Here we go again...Tory attacks ads.

[capricorn]

CPC should want to go against a man so politically damaged like Bob Rae..

Looks to me Bob Rae thinks he has the royal jelly to lead the Liberal Party.

these attack ads make it

more likely some one maybe stronger will win liberal leadership nomination..

Like...who?

this will backfire on them in the end

Well then, the opposition and their supporters have nothing to worry about.

[stopstaaron]

Looks to me Bob Rae thinks he has the royal jelly to lead the Liberal Party.

Like...who?

Well then, the opposition and their supporters have nothing to worry about.

If Rae becomes leader it will surely kill the liberal party and the Ndp will be the party which benefits

instead of the cpc (just my opinion from family members, friends etc)

I don't know anyone who would vote for a party led by Rae

[capricorn]

If Rae becomes leader it will surely kill the liberal party

That's not at all clear to me. The Conservatives are working on the assumptions that 1) Bob Rae will become the permanent leader and 2) the Liberals will replace the NDP as official opposition in 2015.

and the Ndp will be the party which benefits

instead of the cpc (just my opinion from family members, friends etc)

I wouldn't form my opinion on the musings of my family members and friends. They've led me down the garden path once too many times.

I don't know anyone who would vote for a party led by Rae

Perhaps you and I don't know what makes Liberals tick.

[Topaz]

let's face the facts, take Rae past as Premier and his down falls and put them up against Harper's and Harper get the prize for highest deficit for a Canadian leader, most unemployment, only PM charged with contempt of Parliament, the in and out scheme, being charged with breaking EC rules and plead bargaining, so Tory senator doesn't go to jail, bribing an MP for votes, and the list goes on and if Harper wants to play dirt, Harper's history of leadership will wipe out anything they say about either of the opposition party leaders. If this is what Tory supporters want in a leader, then when Harper loses, he can go back to Alberta and become the Premier, and his supporters will make him King and all other Tories living outside of Alberta can follow him there.

[Bryan]

The opposition and the media have been barraging the Conservatives with a constant onslaught of ridiculous allegations, I see nothing wrong with them coming back with a little reminder for Canadians of what their alternatives are. They speak to three levels of supporters. It rallies the base, for sure. It also reaches out to all Ontario voters regardless of their affiliations. This is important when you consider there will be several more seats to vie for in Ontario soon. It also reaches out to the "soft" CPC vote, people who might be swayed by the fake scandalettes. They are reminded that even if you don't really like us all that much, just remember things would be a lot worse with the other guy.

CPC should want to go against a man so politically damaged like Bob Rae.. these attack ads make it

more likely some one maybe stronger will win liberal leadership nomination..

The ads work to define Rae both with the Canadian electorate and his party. It sows dissent within Liberal ranks. If Rae wins the leadership, he's already been Dion'ed, and will be a lame duck before he starts. If not, each successive Liberal leader will still likely have a shorter rope than the last. If your three consecutive TOP guys have all been dispatched (each more easily than the last), how much confidence will you have when a guy that's NOT your top choice is in the top job? The knives will be pre-sharpened.

this will backfire on them in the end

If you believe that, you should be encouraging more of it.

[Jack Weber]

The opposition and the media have been barraging the Conservatives with a constant onslaught of ridiculous allegations, I see nothing wrong with them coming back with a little reminder for Canadians of what their alternatives are. They speak to three levels of supporters. It rallies the base, for sure. It also reaches out to all Ontario voters regardless of their affiliations. This is important when you consider there will be several more seats to vie for in Ontario soon. It also reaches out to the "soft" CPC vote, people who might be swayed by the fake scandalettes. They are reminded that even if you don't really like us all that much, just remember things would be a lot worse with the other guy.

The ads work to define Rae both with the Canadian electorate and his party. It sows dissent within Liberal ranks. If Rae wins the leadership, he's already been Dion'ed, and will be a lame duck before he starts. If not, each successive Liberal leader will still likely have a shorter rope than the last. If your three consecutive TOP guys have all been dispatched (each more easily than the last), how much confidence will you have when a guy that's NOT your top choice is in the top job? The knives will be pre-sharpened.

If you believe that, you should be encouraging more of it.

Goody!

Then I suppose you'll be scratching another cheque very soon to reward them for a "job well done"?

[WWWTT]

That's not at all clear to me. The Conservatives are working on the assumptions that 1) Bob Rae will become the permanent leader and 2) the Liberals will replace the NDP as official opposition in 2015.

Very interesting theory.

The first part is like telling your enemy what you plan on doing in time for them to foil your sinister plot(as in a comic book or Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon program)

And the second part is very wishfull thinking to the point of fantasy.In other words its never going to happen.

Usually good theories are plased in more reality and/or logic.

WWWTT

[Keepitsimple]

Here's some thoughts:

1) The Budget is coming next week. In spite of the Liberals being in third place, old Bob is the most effective critic in the House.....so the attack goes to the heart of his credibility as a critic.

2) If the criticisms gain traction, the Libs might go into panic mode and start fighting again thinking they'll never win back power with Rae - pitting Rae supporters against the rest. He may have to declare once and for all that he won't run.

3) If Rae continues to waffle, the ground will be seeded for the next election - when he's 67 or 68 years old.

Persnally, I think it's a short term ploy to wreck his credibility as a budget critic......and then just a bunch of mischief to sow discontent in the Liberal Party.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Keepitsimple

[Bryan]

Goody!

