A friend was visiting on the weekend from Washington, D.C. This person works for a member of the Bush administration cabinet, so it was a particularly good time for him to visit because of the ongoing election campaign. He had some interesting perspectives on it all. Two comments that I remember off the top of my head:
1. He could not believe the low quality of the campaign ads, especially the new Liberal hit job attempting to scare voters about Stephen Harper. The ad is far too busy, attempting to spew out too much information in too short a time, he said. It is rushed and overwhelming, leaving the listener with no memorable sound-bite. (My friend also thought the ad was outdated and unoriginal in its style, calling it something he'd have seen in U.S. elections "circa 1985.")
2. He noted that the bar has been set far too high for Stephen Harper in the debates. The media has built Harper up in such a way that anything short of a stellar performance will be seen as a failure. Similarly, expectations for Martin have been so dumbed down that anything better than a flop will be seen as a good or even stellar effort.
This is someone with an outsiders's take who's been through a lot of campaigns, so his opinions are particularly valuable.
(As an aside, he could not believe how polite people here are. We attended a Blue Jays game yesterday, and when Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson was yanked from the game the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He said that would never happen in the U.S.)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:58 AM
