03.17.2011 07:15 AM

No Plan Man, No Audience

From a sharp-eyed reader in London area:

Warren:

Check out this video (from the fine London Free Press). Wait for it: about midpoint through the report, we see that Hudak – who has been shifting his gaze from left to right, as though scanning his audience – is actually standing in front of nobody except the camera man. Classic.

Click on the image to get the link.

11 Comments

  1. ElitistattheGates says:

    LOL fucking beautiful!

  2. fritz says:

    I don’t know whether or not Hudak’s message on smart meters is correct or not as I don’t live in Ontario and don’t follow the ins and outs of Hydro policy in that province.
    But the fact he moved his head while speaking is just not all that big a deal. It looked normal from the cameras POV and there were reporters on his left and right. You can make an argument that maybe he should have brought in an audience for the reverse shot (bad advance work?) but not that he should only look directly into the camera, it’s just not that big a deal.
    Does anyone know if his message on smart meters has any validity or not as that is a subject I’m interested in knowing more about.

  3. Harith says:

    I got the worst douche chills watching that.

  4. Jim says:

    Those TV cameras are thousands of people.

  5. Dave says:

    For those who didn’t watch the video but want to see what a rally at Hudak’s uncommon nonsense revolution looks like, here is a screenshot:

    http://i.imgur.com/eg2k9.jpg

  6. Painful PR implications aside, I would like to have the PCs outline their realistic plan that would see energy prices decrease over time.

    Oil prices will never roll back to 50 cents a gallon and we shouldn’t expect hydro rates to move down either. We’re seeing increased energy use over the long term and we have to deal with aging infrastructure.

    We need someone intelligent enough to understand these basic facts and deal with the situation so I wish the PCs would tone down the fear mongering and incessant, inane criticisms.

    Come up with a realistic option if you can Mr. Hudak, otherwise be respectful of the electorate’s intelligence.

    • Dave says:

      Exactly. So you make smart meters optional – what is your flat rate going to be?

      If you’re going to do this, why not just make them optional for everybody – it would be a simple mathematical calculation on every hydro bill. (i.e kWh x flat rate vs. kWh x time of use rates – charge whatever is lower)

      Here is a freebie for any party: Create a webapp that allows a hydro user to input their hydro bill info and then calculate what their bill would be based on whatever the proposed flat rate price would be. It would then be pretty easy to decide if time of use billing is right for you.

      If you don’t have a flat rate price that you can back up with data, then there is no argument.

  7. CuJo Calgary says:

    I really just had to laugh when I saw the video. By way of comparison, I attended a coffee shop meeting with a candidate for leader of the nascent Alberta Party today and the crowd was a larger than Timmy’s. UFB.

    If you’re the leader of ANY party in ANY jurisdiction and you can’t attract even 5 supporters to a media event, then you ought to know it’s time to throw in the towel. At the very least, call the media and tell them something like “John Baird ate my tires for breakfast so we have to cancel or postpone the event”. I simply cannot remember a more embarrassing political event in 40 years of being involved in politics.

    Amateur hour writ large.

  8. crf says:

    He needs to rip out his inner soul, and step into Rob Ford’s.
    Ford would not do a stunt like this. What he would do, is have a cameraman film him coaching a sports game while doing a speakerphone political Q/A hosted by a radio personality. Maybe invite the press to witness the part-time politician, full-on “regular guy” spreading his wisdom to the phone-in croud. If needed, you can even get potted-plants to phone in.

    Whistlestop doesn’t work anymore. Professional politician is harder. Doofus everyman is what sells now.

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