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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Ups and Downs, Week One
Welcome to Ups and Downs, a new feature on Daifallah.com that will run for the duration of the election campaign (ie. 8 weeks) rating the the performances of the Conservative and Liberal campaigns. If you're wondering why I'm not doing the NDP and Bloc, it's because it would be too much work. Sorry. So here we go:
The Conservatives -- 7/10
Comments: Very positive start, nearly as good as the party could have hoped for. They controlled the dialogue each day, starting with Harper's excellent, upbeat speech to caucus after the confidence vote. The GST cut announcement has scored major points with the electorate -- it may not be sound economics, but its a vote-getter. Harper looks good. The campaign looks like a professionally-run operation. Announcing that Gurmant Grewal wasn't running only after the writ was dropped was strategically brilliant -- it went under everyone's radar and barely made news. If he had announced it last week, it would have been a two or three-day news story. Raising gay marriage on day one was questionable, but it may have been strategically smart. Harper now has gotten the issue out of the way. I did not deduct points for this move but if he continues to raise it every week I will.
Why points were removed: A few mistakes were made, but none were serious. He should have answered the reporter who asked the question of "Do you love Canada?" with a simple "Yes." He and MacKay got their communication mixed up on the public prosecutor announcement. In Quebec City on Wednesday morning, Harper did not know the names of his own candiates who were standing behind him at the podium, prompting a front-page headline news story about it Thursday in Le Soleil, Quebec City's newspaper. This is especially bad given that the party actually has a shot to win a seat here.
The Liberals -- 4/10
Comments: Very surprising week from the normally polished and professional Liberal camp. No innovative or interesting policy planks announced, just bluster and fear-mongering. Worst moment of the week was when Martin looked like a deer caught in headlights after Harper's GST announcement. His reaction was inexcusable. Rumours had flown around for months that the Tories were considering doing this. Martin had nothing smart to say in response to the news at his press conference. The announcement of Marc Garneau as a candidate in the Bloc-held riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges garnered surprisingly less media hype than I thought it would. Michael Ignatieff's "star" candidacy in Etobicoke-Lakeshore has so far been an unmitigated disaster. It could have been a worse week, but not much.
Why points were removed: All of the above. They ceded the headlines to Harper every day of the week. If this is a deliberate strategy, it seems like a silly one.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:47 PM
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