No doubt negative ads have a long history but there are negative ads and then there are negative ads. Many such ads give information out of context so as to lead people to incorrect conclusions. The Bloc Quebecois voting against minimum sentences for trafficking children under 18. The conclusion people probably would draw is that the Bloc is soft on the worst sort of criminals whereas their objection is simply that there are all kinds of cases and circumstances and judges should have the discretion over sentencing.
Flanagan notes that the Liberals too have used negative ads. This is a fine example of the tu quoque fallacy. Just because the Liberals do it too does not make the ads right.
Some negative advertising does indeed have significant informative functions. The attack ads against Ignatieff rightly point out that he was away from Canada much of his life and that he spoke of the U.S. as being his country but often attack ads are primarily emotive and the factual elements are often distorted or incidental to the intended emotive effect. Of course attack ads can go too far and have the opposite emotive effect actually causing people to feel more favorable to those attacked. Who knows maybe the Liberal righteous indignation at Conservative attacks ads may actually work. I doubt it though.
Have the Liberals gone soft? Why are they upset over attack ads?
Tom Flanagan
From Monday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Monday, Jul. 13, 2009 08:45AM EDT
See that your whole campaign is full of show, glorious and colourful; and see that your competitors are smeared with an evil reputation for crime, vice, or bribery.
- Quintus Tullius Cicero, 63 BC
These words come from the world's first campaign manual, reportedly written by the brother of the Roman statesman Cicero. Not much has changed since then. Election campaigns have always been, and always will be, both positive and negative.
Elections are an exercise in comparative judgment. Campaign professionals understand the need to give voters reasons to support their candidate and reject the others. It's pretty simple, really - about as obvious as the need for both running and tackling in a football game.
In modern Canadian politics, the Liberals have been the masters of negative campaigning. In 1988, they ran ads almost accusing Brian Mulroney of treason, of selling out Canada to the United States through the free-trade agreement. In 1991, Sheila Copps compared Preston Manning to David Duke, the former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader. In 2000, Warren Kinsella went on television to ridicule Stockwell Day's alleged (never demonstrated) belief in Young Earth creationism.
In 2004, the Liberals eked out a minority victory with wave after wave of negative ads about Stephen Harper's supposed “secret agenda” - hard to refute publicly because it was secret by definition. Showing the preternatural gift of prophecy, the Liberals also ran ads about the “$50-billion black hole” in the Conservative budget projections. There was no evidence for it in 2004, but it came true in 2009
Late in the 2006 campaign, the desperate Liberals released a suite of negative ads that backfired against them. Like every other tactic in politics, negative advertising is only effective if it is well executed. These ads were so far over the top that they were parodied by the late-lamented Frank magazine: “Is Stephen Harper the Antichrist? We just don't know. He refuses to talk about it. Now why would he do that?”
Since then, however, the tough-as-nails Liberal warriors have begun to sound like whiny schoolgirls, complaining about Conservative negative ads. Not only do they whimper when the Conservatives run their ads against Liberal leaders Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, but they complain when the Conservatives attack the Bloc Québécois for having voted in Parliament against minimum sentences for trafficking in children under 18.
All these Conservative ads belong to the most moderate and usually most effective genre of negative campaigning. They focus on the public record, repeating the words and recounting the deeds of political opponents. Mr. Dion said it's not easy being a leader; Mr. Ignatieff was out of Canada for decades; the Bloc voted against Bill C-268. The ads contain no invented allegations, no exposé of private affairs, no attacks on family members - just the recall of past news stories.
So why are the Liberals so upset? Have they really gone soft? Actually, I suspect their response is more cerebral. ........................... So-called negative advertising is an integral part of informing voters so they can make up their own minds.
Tom Flanagan, a former Conservative campaign manager, is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary.
Showing posts with label Conservative attack ads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservative attack ads. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Harper: Attack Ads prevented a summer election
I doubt that the attack ads had much to do with our not having a summer election. Ignatieff did not want an election since the Liberal Party needs to raise more money and raise their standing in the polls as well. However, given that the Liberal polls do not seem have any momentum upwards perhaps the attack ads did have some negative effects and convinced some not to vote for Iggy.
Harper just loves to rub it in and make digs at Iggy even though Iggy saved Harper's bacon and is almost in a coalition with the Conservatives at this point. It seems that Iggy prefers a right coalition rather than one on the left!
