05.14.2013 12:36 PM

When your spin is on crack

When I first saw this last night – in the midst of the Leafs’ loss, the re-entry of Chris Hadfield and other stuff – I thought it was a social media prank.  You know, that the Conservatives were spinning the Liberal Party’s massive win in Labrador as a loss.

But it was true.  To wit:

“Still, [Conservative spokesman Fred] DeLorey tried to spin the Labrador result as a loss for Trudeau.

“When this byelection was called, the Liberals had a 43-point lead in the polls. Since electing Justin Trudeau as leader and having him personally campaign there, they have dropped 20 points in Labrador,” DeLorey argued.

“Labradorians were able to see first-hand how Justin Trudeau is in over his head.”

The Cons have always been into the Big Lie theory of comms, but this one took the cake.

Free advice: when in a hole, fellas, stop digging.

19 Comments

  1. WDM says:

    Part of me it’s glad it got out there because of how absurd it is. Another part of me wishes all the reporters who got it had just returned to sender and refused to release it.

  2. let them continue to live in la la la land with their hands over their ears, singing party verses, it’s obvious they will go down in denial, spin, and hate as they are exorcised from Canada. I hope Harper spits up some pea soup during the process.

  3. Craig says:

    Indeed. I think I even heard George Orwell’s jaw drop from the afterlife…

  4. Luke says:

    Calgary Grit (http://www.calgarygrit.ca) alludes to the Onion, owing to the sheer ridiculousness of this particular statement.

    I wonder what the point of it was, other than to get the little ‘in over his head’ quip in there. Was it just to be humorous? Because it is actually kind of funny, and so clearly absurd I am sure Delorey and friends must know that no one will take any stock in this particular spin.

  5. Steven says:

    Orwell, 1984 – Redux (2013)

  6. Michael Bussiere says:

    Is there a branch of psychology which deals in this kind of behavior?

    • Moe Lavigne says:

      I think the disorder is called “Cognitive dissonance”. What was their spin in the Calgary by-election (a VERY safe CPC riding) where their candidate (Joan Crockatt) only got 37% of the vote compared to 33% for the Liberal candidate. I seem to remember that that was Trudeau’s fault too. Actually I’m glad he said it because they have to be panicking for him to say such a stupid thing. I think these idiocies hurt their brand and embarrass many of their core supporters (except for a few that buzz around here).

  7. Donovan says:

    “As we know, majority governments do not usually win byelections.” Fred DeLorey, the party’s director of communications said in a statement.

    THIS! This entire spinning is nauseating!

    The last byelections in this parliament went to the parties who held the incumbent seat…

    BEV ODA’S RIDING RE-VOTED CONSERVATIVE THINK ABOUT THIS!

    And yet, the last time a party stole a seat from an incumbent…the Conservatives…before they would win their majority.

    Foreshadowing change to come…

  8. Bruce A says:

    Re:

    “Free advice: when in a hole, fellas, stop digging”.

    Personally, I would provide more shovels, plenty of encouragement and lunch. As the saying goes, “good help is hard to find”.

    PS

    Was Fred DeLorey brought in with the TFWP?

  9. Greg says:

    He will soon be called “Baghdad Fred”.

  10. Moe Lavigne says:

    He’s probably making Comical Ali blush!

  11. They’re in total and complete panic mode. Certain people in HQ are on the outs, they know it, and they’re trying desperately to hold on. PM’s gonna have to pull the trigger on them personally if things ever hope to improve.

  12. Moe Lavigne says:

    DeLorey reminds me of the Black Knight charterer in the Holy Grail… mere flesh wound! See 3:30 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno

  13. Obdurate says:

    The next election will be fought at the Ottawa River. Liberals and Dippers will fight it out over Quebec and the Maritimes. Harper will look to Canada west of the Ottawa River for his next majority government. With 30 new ridings in Western Canada, another Harper majority is feasible, but it will be dicey.

    Meanwhile the Labrador riding can say goodbye to expected funding for 5 Wing Goose Bay for a long time.

  14. Obdurate says:

    In the 2011 election the CPC vote went up 31% and the Liberal vote dropped 31% and Penashue was elected!

    In the 2013 by-election the CPC vote dropped by 7% while the Liberal vote increased by 9% and Jones was elected.

    Now what will happen in October 2015 when voting issues will include national issues?

  15. Cameron Prymak says:

    Is he taking a page from Karl Rove’s playbook?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1lJ3tfQFpc

  16. !o! says:

    And this will be how they go down. Oblivious, so far inside their own fabricated reality that they can’t comprehend why the ground is giving way beneath them.

    And then the in-fighting begins in earnest.

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