07.12.2011 07:59 AM

What the media say about Hudak’s “plan” – the TV ad

When Fratboy Tim stops telling lies about us, we’ll stop telling the truth about him.

42 Comments

  1. RN200 says:

    “The Media”? More like “An Interesting Subset of the Media”. Nice try though.

  2. Tiger says:

    Slightly o/t — there’s no requirement for a “this message was paid for by X” disclaimer in provincial political advertising?

    Not that this one’s hidden — it’s on the Ontario Liberal Party YouTube channel.

    Interesting.

    • Cath says:

      I was looking for that also Tiger.
      Have also noticed that neither Dalton McGuinty’s name or picture is on the current Liberal ads. That too is interesting for a couple of reasons I’ll keep to myself, but interesting just the same.

  3. Mulletaur says:

    Good stuff.

  4. Lipman says:

    A bloody good ad. I love it.

  5. Lord Kitchener says:

    I suggest that statistics resonate more than rhetoric with voters. The OLP must also use the quantitative ammunition available in their attack ads — in addition to these useful quotes from the media (a nice widespread sample). It is also important to look at these ads in context of the broader media strategy.

    The Libs have the messaging, they just need to pick the right message for the right medium better. For example, the messaging below needs to be broadcast to a wider audience, and are worth the advertising dollars.

    Over the last six years, Liberals invested 60 per cent more in infrastructure than the PC and NDP governments combined over the course of 13 years.

    OLP built 18 new hospitals and 400 new schools. The PCs closed 28 hospitals and 500 schools – and the $14 billion hole in their platform means they’ll do it again.

    OLP infrastructure plan has created and supported 600,000 jobs for families. The NDP opposed these investments. And Tim Hudak said – during the depths of the global recession – that investing in infrastructure and creating jobs for struggling families isn’t the right approach. (TVO’s The Agenda, March 31, 2009)

    • DB Smith says:

      Can we as voters in Ontario assume that this is a partisan postings, that is intended to confuse the issues at hand with misinformation and disinformation.

      I ask this question as you have made several claims that are not supported by any links, and I would ask if perhaps you might consider providing documents or links that support what you have written as I have not been able to locate any supporting data that provides support for your comments on any Government of Ontario Website.

  6. Blair says:

    This isn’t as shameful as the other ads.

  7. Josh says:

    It astounds me that such weak arguments is used as reasoning for why a political figure is bad. Don’t like a guy? Fine but actually bring some solid reasoning and arguments together rather than the use of a video with a horrifically put together string argument based on the two or three words from 5 or 6 papers. If I were to do that for an academic paper in a university class, I would not only fail but I would get laughed out of the program.

    • Warren says:

      Con concern troll alert!

      • DB Smith says:

        I would point out to Mr. Kinsella, that using negative ads that feature the faces of individuals in this manner can be taken by the voters in a manner not intended by the Party and that those who throw stones in glass houses on behalf of politicial parties should be concerned and careful about labels as it has been known to come back around to bit them.

        Photoshopping an image, might just meet that standard.

        Case in point.

        During the 1993 Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservative Party produced a televised attack ad against Jean Chrétien, the Liberal leader. The ad (sometimes referred to as the “face ad”) was perceived by many as a focus on Chrétien’s facial deformity, caused by Bell’s palsy.

        The resulting outcry is considered to be an example of voter backlash from negative campaigning

    • Lord Kitchener says:

      Whatever man, every time a “Hudak-Snear-Photo” is shown, it costs his party votes because he makes babies cry and cats hiss

  8. Leroy says:

    I have at one time or another voted for all 4 political parties. Frankly it pisses me off that the Conservatives (who I voted for in 07) feel perfectly OK today to use negative attack adds but when the Liberals fight back with hardly the venom we see pouring from Tory adds, Tory defenders come out in hordes.

    I prefer honesty and integity that’s why I voted last time around for John Tory. Tim Hudak is no John Tory

    • Josh says:

      So it pisses you off that the Conservatives use those negative ads, but its ok for the Liberals to do it because the Conservatives did it first? Solid logic…

      • Well yeah, your federal guys went down to 2 seats and reconstituted themselves only to re-emerge and promise to hold themselves to a higher standard only to readily confess every real or imagined sin of the Liberals.

