"...[The War Room] has plenty of fascinating insights and is a must-read for political junkies."
- The Toronto Sun
"Warren Kinsella’s new book is a must-read for anyone interested in political campaigning in Canada. And not just political campaigning."
- The Literary Review of Canada
"The War Room is a rich, detailed, and substantive primer on how to run a winning war room - warts, pizza boxes, smelly couches and all - from a master war roomer."
- The Hill Times
"Kinsella has crafted a handy little guide for politicos and non-politicos alike. Just keep it away from the kids."
- The Winnipeg Free Press
"... a great read ... full of fascinating stories..."
- John Moore, CFRB
"...I don't want to say [he's a] genius...but there's valuable insights here..."
What a bloody fool. Can you imagine the Con braying and screeching if Dalton McGuinty had said he had his “foot on the throat” of his principal opponent? You’d never hear the end of it. “That’s not how a Premier speaks,” they’d say.
And they’d be right. Tim Hudak lost because he couldn’t present a positive vision for Ontario’s future. He lost because he launched vicious attacks on “foreigners” and gays and lesbians. He lost because he allowed his party to be taken over by far-right Landowner extremists.
But the main reason he lost is because no one can picture a smirking adolescent as the Premier of our biggest province. Because no one could imagine handing power over to a frat boy who talks about putting his foot on his opponent’s throat.
Walk like a Premier, talk like a Premier. This child doesn’t do either.
No, they’re not. They suck, in fact. In the book-to-come, I discuss how progressives have let conservatives get away with claiming they’re better at managing dollars. Among other things, progressives need to tell that story, over and over.
UPDATE: Here’s a tweaked graphic, sent along by FB friend Carolyn Weatherson. And one commenter, Joseph Angolano, writes: “The Canadian numbers add up to the same conclusion. Flaherty was the first Con Finance Minister to post a balanced budget since 1912. He then promptly started posting deficits since. Moreover, Canada maintained its AAA rating until Mulroney came to power. Conservatives suck with finances. Always have, always will.”
Anyone want to take stab at an all-Canadian version of this?
UPDATED: From sharp-eyed commenter Jennifer Smith:
My party is (a) still mired in third place and is (b) still nearly 20 points back of the Cons and is (c) still behind the NDP, who do not have a leader.
Like I say, I’m dense. Perhaps someone will fill me in on the way to the celebrations. Thanks.
As per the Wendy Sullivan/Right Girl post below, we’re looking for the Conservative candidate for Scarborough Southwest, Vincent Veera, for a legal matter.
He calls it the 98 per cent, but the message is the same: the rich should pay more. Ironically, I spent part of this week interviewing Occupiers at the last Occupy encampment in Canada, in Harbourfront Park in St. John’s. Their message, too, is all about the 99 per cent – that a minority control have a major share, while the majority are left with a minority of the wealth.
All of this is basically what my next book is about, and I hereby demand that the President give me royalties for stealing my ideas for the SOTU. It’s why he’s going to win again, after all.
Words
