Counterpunch
March 31, 2011
Ignatieff has his counter-ad, now:
Does it remind you of this?
Curious to know whether it’ll work.
We’ll see, I suppose.
Categories: I am Canadian!, Political prognostication, Re-litigating history
Scott Feschuck stole my line about the coalition putting fluoride in the water!
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/04/01/stephen-harper%E2%80%99s-lessons-in-strategery/
As one of those 2 million Canadians, I agree entirely with the message of this ad. It doesn’t give me a reason to vote Liberal if I wasn’t already though.
Of course I wasn’t going to vote Liberal anyway, so it’s probably not targeted at me.
I think this ad fails on two levels:
By responding to the Conservative attack, it keeps that attack top of mind, which is bad for the Liberals.
By identifying 2 million Canadians who live abroad, he is unintentionally differentiating himself from that group. Its not living outside Canada that is the problem, its that he appeared to PREFER doing so. Its not coming back that’s at issue, its that it appears his sole motivation to return was because he thought he could become prime minister, and that he wouldn’t demean himself to return for any less than that job. This is bad for the Liberals.
Of course, I’m not in the swing voter target for this ad, so maybe it works for them. But if I were in the Liberal war room, I’d have suggested staying well clear. Never let the other guy drive the communications agenda or you’ve lost before you begin…
Oh wait, is this an elaborate April fool’s joke? Is that really an Ignatieff look-alike? Somehow that would make more sense…
No, it’s real.
Soon as I saw it, I thought of Mike Dukakis’s ad. But I’m not a fair judge. That’s why I asked.
Near as I can tell, Liberals like it, Conservatives make fun of it. Swing voters, who knows?
Does anyone seriously believe that Ignatieff’s motive for returning was something other than the desire to become PM? Of course, why he wanted to become PM, whether to help or change the country, or purely for power or prestige, seems open to legitimate debate.
It’s pretty clear that that’s why he came back, yes. Which is why the ads worked. People feel strongly about that sort of thing — I don’t, as I guess I’m more his type, but other Canadians do.
Every time, I’m surprised that these lines play, but I guess that shows that the CPC ad guys focus-group well. Same as in the 2008 crisis — the message came from the grassroots and the leadership then ran with it.