Attack ads prevented a summer election: Harper
Updated Fri. Jun. 26 2009 8:41 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggests his party's recent ad campaign that included controversial attacks against Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff may have done Canadians a favour.
In an interview with CTV News in Halifax, the prime minister told CTV Atlantic's Steve Murphy that the ads help convince the Liberals not to trigger a summer election, and allowed his Conservative minority government a few months of breathing space.
"To the extent that I think that the ads made the Liberal Party think twice about having an election, I think that's been a good result," Harper said.
"Because I don't think Canadians want an election, I think it would have been another round of political instability. And so to the extent I think it's put that party a little bit back on its heels. It may be thinking a little bit more about how to co-operate in actually dealing with the economy -- I think it's been helpful."
The ads criticize Ignatieff's time outside the country, alleging the Liberal leader returned to Canada solely to seek the prime minister's job.
Harper refused to say whether he personally agreed with the ad's sentiments that Igatieff is "just visiting." He said he would leave it to voters to decide whether Ignatieff's 34 years outside Canada disqualified him to be prime minister.
"Those ads are built around his [Ignatieff's] own record, his own words, on his own motives and his own statements on the country. Those are questions he will have to answer... As I say, the ads allow Mr. Ignatieff to speak for himself," Harper said during the 10-minute interview.
Harper said the ads ran at a time when the Liberals were not co-operating in the operation of Parliament.
"My preference would be for the opposition to work with the government. The Opposition has not chosen that path until very recently," Harper explained.
"I do think the people want to see the parties work together. But, certainly if the parties aren't going to work together, the Conservative Party won't unilaterally disarm."
One week ago, Ignatieff and Harper reached a deal that prevented a summer election. Thursday's comments come as Parliament begins its summer break. It's expected all parties will use the time to test the waters for a fall election campaign.
The opposition will have an opportunity to put forward a non-confidence motion during an opposition day early in the fall session.
Harper just loves to rub it in and make digs at Iggy even though Iggy saved Harper's bacon and is almost in a coalition with the Conservatives at this point. It seems that Iggy prefers a right coalition rather than one on the left!
Attack ads prevented a summer election: Harper
Updated Fri. Jun. 26 2009 8:41 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggests his party's recent ad campaign that included controversial attacks against Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff may have done Canadians a favour.
In an interview with CTV News in Halifax, the prime minister told CTV Atlantic's Steve Murphy that the ads help convince the Liberals not to trigger a summer election, and allowed his Conservative minority government a few months of breathing space.
"To the extent that I think that the ads made the Liberal Party think twice about having an election, I think that's been a good result," Harper said.
"Because I don't think Canadians want an election, I think it would have been another round of political instability. And so to the extent I think it's put that party a little bit back on its heels. It may be thinking a little bit more about how to co-operate in actually dealing with the economy -- I think it's been helpful."
The ads criticize Ignatieff's time outside the country, alleging the Liberal leader returned to Canada solely to seek the prime minister's job.
Harper refused to say whether he personally agreed with the ad's sentiments that Igatieff is "just visiting." He said he would leave it to voters to decide whether Ignatieff's 34 years outside Canada disqualified him to be prime minister.
"Those ads are built around his [Ignatieff's] own record, his own words, on his own motives and his own statements on the country. Those are questions he will have to answer... As I say, the ads allow Mr. Ignatieff to speak for himself," Harper said during the 10-minute interview.
Harper said the ads ran at a time when the Liberals were not co-operating in the operation of Parliament.
"My preference would be for the opposition to work with the government. The Opposition has not chosen that path until very recently," Harper explained.
"I do think the people want to see the parties work together. But, certainly if the parties aren't going to work together, the Conservative Party won't unilaterally disarm."
One week ago, Ignatieff and Harper reached a deal that prevented a summer election. Thursday's comments come as Parliament begins its summer break. It's expected all parties will use the time to test the waters for a fall election campaign.
The opposition will have an opportunity to put forward a non-confidence motion during an opposition day early in the fall session.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Nasty Politicking sidelines issues critical to Canada
The attack ads may actually work. Certainly many in the media and of course what passes as an intelligentsia in Canada do not like them but that does not mean they will not work. Ignatieff is not only a Johnny come lately with no firm roots in Canada but he is also the choice of Liberal king makers rather than the grass roots something the article neglects to mention. Also many of those die hard Conservatives writing checks to support Harper are actually part of the elite whether the Liberal elite kingmakers like it or not. They are just a different segment of the elite no doubt unwashed and not suitably polished either! It is interesting that both are leaders are Amerophiles. Harper loves the US conservative movement and finds them an inspiration. Ignatieff is a great support of US humanitarian imperialism and even supported the Iraq invasion.
