Notes from north of 49ºN
I remember how my parents said that RFK was accused of being a carpetbagger, coming to New York to become a US Senator in 1964. Now that Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, finds his Conservative Party down in the polls by 5% {35-30%}, attack ads are being run tantamount to accusing the Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, of being a Canadian “outsider.” The ads accuse Ignatieff of coming back to Canada after being gone for 34 years::
The Conservatives are really slipping in the polls in Québec, so you think they would come up with a more engaging attack ad than this one in French.
This one paints Ignatieff as a carpetbagging opportunist, living in the UK and referring to himself as American::
The Liberals may be further undermined by attacks from the Bloc Québécois in Québec, which has 24% of the population in Canada. Support for the Bloc is upwards of 40% in Québec, while Liberal support in the province is around 35%.
I find the anglophone ads to be rather effective at conveying the frame of Ignatieff as a elitist outsider. I agree with the pundits that Harper is fighting for his political life and managed to get into a feud with Brian Mulroney, a conservative blast from the past. Conservatism seems to be lacking cohesiveness on both sides of 49ºN.
While another Federal election is unlikely in the near term, it’s likely to pressure uneasy alliances between the Conservatives, the Bloc, and even the left-leaning NDP {read:: concessions by Harper?}.
HatTip:: LinnyQat
Twitterversion:: Harper {Tories} attcks Ignatieff {Grits} on nationalism frame. H. fighting 4 political life, Grits gaining. Strange bedfellows in store?
Song:: Jay-Z “Takeover”
Comments 4
Chico — May 18, 2009
Political parties should not be allowed to run any ads outside of the election cycle. This is ridiculous. I hope it backfires on the Conservatives and when we have our next election (which should be any minute now), the Cons go down in flames for playing these inane games.
As to the potential for alliances, I hope the Cons attempt such an alliance, then their hypocrisy will be blatant to the morons who bitched about the "unholy" alliance of December 2008 (even though it should have been evident, given that the Cons entered such an alliance back when the Liberals were in power).
In the matter of Iggy's leadership, he's certainly a better candidate than the former Liberal leader was and I'm not troubled by the fact he was not a resident of Canada for a prolonged time. I think it's important to get out and see what other alternatives there are in the world and it actually makes him a better leader than Sweater Man.
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