelina twins, Muttart and Teneycke, could not be reached for comment

By Paul Wells - Monday, October 13, 2008 at 4:56 PM - 0 Comments

Lisa Marie Presley’s new twins are named Harper and Finley.

Heck of a guy

By Paul Wells - Monday, October 13, 2008 at 3:49 PM - 0 Comments

The cruellest ad of the campaign, because it is a deal-closer. The Conservative leader is no longer even bothering to talk about the other parties. Now he’s talking to the viewer, quietly, like Shelly Levene to Harriett and blah blah Nyborg. I believe the final polls will turn out to have called Conservative support a little low.

The Final Days: Longueuil

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 13, 2008 at 1:02 PM - 0 Comments

Not much to report. So a few words from John Malkovich (interviewed in the latest Esquire).

“This is what politics is to me: Somebody tells you all the trees on your street have a disease. One side says give them food and water and everything will be fine. One side says chop them down and burn them so they don’t infect another street. That’s politics. And I’m going, Who says they’re diseased? And how does this sickness manifest itself? And is this outside of a natural cycle? And who said this again? And when were they on the street? But we just have people who shout, ‘Chop it down and burn it’ or ‘Give it food and water,’ and there’s your two choices. Sorry, I’m not a believer.”

My eerily prescient call

By Andrew Coyne - Monday, October 13, 2008 at 1:01 PM - 0 Comments

Fascists 133

Crooks Notaleaders 88

Commies 34

Traitors 51

Tree-huggers 0

Loners 2

UPDATED: Ah, nostalgia

By Paul Wells - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 10:54 PM - 0 Comments

UPDATED with brand-new thoughts from Elizabeth, below

“Harper and Layton have their plan. Nothing can interfere with their plan. Their plan, to destroy the Liberal party, is a route to electoral success for both of them. But my concern about climate means that I can’t play into the game that says it doesn’t matter if Harper is elected… My commitment is ensuring that Mr. Harper isn’t prime minister at the end of the next election.” Continue…

Against strategic voting

By Paul Wells - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 8:17 PM - 0 Comments

Elizabeth May could perhaps use reinforcements, so the leader of the Ontario Greens makes the argument with more verve than she has managed: even if your Green vote was the one that ensured a Harper re-election, you should still vote Green.

I just can’t help wondering whether, if the case were put that starkly, May would agree. Certainly John Barber, the Globe columnist who thought it unconscionable that New Democrats might prefer their own party to the Liberals, would not like what Frank de Jong argues here.

The Final Days: Ottawa

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 6:56 PM - 0 Comments

Liberal Marc Godbout’s campaign office is in the same suburban strip mall as Conservative MP Royal Galipeau. Which helps explain why nine Conservative supporters were positioned by the road, waving signs, as the Liberal tour arrived this evening.

Mr. Dion was joined on stage by his sister, Frances (in addition to his wife and daughter who were traveling with the campaign already).

A few changes to the stump speech; one to address Elizabeth May’s alleged call for Green supporters to vote Liberal or NDP in various ridings; the second to address Stephen Harper’s admission that the Conservative climate change plan will lead to higher energy costs.

Which admission? Apparently this one (scroll down to paragraph 14). Though one assumes the question has been asked of the Prime Minister before and, for that matter, he didn’t wait until his last press conference to clarify that. Er, right?

The Final Days: Tomorrow's itineraries

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 5:12 PM - 0 Comments

Dion: Fredericton-Longueuill-Winnipeg-Vancouver
Harper: Cornwall-Fredericton-Vancouver

The Final Days: Norwood

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 4:21 PM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

Several things Stephane Dion did at the Norwood Fair—”where the champions of East and West meet”—this afternoon.

1. Wore a golf shirt and jeans.

2. Strolled the midway.

3. Purchased a deep-fried Mars bar for a young boy.

4. Posed for pictures with a family of rabbits.

5. Met the local beauty queen.

He did not, unfortunately, stay to see how the Extreme Lawn Tractor racing turned out.

Glad that's settled

By Andrew Coyne - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 1:52 PM - 0 Comments

Decline in support spells minority government for Tories: poll

Tories widening lead, majority in sight: poll

The Final Days: Scarborough

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 11:00 AM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

No aberration then, that TV interview. In the basement of Flipper’s Fish House, Mr. Dion just gave an altogether impassioned scrum (if such a thing is possible). The traveling press corps are increasingly at a bit of a loss to find anything “new” in what the candidate has to say, but there is perhaps not much new to say at this point—just make your case over and over and over again.

