KCCCC Day 9: Platform, platform, who’s got the platform?
- It’s Sunday, so KCCCC should be taking a day of rest. But we won’t! If Iggy is up, working to unveil his platform, then we work, too! After Mass.
- So, um, about that platform: As in comedy, platform timing is everything. Mike Harris released his Common Sense one more than a year before the writ – and he won a big majority. Jean Chretien released his Red Book at the start of the campaign – and he won a massive majority. Stephen Harper didn’t really release one at all, last time, and he won anyway. So what to do? The Grits, clearly, want to press the advantage they’ve been building up in Week One: they’re releasing theirs today, with a focus on families. Will it pay dividends? I think so: if nothing else, platforms provide a useful prop for leaders under attack (and, believe me, Iggy will be facing an even more vicious Con attack, soon enough). They can wave it around and say: “Don’t believe the lies the other guy is saying about me. Here’s my plan. Read it for yourself.” Mostly, it tells voters that you’ve prepared for government, and you’re ready.
- Media roundup: Even longtime Harper cheerleaders are saying the Reformatory boss isn’t doing so well. Lorne Gunter: “Mr. Harper and his party stumbled on the week’s two big issues -who should participate in the leaders’ debate and the threat of a post-election coalition among the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois. They seemed unprepared for the election, despite being as eager for one as any other party (and despite having far more resources than their rivals). A party that has developed a reputation for tightly scripting its messages and for its Machiavellian manipulation of its opponents looked decidedly pedestrian as it let others define the debate issue.” John Robson: “…the Conservative party [is] nowhere near me. I [am] pro-life, seriously pro-military and against big-spending high-taxing governments. If Stephen Harper took the poll giving answers honestly drawn from the actual performance and platform of his party, he wouldn’t get that result, I can tell you.”
- Pic of the day: From Harper’s avail this morning on the youth fitness incentive, taking place at a gym where people are working out. This one is weirder than weird. Caption contest!