It remains to be seen if Ignatieff forces an election together with the opposition parties. Seems to me he wants to wait for more funds and more favorable polls.
Nasty politicking sidelines issues critical to Canada
The StarPhoenixMay 19, 2009
If one even accidentally tuned into the parliamentary channel last week, it was hard to mistake the smell of an election.
The daily question period, which is rarely an exercise in intelligent debate, has sunk to the level of visceral attacks to which it had sunk before Parliament broke for the summer a year ago.
At that time, things were so bad that, before calling Parliament back into session, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared the dysfunctional atmosphere forced him to call an election. That was an unnecessary, $300-million exercise to bring civility to an unruly institution that was made even more so by the very actions of the man who claimed to be seeking functionality.
Last week, two senior members of the Prime Minister's Office were quick to assure the Ottawa press gallery, which apparently agreed to keep their identities secret, that they were taking an unpaid leave from their government work to spearhead an assault that will be the first wave of the next election campaign. This assault consists primarily of attack advertisements, distributed across Canada, which depict Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff as an elite expatriate whose only desire is to lead a nation that he has eschewed for decades.
One can't help but question if this is the best ammunition the Conservatives can muster to try to hurt the Liberal leader: That Mr. Ignatieff is aloof and erudite.
A man broadly considered to be cool and aloof himself now leads the Conservative party. That reputation has stuck even as Mr. Harper donned cozy sweaters and tried to depict himself as the Everyday Joe during the last election campaign.
As Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hébert pointed out Friday, however, it wasn't only in the bizarre tone of the English ads that leave people wondering if the Tories have lost their minds.
Their advertising in French is designed to widen the gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada, as it pokes at that province's insecurities. The advertisements suggest that Mr. Ignatieff's accent is too Parisian and highbrow for Quebec, and reflects a federalist view of the world whereby Quebec is merely a part North America, rather than a nation onto itself.
As Ms. Hébert notes, the tone appears to suggest that if the Conservatives can't govern Canada, they will leave ashes in their wake.
Even all this, however, is no guarantee that Canadians are headed to the polls. The Conservatives are flush with cash. They were extremely successful in depicting Stéphane Dion, Mr. Ignatieff's predecessor, as an inept leader and enemy of Quebec by taking out advertisements long before a writ was dropped.
The campaign succeeded because Mr. Dion was unable to prove the allegations wrong -- particularly when the ads questioned his ability to lead a party whose helm he was given almost as an afterthought. And while Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberals insist they are better prepared to project their own image rather than let the Tory ads define them, the proof of that has yet to come.
Certainly, Canadians are much less xenophobic than their neighbours to the south, whose Constitution requires that the president actually be born in the United States. As such trying to convince Canadians that Mr. Ignatieff is unqualified to lead because he is worldly, well- educated and respected abroad is likely to cater only to those die-hard Conservatives whose support the party already has secured.
But if the Liberals want to define themselves as a national party with Canada's interests at heart -- as Mr. Ignatieff indicated once he saw the attacks coming his way -- it will be up to them to convince Canadians to put their money where the party's mouth is. The die-hard Conservatives have already shown that they have no problem writing cheques to keep the elites from power.
The sad thing about all of this for most Canadians, however, is that while the Tory attack ads -- and the Liberal counterattacks -- have replaced substantive parliamentary debate, the country's deficit is exploding with no plan evident to bring it under control in the long run. The Harper-appointed parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, has been deprived of enough funding to monitor how bad things are, the separatists are running with the ammo provided by the premature campaign, stimulus money seems to be as slow to arrive as a prairie spring, and the Americans have launched an anti-Canadian trade war not seen since before the Second World War.
No one seems to be paying much attention.
- - -
"Democracy cannot be maintained without its foundation: free public opinion and free discussion throughout the nation of all matters affecting the state within the limits set by the criminal code and the common law." - The Supreme Court of Canada, 1938
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
It remains to be seen if Ignatieff forces an election together with the opposition parties. Seems to me he wants to wait for more funds and more favorable polls.
Nasty politicking sidelines issues critical to Canada
The StarPhoenixMay 19, 2009
If one even accidentally tuned into the parliamentary channel last week, it was hard to mistake the smell of an election.
