There’s a lot of debate about just how damaging Scott Reid’s “beer and popcorn” comments will turn out to be. I think these comments will have a fairly major impact for the following ten, count ’em 10, reasons.

1. It’s snappy. Beer and popcorn rolls off your lips and makes for great water cooler talk. This is the sort of thing people will talk about at Christmas parties and over turkey.

2. It was on TV, so there’s a video clip of it. In fact, both CBC and CTV (with Duffy) have clips of it, so the networks will both play it ad nauseum. It’s also a quick little clip, so they’ll keep showing it.

3. Scott Reid is the communications director. The communications director is the voice of the party and the Prime Minister and must be held to a higher standard. That’s what did Francoise Ducros in.

4. It’s something new for the media to pick at. We’ve had a policy campaign so far, which is great, but it doesn’t sell papers. Now they have something a bit more racy to focus on. Heck, if an anonymous Conservative had said or written something stupid, it’s hardly news, because they do it all the time. And, to be honest, I think the media feels a little guilty about not picking up Reid’s “Alberta can blow me” comments from earlier in the campaign and this is their way to make ammends.

5. Child care has been the big policy debate of this campaign, overshadowing even the GST. The NDP released their platform today, ensuring the story will have more life. Since people will keep talking about child care, they’ll keep talking about Reid’s gaffe.

6. Harper will be able to capitalize on this during the Thursday and Friday debates.

7. These comments will be easy to spoof and have fun with. Already, the Tories have had beer and popcorn at their events today. I can see Tory candidates handing out little bags of popcorn as they go door to door too. It’s easy to throw something like this into a commercial too.

8. John Duffy said he was 100% behind Scott Reid. So it’s not just one idiot on the board flapping his mouth, it’s two. That makes it seem a lot more like party position, than just one mispeak.

9. Paul’s retraction had horrible optics. Not just because he stumbled over his words, but because he was at a winery. It’s funny because of the beer, but people seeing a rich millionaire Prime Minister sipping wine after a condescending comment by his spokesman is just bad optics.

10. This plays into the CPC platform. Their whole argument is that Canadians are better suited to spend money than the government. This is their line, not just with childcare, but also with many of their other tax breaks. By Martin agreeing that parents will spend the money wisely, and on childcare, they’ve neutralized a key Liberal counter argument.

[cross-posted to CTV Weblog]