For what its worth, because I've given up trying to figure out whether my personal take on these things matches that of Joe 6-Pack, but other than for the specific reference to "Dutch Disease" (which is not in the French version) this could be about any NDP leader of the past 30 years. This says to me that the CPoC hasn't quite found Mulcair's Achilles Heel yet, the way they were able to successfully tag Iggy with the "elitist" label.
Mulcair knows that Harper successfully bullied Iggy and Dion. Basically, they were portrayed by the Conservatives as whiny, effeminate wimps. And, well, they actually were, in my opinion. Propping up Harper did that to them.
The voice on the ad is all wrong. It's whiny and wimpy. Having positions, in politics, is a good thing, voter wise. So you have to be very careful on how you attack a politician's positions. It was a lot easier to attack Dion's political positions only because the Conservatives laid the groundwork by beating up his character. And it paid dividends: do you think the coalition would have failed to take power if Harper hadn't laid the groundwork to define Dion as goofy wimpy professor shrimpleton from Quebec?
Same thing with Iggy. Iggy misunderstood the effectiveness of character assassination. He thought that if he just didn't have any clearly defined policies, Harper would find it hard to attack him. No.
If they want to attack Mulcair, they need to emphasize his short physical stature, his Quebec-ness, and his inexperience. They'd do better to avoid policy for now.
Go for the beard. Do the Heartland routine. Ubabomber? Has beard. Castro? Has beard. Ayatollah? Has beard. Ad voiceover: Do you really want the guy with the beard?
And he's apparently short too. I never realized that. Short angry guy with beard, plus French citizen = obvious security threat. Stop him now before he explodes in HOC when we're negotiating a deal with the Gauls over escargot imports.
Mulcair knows that Harper successfully bullied Iggy and Dion. Basically, they were portrayed by the Conservatives as whiny, effeminate wimps. And, well, they actually were, in my opinion. Propping up Harper did that to them.
ReplyDeleteThe voice on the ad is all wrong. It's whiny and wimpy. Having positions, in politics, is a good thing, voter wise. So you have to be very careful on how you attack a politician's positions. It was a lot easier to attack Dion's political positions only because the Conservatives laid the groundwork by beating up his character. And it paid dividends: do you think the coalition would have failed to take power if Harper hadn't laid the groundwork to define Dion as goofy wimpy professor shrimpleton from Quebec?
Same thing with Iggy. Iggy misunderstood the effectiveness of character assassination. He thought that if he just didn't have any clearly defined policies, Harper would find it hard to attack him. No.
If they want to attack Mulcair, they need to emphasize his short physical stature, his Quebec-ness, and his inexperience. They'd do better to avoid policy for now.
Go for the beard. Do the Heartland routine. Ubabomber? Has beard. Castro? Has beard. Ayatollah? Has beard.
ReplyDeleteAd voiceover: Do you really want the guy with the beard?
But then there's Jesus with a beard. Oops.
And he's apparently short too. I never realized that. Short angry guy with beard, plus French citizen = obvious security threat. Stop him now before he explodes in HOC when we're negotiating a deal with the Gauls over escargot imports.
ReplyDeleteHarper's Chicken Little Party attack ads = boring and, reek of desperation.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for this: "Thomas Mulcair wears a beard. You know who else wears a beard? Satan."
ReplyDelete