On the Net: The most attention was on the now-dismembered notaleader.ca, for obvious reasons, but the Liberals also launched promisebreakers.ca and scandalpedia.ca. On a more positive note, ThisIsDion was also launched.
Quote of the Week: Stephen Harper – “Do you like handcuffs?”
Guess Who’s Back? Ed’s Back! Jack Layton dropped his first “Ed Broadbent” reference of the campaign earlier this week, in reference to the puffin poop. It’s like 2006 all over again!
Guess Who’s Back? Rick’s Back! Rick Mercer compares the Canadian and US elections.
Stock Market: The UBC stock market has the Tories leading the Liberals 37.5% to 28.5%, with the NDP (17.7%), Bloc (8.6%), and Greens (8.8%) all trailing.
Poll Projections: I’ll be doing detailed updates of my seat projection Thursday or Friday of every week. However, given the barrage of polls out there, I’ll be releasing less detailed Sunday updates as well. And, adding in the last three days of polling, the Tories are now projected to win 144.5 seats, the Liberals 92.5, the Bloc 42.3, and the NDP 27.8. Oh, and if you’re interested, the Conservatives wind up a majority government on 4 out of the 1000 simulations.
Plane Names: The NDP plane has been christened “Kitchen-Air”, the Liberal plane has been dubbed “Profess-Air”, while the Tory plane has been cleverly named “Sweater Vest Jet”.
Policy Corner: Economist Stephen Gordon on the Tories’ diesel tax cut – “I’m running out of synonyms for stupid.“
Conservative Week in Review
Battle Cry: “Two and a half more years! Two and half more years!”
Grade: C+
Yeah, it was a bad week for the Tory war room. There’s no denying that. But the Conservative ad campaign appears to be working and Harper himself has looked cool, collected, and downright un-scary. Plus he dealt well with the gaffes which is something he hasn’t always handled well in past campaigns. And despite the failure of the 6 a.m. press sessions, they’ve controlled the agenda and gotten their message out.
Liberal Week in Review
Battle Cry: “Introducing Canadians to Stephane Dion…only 21 short months after he was elected leader!”
Grade: C+
Dion, at the least, met expectations this week and avoided any major mishaps. However, with the Tories gaffe-prone and failing to put any real policies in the window, the door was open for the Liberals to set the agenda and, for a wide range of reasons, they failed to get their message out. Just look at the attention Harper’s diesel fuel cut got compared to Dion’s promise to double the child tax benefit.
NDP Week in Review
Battle Cry: “I will follow Stephen Harper to the gates of…Calgary!”
Grade: B
Jack says he’s running to be Prime Minister but, in reality, he’s attacking Harper so that he looks like the stronger opposition leader. And, so far, he hasn’t done a bad job of that. The goal of the NDP in any campaign is always to stay relevant and he’s managed to grab headlines with populist policies.
Bloc Quebecois Week in Review
Battle Cry: “We are so screwed”
Grade: D
The Bloc has limped out of the gate, with former separatists questioning the very raison d’etre of the party. And, you have to wonder, what issue does the Bloc have to rally behind anymore? Will they actually propose anything this campaign that hasn’t been proposed by someone else? I have my doubts.
And, yeah, the Greens are probably the winners of the week. However, Conservatives everywhere have threatened to boycott my blog if the Greens get their own “week in review” recap so I will not elaborate on their performance at all.
In Case You Missed It
Fly Away, Little Sparrow
Not a Leader: Russian Invasion Edition
Puffin Poop
The League of Below Average Prime Ministers Endorses the Green Shift
