Liberal: Not Dion's fault - Quebec hates successful people

Yolande Thibeault, the former (Liberal) MP for Saint-Lambert...despaired at the treatment given Mr. Dion by his fellow Quebecers. "For some reason, Quebecers, we do not like each other," she said. "It is not only in politics. It is in many other domains. If a businessman is very successful, he will be pulled down by our people. It seems to be the mentality of Quebecers."

So it's not that the people of Quebec don't like Dion because of his weak leadership, and his actions as the bespectacled bully of confederation, no, it's because he is so successful. What?

If what this Liberal says is true, why aren't they at the gates of Celine Dion's mansion, with the pitchforks, tar, etc?

Because it's not true. Thibeault is throwing out excuses and slurs to cover the fact that Stephane Dion just is not an attractive option. Rather, he is the Montreal Mistake.

Free advice to the Liberal Party: Next time, perhaps don't let the booze flow quite so freely at your leadership convention. When people drink, accidents happen.




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Liberal: Not Dion's fault - Quebec hates successful people

Yolande Thibeault, the former (Liberal) MP for Saint-Lambert...despaired at the treatment given Mr. Dion by his fellow Quebecers. "For some reason, Quebecers, we do not like each other," she said. "It is not only in politics. It is in many other domains. If a businessman is very successful, he will be pulled down by our people. It seems to be the mentality of Quebecers."

So it's not that the people of Quebec don't like Dion because of his weak leadership, and his actions as the bespectacled bully of confederation, no, it's because he is so successful. What?

If what this Liberal says is true, why aren't they at the gates of Celine Dion's mansion, with the pitchforks, tar, etc?

Because it's not true. Thibeault is throwing out excuses and slurs to cover the fact that Stephane Dion just is not an attractive option. Rather, he is the Montreal Mistake.

Free advice to the Liberal Party: Next time, perhaps don't let the booze flow quite so freely at your leadership convention. When people drink, accidents happen.




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Conservative mistakes - or - If a Liberal gaffe falls amongst journalists, does anyone cover it?

It is early days in the campaign, and none of the Conservative gaffes from the first week will affect the eventual outcome, but some things need to be noted.

1. The media is looking for gaffes from the Conservatives, and they will highlight them more than they will mistakes from the other parties. I know, the old tin-foil hat conspiracy of media bias..but it's true. And it's the #1 reason that tight message control is required.

2. The father of a deceased soldier can say whatever he wants, without retribution, correction, or perspective setting. His son paid the ultimate price, leave it alone.

3. The puffin poo. Maybe it was a clever way to drive more eyeballs to notaleader.ca, and had the added effect of an image of Dion being crapped on out into the media. Great, if it was the only "mistake", then you could claim it was perhaps a bit of cleverness. But when other genuine mistakes follow, it gets lumped in with those.

4. Despite the above, the Liberals haven't gained any traction outside of the media and punditry. This shows how weak they really are. Clever stunts aren't required to wipe out the Liberals, they'll do that themselves. All the CPC has to do is run a consistent and gimmick free campaign, and a majority is the likely result.

5. Many of the CPC mistakes are correctable because the Conservatives have a professional organization, with the ability to make change quickly. The Liberal mistakes have not been covered as widely, but the Libs suffer from disorganization and lack of central control, so Liberal gaffes will - continue - to - happen. For Liberal gaffes to be covered though, they need to be the only gaffes in town.

Week one is almost out of the way, lessons have been learned, apply those lessons for the coming weeks.

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Conservative mistakes - or - If a Liberal gaffe falls amongst journalists, does anyone cover it?

It is early days in the campaign, and none of the Conservative gaffes from the first week will affect the eventual outcome, but some things need to be noted.

1. The media is looking for gaffes from the Conservatives, and they will highlight them more than they will mistakes from the other parties. I know, the old tin-foil hat conspiracy of media bias..but it's true. And it's the #1 reason that tight message control is required.

2. The father of a deceased soldier can say whatever he wants, without retribution, correction, or perspective setting. His son paid the ultimate price, leave it alone.

3. The puffin poo. Maybe it was a clever way to drive more eyeballs to notaleader.ca, and had the added effect of an image of Dion being crapped on out into the media. Great, if it was the only "mistake", then you could claim it was perhaps a bit of cleverness. But when other genuine mistakes follow, it gets lumped in with those.

4. Despite the above, the Liberals haven't gained any traction outside of the media and punditry. This shows how weak they really are. Clever stunts aren't required to wipe out the Liberals, they'll do that themselves. All the CPC has to do is run a consistent and gimmick free campaign, and a majority is the likely result.

5. Many of the CPC mistakes are correctable because the Conservatives have a professional organization, with the ability to make change quickly. The Liberal mistakes have not been covered as widely, but the Libs suffer from disorganization and lack of central control, so Liberal gaffes will - continue - to - happen. For Liberal gaffes to be covered though, they need to be the only gaffes in town.

Week one is almost out of the way, lessons have been learned, apply those lessons for the coming weeks.

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Unsolicited Advice: Make sure your campaign plane is ready to go on election call-day

Media is reporting that the Liberal Party was caught unaware by the Conservative's surprise election call. After a quick search for a jet resource, the party has now leased a thirty year old Boeing, from Inuit Airlines.


They also report that the plane won't be ready to fly by Sunday, the day of the election call. It won't be ready until the middle of the week.

