The media sure can overlook shit when they put their minds to it. If they really, really want to pretend that something isn't happening, they can just click their keyboards three times and ... "poof," it magically isn't happening.The Toronto Star is a good case in point for how this works. It always have been, actually, but I get the paper for free at work, and their propensity for journalistic make-believe never ceases to amuse me. It's like be addicted to meth. I know that it isn't good for me, but I just can't bring myself to stop doing it. And, as you likely know, the best meth of all is free meth.
As I've mentioned before, the Conservative Party of Canada has decided to make an issue of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's award-winning role in "Around the World in
However, somebody is paying the folks at the Star. I couldn't tell you why they are, but they are. That's why you don't see people with bad trousers and haircuts on the street with "Will write pyramid stories for food" signs. And that disappoints me enormously because some people really should be starving to death in the street.
This headline to an article by Bruce Campion-Smith says it all, really. "Tory attack ads backfiring, poll finds."
The problem with the headline is that the poll doesn't show that the attack ads are backfiring, as evidenced by the very first paragraph of Campion-Smith's article.
The Conservatives' biting partisan attack ads aimed at Michael IgnatieffHere's the thing about the English language: words tend to have very precise meanings. And the meaning of "backfiring" in this context is that they would have no negative effect on Ignatieff at all. If in fact "42 per cent of poll respondents said their opinion of Ignatieff worsened after seeing the ad about the Liberal leader," then they clearly are having an effect, and a fairly profound one at that.
are taking a toll – on Prime Minister Stephen Harper as well as the Liberal
leader, according to a new poll.
The Toronto Star/Angus Reid survey shows the Liberals have a two-point lead
nationwide and are making gains in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec,
provinces that will be key in the next election.
(...)
Election speculation has ramped up in recent weeks, fuelled by opposition
demands to reform employment insurance, and the Conservatives' own ad campaign
that attacks Ignatieff's 34 years abroad.
However, while 42 per cent of poll respondents said their opinion of
Ignatieff worsened after seeing the ad about the Liberal leader, 50 per cent
said their opinion of Harper also worsened.
While the ad attempts to portray Ignatieff as an arrogant elitist,
Canadians actually think Harper is the more arrogant, said Mario Canseco,
vice-president of Angus Reid Strategies. And the reaction of the respondents who
watched Ignatieff's rebuttal – airing on YouTube – was "remarkably
positive."
Are Harper's numbers taking a hit too? Sure they are. But they guy launching an attack always takes an initial hit for "going negative." That only really matters if both candidates are equally unknown or the attacks are demonstrably false. Neither is true in this case.
Stephen Harper has been a party leader for seven years and prime minister for three. He's already been defined and he got elected anyway. People don't seem to mind that he's a spendthrift and a murderous cyborg all that much. As a matter of fact, people seem to like that he's a prick.
Michael Ignatieff is another story altogether. He's done such a piss-poor job of defining himself that the Tories have decided to do it for him. If they do a good enough job of it, you'll see the numbers change fast. And Harper has only begun to define Iggy. That's what he meant when he said, "I cannot fire the Leader of the Opposition and with all the tapes I have on him, I do not want to."
Ignatieff's time in Britain and the United States is so far a "non-issue"A great response that nobody's seeing? Yeah, I'd say that's a problem. A big one, even.
for voters, Canseco said.
The big problem for Ignatieff is that the Conservative ads are reaching
a wide audience on television while the Liberal response has limited viewers on
the Internet.
So how's an election looking, if one were being held right now, which it isn't and won't be?
The poll reveals that the Liberals have support of 33 per cent of voters
nationally, the Conservatives have 31 per cent, the NDP 17 per cent, Bloc
Québécois 9 per cent and Green party 7 per cent.
It also shows the Liberals have a 7-point lead over the Conservatives
in Ontario (43 per cent to 36 per cent). In B.C., the Liberals are in second
place behind the Conservatives (45 to 26). In Quebec, the Liberals trail the
Bloc by just three points (36 to 33) with Conservatives far behind at 10 per
cent.
That's right, a three point national lead. Three whole points.
Folks, all Canadian elections are decided on the economy. And like the rest of the world, ours started unravelling eight months ago. Everybody in this country has either lost their job or they're terrified that they will. The only way the Liberals could have a better electoral atmosphere is if Harper is convicted of a rape.
And where are we now? Ignatieff's negatives are going up, Harper's are well below where they should be given the economy ... and the Liberals lead by three whole points.
If an election was being held today, Harper would lose because Harper deserves to lose. In fact, the entire Conservative Party should be destroyed in a way that only Timothy McViegh could understand. What happened to the old Progressive Conservatives is merely a good place start when having a reasonable discussion about what should happen to the new Tories. But there isn't an election today because the fucking Liberals are determined to dick around on YouTube.
They can't afford to run the race they want yet, so they'll stand around looking stupid until Michael Ignatieff is made to more closely resemble Ottis Toole than Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know why those assholes are only up by three points, that's as good a place to start as any.
For the life of me, I can't figure out what Bruce Campion-Smith is saying. On the other hand, I also can't figure out why a real man would have a hyphenated last name.
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