One assumes too that Mr. Dion is keenly aware that every word he speaks may represent his last chance to convince someone within earshot before Tuesday. Pretty much everything should probably be interpreted through that context from here on.

The Final Days: Toronto

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 8:57 AM - 0 Comments

Stephane Dion’s early morning interview with CityTV, in a word: Feisty.

Video to come when/if it becomes available.

Here it is.

BREAKING! GiornoWatch Special Edition: Oh, there he is – working his magic with the media, even.

By kadyomalley - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 12:36 AM - 0 Comments

Lifted shamelessly from the comments, in response to Colleague Wells’ challenge – “Fun question: could anyone find Guy Giorno with teams of bloodhounds this week?”:

comment by Big Daddy on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 2:03 pm:

GIORONO FOUND!!

On Wednesday in Victoria, where Harper made some similarly minor health announcements, tempers flared repeatedly as Conservative campaign staff loudly snapped at journalists over their reporting. Tory partisans also jeered media questions during a news conference with the prime minister.

Guy Giorno, the prime minister’s chief of staff, accused a reporter of accosting him merely for placing a hand on his shoulder to keep Giorno from rocking in and out of a camera sightline.

Oddly, over at CTV, the last paragraph seems to have been removed, although Google News still shows the Giorno reference:

The original version is still available on Yahoo! News Canada.

You'd have to think that threatening to step down if the Tories lose the election would be "something to react to"

By kadyomalley - Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 12:08 AM - 0 Comments

You have no idea how much it killed me to leave that preposition dangling like a kitten by the nape of its neck, but what can I do? It’s a direct quote from this Globe and Mail story, which reveals that those media outlets forking out $10,000 a week for a seat on the Conservative tour may spend the next two days serving as an in-house camera crew for the campaign:

Stephen Harper appears to be bunkering down to avoid last-minute mishaps in the final days of the campaign: His staff are warning it’s likely that the Conservative Leader won’t take any more questions from journalists accompanying his tour until election day.

They handed out a schedule for Sunday that has no time set aside for talking to the approximately 20 reporters who are accompanying Mr. Harper on his campaign.

He still has two days of campaigning left – Sunday and Monday – that are expected to take him across Quebec and to Prince Edward Island before possibly wrapping up in Windsor, Ont. and Regina.

Mr. Harper generally only answers questions from the press on his campaign plane once a day – in the morning – and he conducted his last news conference this morning after a whistle-stop in London, Ont.

The Conservative Leader’s staff offer several explanations. One official said it’s simply a question of schedules and that they don’t have enough time to scrum due to the hectic pace of the final two days. Another said that there will be “nothing to react to” over Sunday and Monday.

The same day, he told the Toronto Star editorial board that if his party loses the election – unlikely, but hardly impossible – he isn’t planning on sticking around to lead the Conservative charge against the dreaded Permanent Tax on Everything:

Continue…

Let's see what our celebrity judges make of this, shall we?

By Paul Wells - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 7:51 PM - 0 Comments

First, the issue of the day:

VICTORIA, Oct. 11 /CNW Telbec/ – Three senior Canadian members of the 2007 Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are calling on Elizabeth May to lead Greens to make the difference in more than 50 close ridings where the Conservatives are set to win with a fraction of the expected Green Party vote. The leading Canadian climate scientists making the call are Dr. Andrew Weaver from the University of Victoria, Dr. William Peltier from the University of Toronto and Dr. John Stone from Carleton University.

Riding projections on VoteForEnvironment.ca and seat models from various polling companies show that in the so-called 519 and 905 regions, and across southern BC the Green Party vote is many times greater than the Conservative margin of victory.

Continue…

The Final Days: Vaughan

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 6:57 PM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

While Mr. Dion gave his stump speech to 100 people—50 inside, 50 listening from the parking lot—at another campaign office in another strip mall in the suburbs, a parade of sorts was going on outside.

A convoy of four pick-up trucks out-fitted with Conservative posters advertising the local candidate—Richard Lorello—drove back and forth in front of the plaza, horns hocking, drivers and passengers shouting their support for Mr. Harper. The local constabulary eventually stepped in, seemingly on account of the traffic that was being blocked by this little celebration of partisanship.