        Your provincial party, locked out by 2 massive Liberal majorities, are taking a page from that and the Ford Nation comic book by telling the in-betweeners to vote for a plan that doesn’t hold water. (The two outside consultant reports released so far on the city’s finances show there’s really no fat to cut. Yes, some program funding could be cut but not without a real downside and pain to the city. Voter remorse?)

        Jeffrey Simpson had one of the earliest and best analysis of Mr. Hudak’s math – voters should look closely at those numbers and the situation in Toronto.

        The PC ads don’t speak to the specifics of Ontario’s finances, they inflame rather than inform, which begs a question,

        Which provincial programs will your guys cut to deliver on their promises?

      • Chris says:

        Read carefully: It pisses him off when the Cons cry like babies over mild Liberal ads yet have no problem smearing monkey feces across the face of Canada in their own ads.

        This is playground level stuff here – dish it out if you want, but be prepared to take it when it’s your turn.

        • DB Smith says:

          Speaking about monkeys, playgrounds, feces, Liberals, dishing it out and such.

          Case in point, about meeting the standard of monkeys, playgrounds, feces, dishing it out and such – there is always the Liberal ad about Guns and soldiers on the streets of our cities.

          The ad, which was briefly posted on the Liberal website, features an ominous drumbeat underneath a voice-over that says:

          “Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada.” and that we (the LPC) would not makes this up.

          While this did not run as ad, this is my personal choice for the best attack does go to Mr. Kinsella for his Barney doll and speaking about Day – that was priceless and the more it ran on the news cycle it destroyed what creditability that Day might have had left with Canadians.

    • The Doctor says:

      “in hordes”?

      wtf?

  9. nic coivert says:

    Hmm, it certainly does make Hudak unlikeable, but some of the audio clips, especially the first one, sounded over-acted and therefore childish or weak. Destroying the opponent before he becomes known has been a successful tactic recently, hope it works.

  10. Darcy Stober says:

    I personally think fair is fair…..the Conservatives used attack ads and the Libs have every right to respond. That being said….I’ll take Hudak over “The Taxman” any day. Stick a fork in Dalton…he’s done…..he knows it……the Libs are desperate. Whatever they do…..it won’t help. The people of Ontario have already decided that enough is enough of Dalton and they’ve totally tuned him, his party, and his message out. If he was really proud of his record…Dalton would face the heat and put his face front and centre in his ads but of course…no can do. One flash of his royal smugness and the poll numbers will go south even faster than they already are. I can’t wait for the televised debate……unless the Liberals come up with something really creative, he has to show his face at that. Should be great tv and that should pretty much doom the Libs.

    Looking forward to a new non-Liberal government come October…….

    • Cath says:

      Ahhhh, but which party’s voters do these speak to in hopes that they’ll stay home on voting day? Are McGuinty’s cats already hissing a little too loudly and too often?
      Just asking.

  11. The Doctor says:

    Hey, as a non-Ontarian, I’m getting confused by all this talk, the ads, etc. Has the writ even dropped on this thing? I see a reference to the election being in October, which would seem to me to be an awfully long writ period if the writ has dropped.

    • SF Thomas says:

      The election is in October but the since the session at Queens Park has ended there is a bit of preemptive campaigning. The actual campaign will start around early September. The parties don’t want to be completely irrelevant over the summer and are trying to push their messages and make people think ahead of time. Just to mention though the PCs were the first ones to go throw negative ads, so their complaints don’t amount to much.

  12. Paul R Martin says:

    Hi Warren. I just saw the ad and noticed that on the Liberal website it is called “tough”. I would not use the word tough. I prefer the well used phrase phrase “American style attack ad”. Personally, I think that the voters have already made up their minds. As I realize that you have a really tough job to do and you are doing your very best, I will be making very few comments on your site about the upcoming Ontario election.