Then I suppose you'll be scratching another cheque very soon to reward them for a "job well done"?

I haven't donated in a while, but this move has certainly made me consider that it might be time.

[capricorn]

Then I suppose you'll be scratching another cheque very soon to reward them for a "job well done"?

Actually Jack, that is exactly the kind of effort that will motivate the Conservative base to send in supplementary donations. You know as well as I money talks and gets things done. What the opposition needs to do is work harder to raise funds. Where are the 60% who didn't vote Conservative and what are they waiting for to open their wallets?

[capricorn]

I haven't donated in a while, but this move has certainly made me consider that it might be time.

I've been discarding requests for a donation since the last time I sent in a cheque. Learning about the anti-Rae ad motivates me to donate again. Funny that.

[WLDB]

Actually Jack, that is exactly the kind of effort that will motivate the Conservative base to send in supplementary donations. You know as well as I money talks and gets things done. What the opposition needs to do is work harder to raise funds. Where are the 60% who didn't vote Conservative and what are they waiting for to open their wallets?

And the 38% that didn't vote at all.

[Shakeyhands]

I've been discarding requests for a donation since the last time I sent in a cheque. Learning about the anti-Rae ad motivates me to donate again. Funny that.

Me too!

[Bryan]

I've been discarding requests for a donation since the last time I sent in a cheque. Learning about the anti-Rae ad motivates me to donate again. Funny that.

That certainly is one of the purposes of such ad campaigns.

[capricorn]

Me too!

Good for you Shakey. You're putting your money where your mouth is and I respect that.

[capricorn]

And the 38% that didn't vote at all.

Maybe they just don't care.

[eyeball]

Maybe they just don't care.

A lot have simply lost their faith.

[cybercoma]

Liberals are accusing Olivia Chow of telling voters not to vote liberal and was kicked out from being near the polling station

now people are tweeting seeing Olivia Chow at a subway station telling people to vote ndp lol

I heard she was on a disposable cellphone setting up robocalls too.

[Battletoads]

The cons already realize that running on the record won't work.

[mentalfloss]

Agreed. And any adds run attacking another candidate should be accurate. This add makes it seem as though Rae will make a run for the permanent leadership then lead the party into the 2015 election. He may or may not. This add doesnt acknowledge that fact.

I would go one step further and ban all ads that comment on other parties.

We should be forcing parties to advertise their accomplishments and not the failings of others.

[Shakeyhands]

I figure that the CPC are VERY worried about Rae catching on, there really is no other plausible explanation as to running this ad right now.

All of this nonsense about his Premiership is just that, nonsense. Take this thread for example, it's mostly the Booster Club™ that seems to be crowing about how unelectable he is.

I like the ad though, his chuckle makes me laugh every time I watch it.

[WWWTT]

I figure that the CPC are VERY worried about Rae catching on, there really is no other plausible explanation as to running this ad right now.

All of this nonsense about his Premiership is just that, nonsense. Take this thread for example, it's mostly the Booster Club™ that seems to be crowing about how unelectable he is.

I like the ad though, his chuckle makes me laugh every time I watch it.

I agree with your reasons behind the add.And the only way to attack Rae is through his time as premier of Ontario.

I would add that this approach by the conservatives is risky!They are opening a can of worms that could come back to haunt the conservative brand in several different ways.

This is why I think the conservatives are very worried,they must be aware of the risks when they open this can of worms,but they still think that it is worth the risk.Desperate actions from desperate people.

WWWTT

[capricorn]

Warren Kinsella's very honest opinion of the Rae ad.

The ads are pretty good, as these things go. They cite unhelpful things about Rae’s record as the NDP premier of Ontario, and they end it with the obvious tagline: “He couldn’t run a province. He can’t run Canada.”

That’s the main criticism that can be made of Bob Rae, of course, and you’re going to be hearing a lot of it in the months ahead. Under his watch, Ontario became an economic basket case — unemployment and welfare rates way up, growth and investment way down.

The purpose of attack ads is to surface feelings voters already have about a politician. Rae, Canadians suspect, makes wildly spending drunken sailors look like paragons of fiscal probity.

The Con ads will remind voters about Rae’s record and voters will vote accordingly.

It worked with Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, and it’ll work even better with Rae: He has a record in government that can be attacked. Heck, it deserves to be attacked.

Some voters were not around during Rae's days. Ads like these provide information they would not otherwise know.

And about Rae's dream of becoming permanent leader.

A few weeks ago, one of his Toronto loyalists summoned some former Michael Ignatieff staffers to a meeting. Rae walked in and said, “I’m running for leader.”

That’s not all. Rae and his apparatchiks are doing their utmost to ensure that no other Liberal gets a fair shot at running for leader.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/19/stick-fork-in-grits-theyre-done

When will Rae come clean publicly and end this charade?

[mentalfloss]

The more the cons and libs bash each other's heads in, the more they'll be putting themselves at a disadvantage.

Edited March 20, 2012 by mentalfloss

[WWWTT]

The more the cons and libs bash each other's heads in, the better this is for the NDP.

This is a strong thing worth mentioning too!

It appears the conservative party is worried about attacking the NDP for some reason?Or they can't or maybe they think it is too risky?Or perhaps they are by attacking Bob Rae when he was an NDPer.But this is odd and the only logical conclusion that I can draw from this action is that they are concerned about their support going back to the liberals.

WWWTT