The cavalry came in the form of seven sign-waving Conservatives on foot, who positioned themselves on the sidewalk and proceeded to add their voices to democracy.

When the crowd dispersed from Dion’s speech there did appear to be something of a chant-off between the two sides, but otherwise the evening apparently passed without incident.

The Final Days: Newmarket

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 4:26 PM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

This afternoon’s stop at a rather palatial community centre north of Toronto included guest appearances by Belinda Stronach and, traveling separately, a dozen protesters carrying signs upon which were written slogans that corresponded neatly with Conservative party talking points. One wore a poorly fitting hockey jersey. Another insisted on holding his sign upside down (better to express his objection to the carbon tax perhaps).

Mr. Dion and the local candidate strolled around the community centre, flanked by two young girls sporting leather caps and feather boas, with the Liberal leader’s surname painted on their faces. The two politicians talked hockey while overlooking an ice rink, then stopped to pick up some popcorn from the refreshment stand. In keeping with his commitment to a proper social safety net, Mr. Dion gave his to a group of children.

The Final Days: Orillia

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 1:23 PM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

Another casual but scripted stroll, this time through a farmer’s market in downtown Orillia. Midday crowd was courteous and keen. People stood seven-deep to watch Mr. Dion give a short press conference. 

The candidate clapped along with a three-piece band of long-haired children (one girl on piano, another on violin, the brother on guitar, their nouveau hippie father encouraging them on), accepted some gourmet dog biscuits and chatted with a woman selling tomatoes.

The crowd cheered his answers to reporters’ questions. And when one correspondent suggested Mr. Dion might not be prime minister on Wednesday morning, the crowd booed. Dion admonished them to respect freedom of the press.

“It wasn’t this big when that other guy came… that guy from New Brunswick,” a woman standing behind a vegetable stand remarked to her friend. “What was his name?”

She and the friend conferred, eventually seeming to recall the mystery politician.

“Brian Tobin,” the woman concluded.

Duceppe: French for without shame

By Andrew Coyne - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 12:07 PM - 0 Comments

Duceppe called Harper’s comments a “low blow” during a radio interview in Montreal…

“I think it’s just unacceptable to criticize Mr. Dion’s English,” Duceppe said….

“Anything that touches on the quality of Mr. Dion’s English are low blows.

Hmmm… Now where did I see… I seem to recall… Yes, here it is, thanks to alert reader ST:

[T]he Bloc leader also acknowledged Layton put on a strong performance in the English debate, but appeared to feel pity when discussing Dion.

“He really had trouble with his English,” Duceppe said, shaking his head

I know, it looks like shameless hypocrisy. But maybe he just misunderstood the question.

BTC: The best election blog not affiliated with this website

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 9:49 AM - 0 Comments

Here.

BTC: No props

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 12:00 AM - 0 Comments

Here is this week’s magazine piece. It wasn’t quite Lincoln-Douglas, but Raitt-Turner has a distinct and delightful edge to it. The concession call on election night—whichever side is phoning the other—should be broadcast nationally.

The acoustics here are wild. Can you hear the Ekos? (34-26-19-11-10)

By Paul Wells - Friday, October 10, 2008 at 10:27 PM - 0 Comments

Conservatives up down two, Liberals down up two, all your hopes and fears line up in rows and columns here.

The Final Days: Brampton

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 10, 2008 at 9:31 PM - 0 Comments

(From now through the end of the campaign next week, I’ll be with the Liberal tour. Regular reports should appear here irregularly.)

“Alors,” he said.

“Alors!” the crowd called back.

“Bonsoir tout le monde,” he continued.

“Bonsoir tout le monde!” they cheered.

Jean Chretien had only just begun. 

A few caveats. The former prime minister’s popularity is generally over-stated. In 1993, he won his first mandate with 41.2% of the vote. Four years later, 38.5%. Three years after that, 40.9%. For sure, the current prime minister would be thrilled to see such support on Tuesday night, but these are not the numbers of a popular phenomenon. Hindsight may flatter his political skills, but Chretienmania this was not.

That said, in Mr. Chretien’s case, all objective analysis cannot refute what is obvious and apparent. Continue…