The daily question period, which is rarely an exercise in intelligent debate, has sunk to the level of visceral attacks to which it had sunk before Parliament broke for the summer a year ago.
At that time, things were so bad that, before calling Parliament back into session, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared the dysfunctional atmosphere forced him to call an election. That was an unnecessary, $300-million exercise to bring civility to an unruly institution that was made even more so by the very actions of the man who claimed to be seeking functionality.
Last week, two senior members of the Prime Minister's Office were quick to assure the Ottawa press gallery, which apparently agreed to keep their identities secret, that they were taking an unpaid leave from their government work to spearhead an assault that will be the first wave of the next election campaign. This assault consists primarily of attack advertisements, distributed across Canada, which depict Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff as an elite expatriate whose only desire is to lead a nation that he has eschewed for decades.
One can't help but question if this is the best ammunition the Conservatives can muster to try to hurt the Liberal leader: That Mr. Ignatieff is aloof and erudite.
A man broadly considered to be cool and aloof himself now leads the Conservative party. That reputation has stuck even as Mr. Harper donned cozy sweaters and tried to depict himself as the Everyday Joe during the last election campaign.
As Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hébert pointed out Friday, however, it wasn't only in the bizarre tone of the English ads that leave people wondering if the Tories have lost their minds.
Their advertising in French is designed to widen the gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada, as it pokes at that province's insecurities. The advertisements suggest that Mr. Ignatieff's accent is too Parisian and highbrow for Quebec, and reflects a federalist view of the world whereby Quebec is merely a part North America, rather than a nation onto itself.
As Ms. Hébert notes, the tone appears to suggest that if the Conservatives can't govern Canada, they will leave ashes in their wake.
Even all this, however, is no guarantee that Canadians are headed to the polls. The Conservatives are flush with cash. They were extremely successful in depicting Stéphane Dion, Mr. Ignatieff's predecessor, as an inept leader and enemy of Quebec by taking out advertisements long before a writ was dropped.
The campaign succeeded because Mr. Dion was unable to prove the allegations wrong -- particularly when the ads questioned his ability to lead a party whose helm he was given almost as an afterthought. And while Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberals insist they are better prepared to project their own image rather than let the Tory ads define them, the proof of that has yet to come.
Certainly, Canadians are much less xenophobic than their neighbours to the south, whose Constitution requires that the president actually be born in the United States. As such trying to convince Canadians that Mr. Ignatieff is unqualified to lead because he is worldly, well- educated and respected abroad is likely to cater only to those die-hard Conservatives whose support the party already has secured.
But if the Liberals want to define themselves as a national party with Canada's interests at heart -- as Mr. Ignatieff indicated once he saw the attacks coming his way -- it will be up to them to convince Canadians to put their money where the party's mouth is. The die-hard Conservatives have already shown that they have no problem writing cheques to keep the elites from power.
The sad thing about all of this for most Canadians, however, is that while the Tory attack ads -- and the Liberal counterattacks -- have replaced substantive parliamentary debate, the country's deficit is exploding with no plan evident to bring it under control in the long run. The Harper-appointed parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, has been deprived of enough funding to monitor how bad things are, the separatists are running with the ammo provided by the premature campaign, stimulus money seems to be as slow to arrive as a prairie spring, and the Americans have launched an anti-Canadian trade war not seen since before the Second World War.
No one seems to be paying much attention.
- - -
"Democracy cannot be maintained without its foundation: free public opinion and free discussion throughout the nation of all matters affecting the state within the limits set by the criminal code and the common law." - The Supreme Court of Canada, 1938
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tories step up attacks on Dion
The big bucks are going to the Conservatives. This shows that the Conservative policies are pleasing those with the big bucks. That should say something to those of us without big bucks except of course those who subscribe to the dribble down theory.
Interesting that the Conservative ads do not claim that Dion is weak for propping up the Conservatives!
Saturday » November 3 » 2007
Tories step up attacks on Dion
John Ivison
National Post
Saturday, November 03, 2007
The Conservatives intend to keep up the pressure on Stephane Dion by launching a new series of attack ads that target him as a weak leader, advising voters that he is "Not Worth the Risk."
The new TV and radio ads will start running this weekend and highlight Mr. Dion's admission that he would consider raising the rate of the GST, the day after it was cut in the Conservatives' minibudget.