  13. Jim Hayes says:

    I think too many Consevatives here take the Ontario public for granted. I agree that there are issues with the Liberals, no political party can be perfect and god knows they have made their fair share of mistakes. But the very thought of allowing Mr, Harris , apologies I mean Mr. Hudak, to assume power in this province horrifies me.

    I went through hospital closures in 2000 with a very sick friend striken by cancer who had to be shuttled to differnet hospitals and who had a hell of a time finding nursing care; I struggled through the 8 years of Harris’s fights with teachers that kept my children out of school; I saw what downloading did to my city, the thought of having to go through that again should make Ontarians very scared.

    Dalton McGuinty has taken a lot of crap. He should he’s the leader and the mistakes of the Liberals are on him. But he is positively angelic when it comes time to consider the alternative.

    • RN200 says:

      You seriously don’t think that Dalton’s Libs have taken the Ontario public for granted?! That is THE reason they’re going to lose – they have no concept of who they actually work for.

    • SF Thomas says:

      Jim Hayes I hear you and I’m glad someone is thinking about it. I was a kid at the time back when Harris was duking it out with the teachers and I remember pretty clearly just how frustrated they were dealing with it. At my school in grade 2 and 3 we were having major budget problems just for basic school supplies due to the Harris cuts. We almost ran out of paper mid way through the year and the teachers had to scrounge for paper to make photocopies for handouts and homework sheets. It was honestly kind of surreal. One of the major reasons I didn’t begrudge my teachers for going on strike when they did that year. Due to lost time I also ended up having to return for some extra time into my summer vacation.

      I also didn’t like the provincial to municipal infrastructure downloading either. The liberals have actually re-uploaded a lot of the costs since taking power and I’ve seen the improvement. At the time I lived in a rural area near a pretty small city and I noticed how bad the roads needed repair. While still not completely stellar now, I’ve seen the difference between that time and now, particularly in just regular every day travel. Downloading is also hard on municipalities because they have fewer ways to raise revenue than the province does, so it usually causes property taxes and municipal fees to go up since that is where most of the operating money comes from. It is a major flaw I’ve noticed in the more conservative ‘let local government do everything’ ideology some people believe in.

  14. Bil Huk says:

    similar to the ford phenomenon, will voters support a plan that they know doesn’t really make alot of sense just so they can have some change?

    the real point, liking the ads are not, is the effect they’ll have on the numbers we’ve seen over the last 45 days.

    i’m ready for another poll.

  15. Tiger says:

    Interesting to see what the media says about the ad:
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/will-harper-playbook-help-mcguinty-ward-off-hudak/article2095159/

    The gist: they’re withholding judgment till they see whether it moves voters.

  16. Shelagh says:

    I’m happy that the Liberals are showing that they’re ready to put up a fight this time around, but I also believe this ad could have been done a lot better. Quoting newspapers that in three words or less call Hudak a bad guy isn’t really helping much.
    The majority of voters are not as ‘in-tune’ as (for example) the readers of wk.com – they need some context. The fact is that there is a huge Conservative wave going through Southern Ontario, and if the Liberals don’t start to hammer the public with facts, to actually (and as simply as possible) explain the issues, they’re not going to win.
    Hopefully the plan is just to frame Hudak as a bad guy over the summer, and really prove their point in the Fall.

    • The Doctor says:

      “The majority of voters are not as ‘in-tune’ as (for example) the readers of wk.com”

      Thanks for the understatement of the day.

  17. DB Smith says:

    I would point out that the Liberals were at 40.0% in the polls as recently as Feb 2011 and that since then with their “truth ads” the party has seen their support drop by 25.0% to 30.0% and the face of the party Mr. McGunity, face is no where to be seen in any of the “Liberal Truth Ads”.

    Perhaps the Urban Elite Media Party of Toronto, IE Star and Globe and their writers might consider the lessons that should have been learned during the recent Federal, Toronto City elections and their outcomes and rephase the comment from “When Fratboy Tim stops telling lies about us, we’ll stop telling the truth about him.” to “When Fratboy Star and Globe stop telling lies about the CP, the people of Ontario will stop telling the truth about Mcguinty and the Liberals.

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