Daniel Lauzon, a spokesman for the Liberal Party, confirmed that its jet, rented from Montreal-based Air Inuit, won’t be ready until Wednesday. Mr. Dion will meanwhile travel with journalists by bus to campaign events in central Ontario and Quebec.

Unacceptable. You need to have your plane on the tarmac, and jet off somewhere on the first day of a campaign. Why?

Both Harper and Layton went from Quebec to the West..today. Both parties will have fresh footage of local rallies in Vancouver and Calgary for nightly local news election coverage out west. By that time, Dion's dated Ottawa presser will be a foot-note.

Knowing their media brethren are jetting across Canada on a daily basis, in a modern jet with seat-back entertainment consoles..how friendly do you think the Liberal bus-ensconced media feel?

People are starting to think of the Liberals as broke and unorganized..why start an election with a move that will reinforce that?

The plane had to be ready, if not for anything other than optics..evidenced from the current, less than flattering, media coverage.

So..at election call time..always have a plane ready, and take your leader from coast to coast on the first day.


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Unsolicited Advice: Make sure your campaign plane is ready to go on election call-day

Media is reporting that the Liberal Party was caught unaware by the Conservative's surprise election call. After a quick search for a jet resource, the party has now leased a thirty year old Boeing, from Inuit Airlines.


They also report that the plane won't be ready to fly by Sunday, the day of the election call. It won't be ready until the middle of the week.

Daniel Lauzon, a spokesman for the Liberal Party, confirmed that its jet, rented from Montreal-based Air Inuit, won’t be ready until Wednesday. Mr. Dion will meanwhile travel with journalists by bus to campaign events in central Ontario and Quebec.

Unacceptable. You need to have your plane on the tarmac, and jet off somewhere on the first day of a campaign. Why?

Both Harper and Layton went from Quebec to the West..today. Both parties will have fresh footage of local rallies in Vancouver and Calgary for nightly local news election coverage out west. By that time, Dion's dated Ottawa presser will be a foot-note.

Knowing their media brethren are jetting across Canada on a daily basis, in a modern jet with seat-back entertainment consoles..how friendly do you think the Liberal bus-ensconced media feel?

People are starting to think of the Liberals as broke and unorganized..why start an election with a move that will reinforce that?

The plane had to be ready, if not for anything other than optics..evidenced from the current, less than flattering, media coverage.

So..at election call time..always have a plane ready, and take your leader from coast to coast on the first day.


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Look out! It's the attack of the Liberal Mole!

Your favourite Liberal booster and mine, Jason Cherniak, is calling for the head of the Liberal Mole.

Sorry, but there is no one person "leaking" info out of the Liberal Party in Ottawa. To believe in that conspiracy theory is just silly.

If information leaks out, it is due to the inherent nature of Liberal staffers in Ottawa. If someone in a Liberal MPs office knows something, especially something secret, they can't wait to tell or show someone else.

The "Liberal Mole" in the last election, the one that told the Tories in advance what policy planks the Liberals would be announcing? Well, invariably in Ottawa, the loudest talkers in the room are Liberal staffers. All the Tories had to do was go into a Starbucks or a bar during the last election and listen.

I don't know why they are so boistrous, but my guess is that as many Liberal staffers come from privileged backgrounds, they want to prove how important they are by (loudly) disclosing what they know, regardess of their surroundings.

I'd like to say the same about the Tories, and I'm sure some of them come from well-to-do families as well, but Tory strategy doesn't seem to leak out in Ottawa like Liberal info does. And I never see Tory staffers belly up to the bar and go on and on about working on this or that file, policy, or strategy. Not loudly anyway, so it can only be a culture thing.

So there is no mole. All someone needs to do is tell Liberal staffers to drink less, keep their voices down, and don't forget their blackberries on the bar.

(Let me add that I know quite a few Liberal staffers personally, and they do not match the description above. But the staffers for Toronto and Montreal Liberal MPs...)

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Look out! It's the attack of the Liberal Mole!

Your favourite Liberal booster and mine, Jason Cherniak, is calling for the head of the Liberal Mole.

Sorry, but there is no one person "leaking" info out of the Liberal Party in Ottawa. To believe in that conspiracy theory is just silly.

If information leaks out, it is due to the inherent nature of Liberal staffers in Ottawa. If someone in a Liberal MPs office knows something, especially something secret, they can't wait to tell or show someone else.

The "Liberal Mole" in the last election, the one that told the Tories in advance what policy planks the Liberals would be announcing? Well, invariably in Ottawa, the loudest talkers in the room are Liberal staffers. All the Tories had to do was go into a Starbucks or a bar during the last election and listen.

I don't know why they are so boistrous, but my guess is that as many Liberal staffers come from privileged backgrounds, they want to prove how important they are by (loudly) disclosing what they know, regardess of their surroundings.

I'd like to say the same about the Tories, and I'm sure some of them come from well-to-do families as well, but Tory strategy doesn't seem to leak out in Ottawa like Liberal info does. And I never see Tory staffers belly up to the bar and go on and on about working on this or that file, policy, or strategy. Not loudly anyway, so it can only be a culture thing.

So there is no mole. All someone needs to do is tell Liberal staffers to drink less, keep their voices down, and don't forget their blackberries on the bar.

(Let me add that I know quite a few Liberal staffers personally, and they do not match the description above. But the staffers for Toronto and Montreal Liberal MPs...)

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