Once again the ads feature the tagline "Stephane Dion -- Not a Leader," but this time around they add the line "Not Worth the Risk." The Conservatives claim Mr. Dion has billions of dollars in spending priorities but can't make up his mind which to run with. In a release this week, the Conservatives noted Mr. Dion has said he would prefer to spend the $6-billion GST cut on three different priorities: A cut on income tax cuts; funding for cities; and a child-care package.
The ads show a bewildered-looking Mr. Dion asking: "Do you think it's easy to make priorities?" -- a question he put to Michael Ignatieff during last year's Liberal leadership race. The ads suggest the only solution for Mr. Dion is a "multi-billion-dollar tax grab" by hiking the GST.
The Conservatives first attacked Mr. Dion soon after he was elected leader and the ad campaign was credited with defining his public image in the minds of voters before he had a chance to define it himself. They were also credited with driving millions of dollars into Conservative coffers -- the party has raised $12-million in the year to the end of September.
Mr. Dion has said he will not stoop to using negative ads, although the Liberals have run a number in Quebec depicting Stephen Harper as negative and divisive. The Liberals have raised just $3.1-million in the year to the end of September.
The Tories will also continue to turn the screw on the Liberals in the House of Commons by reintroducing the Senate reform package that died on the order paper in the spring session.
The House is on a week's break for Remembrance Day but on its return the Conservatives will bring back the term-limits bill for senators that stalled in Liberal-dominated Senate during the last session. Senators voted to shelve the bill, which called for eight-year-term limits, arguing the courts should decide whether provincial consent is required before the chamber is fundamentally changed.
The government will bring back the bill but this time to the House of Commons, forcing Mr. Dion to take an unequivocal position.
In the past, Mr. Dion has said he agrees to term limits in principle and has recognized the need to "improve" the Senate. At the same time, he has been critical of the Conservative plan, particularly the lack of consultation with the provinces before the unveiling of the legislation.
The government will also reintroduce the bill on senatorial elections that died before second reading in the House of Commons during the last session.
jivison@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Interesting that the Conservative ads do not claim that Dion is weak for propping up the Conservatives!
Saturday » November 3 » 2007
Tories step up attacks on Dion
John Ivison
National Post
Saturday, November 03, 2007
The Conservatives intend to keep up the pressure on Stephane Dion by launching a new series of attack ads that target him as a weak leader, advising voters that he is "Not Worth the Risk."
The new TV and radio ads will start running this weekend and highlight Mr. Dion's admission that he would consider raising the rate of the GST, the day after it was cut in the Conservatives' minibudget.
Once again the ads feature the tagline "Stephane Dion -- Not a Leader," but this time around they add the line "Not Worth the Risk." The Conservatives claim Mr. Dion has billions of dollars in spending priorities but can't make up his mind which to run with. In a release this week, the Conservatives noted Mr. Dion has said he would prefer to spend the $6-billion GST cut on three different priorities: A cut on income tax cuts; funding for cities; and a child-care package.
The ads show a bewildered-looking Mr. Dion asking: "Do you think it's easy to make priorities?" -- a question he put to Michael Ignatieff during last year's Liberal leadership race. The ads suggest the only solution for Mr. Dion is a "multi-billion-dollar tax grab" by hiking the GST.
The Conservatives first attacked Mr. Dion soon after he was elected leader and the ad campaign was credited with defining his public image in the minds of voters before he had a chance to define it himself. They were also credited with driving millions of dollars into Conservative coffers -- the party has raised $12-million in the year to the end of September.
Mr. Dion has said he will not stoop to using negative ads, although the Liberals have run a number in Quebec depicting Stephen Harper as negative and divisive. The Liberals have raised just $3.1-million in the year to the end of September.
The Tories will also continue to turn the screw on the Liberals in the House of Commons by reintroducing the Senate reform package that died on the order paper in the spring session.
The House is on a week's break for Remembrance Day but on its return the Conservatives will bring back the term-limits bill for senators that stalled in Liberal-dominated Senate during the last session. Senators voted to shelve the bill, which called for eight-year-term limits, arguing the courts should decide whether provincial consent is required before the chamber is fundamentally changed.
The government will bring back the bill but this time to the House of Commons, forcing Mr. Dion to take an unequivocal position.
In the past, Mr. Dion has said he agrees to term limits in principle and has recognized the need to "improve" the Senate. At the same time, he has been critical of the Conservative plan, particularly the lack of consultation with the provinces before the unveiling of the legislation.
The government will also reintroduce the bill on senatorial elections that died before second reading in the House of Commons during the last session.
jivison@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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