…this one from OPSEU. Federally, we’re hearing more of the same is on the way there, too.

What does it all mean, beside the obvious political messaging?  It means lots of unions, associations and folks are feeling that traditional media, and traditional means, are failing them.  Interesting.

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Very sad to hear this news. A worthy opponent and a good man. Rest in peace, John.

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I am SO TOTALLY SICK of hearing from so-called experts that this guy is a genius.

He isn’t. His candidate won BECAUSE JOHN TORY DIDN’T RUN.

That’s it. THAT’S IT.

Rant completed.

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Susan D. on the Grits getting in on the pre-writ ad game, here.

My take? The problem isn’t the tactic. The problem is the strategy.

The Reformatory campaigns worked because they defined two unknowns – Dion and Ignatieff – before they could define themselves.

Harper is a known quantity. The Liberal leader-to-be isn’t.

Negative always works best when you are creating an impression. Not changing an impression.

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Susan’s yarn, here, on the (smart) Rae decision to get tough. Overdue.

Nay-sayers will say it’s closing the barn door after the horse has fled, etc., but that’s not the problem. The problem is that the Reformatories’ anti-Dion and anti-Ignatieff ads served to define Dion and Ignatieff before they could define themselves.

That’ll be the problem, once again, in 2013 or so: the Grits will pick another shiny new leader, and the Cons will spend millions to smear him/her before the election.

The Reformatory leader is a known quantity; the Grit leader-to-be isn’t. Attack ads always work best with the latter, not the former.

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Prince Brad Pitt? I beg your pardon?

It was Canada Day, you see, and I was on the radio with a republican-type fellow. Vancouver’s CKNW had thought it would be fun to have me debate the monarchy with an anti-monarchy person.

A person then proceeded to declare Prince William and Kate — more properly referred to as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — were about as relevant to modern-day Canada as movie stars.

Why not make Brad Pitt our head of state, then, the republican asked?

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This buffoon has now signalled, definitively, that he thinks some Canadians are more equal than others. He wanted to send you that message, and he did that.

So, now you need to send a message right back at Rob Ford. Start organizing against him; raise money; recruit others; do everything you can to ensure that there is a candidate who will beat this troglodyte at the ballot box.

Leaders are supposed to bring people together, not drive them apart. This man is a disgrace, and he needs to be taught a lesson.

Let’s do it.

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By Bernie and Glen. Worth a read.

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The Canada Day long weekend is as good a time as any, one supposes, to sit down and write an essay about what it means to be Canadian.

So, that’s what former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff did in another newspaper this past week. For 650 words, give or take, Ignatieff laboured to define Canadian-ness — and along the way hae gave us a rare glimpse into what he is feeling these days.

Among other things, he’s still grappling with the May 2 election result. The first couple paragraphs of Ignatieff’s essay are about an Asia Pacific Foundation report, which found nearly three million Canadians — “nine per cent of our population,” Ignatieff writes, to ensure the point is not missed — toil hither and yon around the globe.

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…so says the Progressive Conservative whose party we reduced to two seats. Spare me, darling.

We ain’t dead yet.

“The overall prognosis for Liberals is no better in other parts of the country, where they sometimes elect Liberal governments. From B.C. to Ontario to Quebec, voters seem to be waiting for the skeletons that only emerge after a new government is sworn in.

In each case, it is Liberals who will be campaigning for the status quo, in the face of voters who want change.

It’s going to be a tough summer to be a Grit.”

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