Hacks & Wonks

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

....This story.  We'll revisit it in the days to come.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Lost about two hours worth of work on my Election Round up tonight. The "Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically!" button didn't #$%#*in' work.

Oh well, just know that I am cooking something up and I won't be leaving it forever.

Meanwhile, Go Sens! I mentioned that I like them in six. That means they win the Stanley Cup on my birthday.

That has to happen now. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Found myself too cranky today, but I had two honest excuses to avoid the site.

1) I'm on call for work and had to earn my pay cheque.

2) LOST finale. I took six weeks off mid-way thru this campaign, but the last three hours have brought me back.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Yeah, I bit the hard one last night. I knew I should have kept Fort Garry off the board and let Brandon East switch back to the NDP. Honestly thought we accomplished enough in Seine River to bring it back and completely misjudged Linda West's four-year quest to take Radisson.

As for Jack Reimer....well....If you're losing a seat you've held for almost as long as the youngest voter going against you....Something's off, right?

Overall, not much good to be salvaged. Rick Borotsik as a pick-up (or as I was calling it all night, "Drew Caldwell's gotta be back in cabinet now. and that has to pay off for us!")

I made my classic error, which was to judge local races stronger than the big picture. One guy in particular gets to rub it in, because he and I got into a gooder on Friday and he nailed it....I was an idiot.

Lots of pieces to be picked up in the days to come. I've got a few already good to go. Leave the rest to you for now.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, May 23, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Suppose that the worse occurred and that the Prime Minister was killed will visiting Afghanistan.  How many Canadians would be up in arms over an attack on their leader and how many would simply assume Prime Minister Harper - and by extension, Canada - should not have been there in the first place?

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

I'll get into the details of what went right (some) and wrong (lots) post election, but I ended up being lazy tonight instead of writing. (Played a poker tourney. 41st out of 685. Good for $8.50 on a $3.30 entry.)

Let put up the pre-election predictions on the big board:












































So where am I thirty-something days later? A little more pesimistic on the Tories unfortunately. We didn't run a very good campaign, something that surprised me and costs us a couple of ridings I had thought it would put over the top.

Switches:

Swing Interlake back to the NDP. This one closes to a couple hundred votes gap, but we needed a stronger overall campaign to move it.



I just don't feel that St. Norbert is going to move anymore. Let's place it back in the NDP camp.

I've got money on the race, but I'll likely to lose it. Despite my better instincts, shift Kirkfield Park over to the NDP.



So that's three moving to them, but it's not all bad news...

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

The fact that the reporter basically catches him being completely insincere - terse and surely with her, but instantly "lighting up a smile" for voters - or this passage:

So, what is it about his personal convictions that makes him at home in the NDP?

He firmly deflects the question, referring only to his great admiration for former NDP premier Ed Schreyer, which inspired him to volunteer in the 1973 campaign.

Maybe the reason he avoids the topic is the fact that he was absolutely 100% in line to run for the Progressive Conservatives in the River Heights area during the 80's.

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, May 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Sitting in the Steve Andjelic HQ on Saturday afternoon. Just got back from a drop with Steve and one of Rod Bruinooge's board members. Things are very optimistic here today, as the final door drop piece has almost been completely delivered. In fact, Theresa Oswald was in the same neighbourhood as our crew today and we finished up a street just a few minutes after she had walked it.

According to the Free Press, the Premier is campaigning in Seine River today. We're getting our leader tomorrow. I believe this tells you more about the riding than Thursday's poll ever will. I really think this is one of the ridings going blue in three days and I get the sense the NDP agree with that assessment. GOTV looks good and based on some conversations I've had with a handful of people in a handful of ridings, G-et O-ut T-he V-ote could be the difference maker in as many as four or five ridings.

Steve's looking over my shoulder at the moment, and you can tell he's a blogger himself, because he's far too excited about me blogging from campaign HQ. *grin*

The sun is shining. The final material is at the doors. There are smiles all around the office right now.

Life is good.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, May 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

2:56pm - Just heard a CJOB ad by the party. I'm paraphrasing:

"Half truths! Misrepresentations! Outright lies! Personal attacks on Hugh McFadyen because the NDP know that he'll call an inquiry into the Crocus Affair. The NDP are....(blah, blah, blah they suck, we don't, Vote Tory on Tuesday.)"

Well. There's a bit of a counter punch.

(PS: Not impressed with "The Point" whatsoever. I'll elaborate later as to why.)

*********

Saturday Update: Heard another hard hitting radio spot last night on the way to door knocking.* This one leaves little doubt about our message ("On Tuesday, VOTE AGAINST THE NDP."), and I'll admit it feels like a Hail Mary attempt, but theen again, it's the final three days and the public polls tell us we're going to lose anyhow, so why not try a Hail Mary or two. I'm still not convinced that we're not headed to an NDP minority and the two or three seats that are really close *could* be affected by the last minute attack spots.**



* - The trailer park - not nearly as scary as it could have been. Some really solid supporters lived there. Last time I knocked a trailer park was 1999 in Brandon and that was a rough ride for a newbie.

** - Agree 100% with the Freep on the hypocrisy of saying we're running an absolutely positive campaign when we're hitting Doer on a number of fronts. There's nothing wrong with going negative when merited - and I think it is merited in Manitoba today - however just don't try to then score "high and mighty" points either.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, May 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Friday, May 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

"Why did we propose removing the PST from bicycles, but not bike helmets? Is this just another reckless promise? What about the children?"

 

The Tories have a lot to answer for.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, May 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

I figure about one in every three or four voters are just beginning to make up their mind on who they are voting for Tuesday. Time to start guessing about which way they'll break.

Based on the servers that send traffic my way, I know that I have some politically knowledgeable readers (and a few Liberals), and I'm looking for as many predictions as possible. I'm going to riff off of them when I do my final pre-election round-up over the long weekend. Of course, your secret identities will remain safe (far safer than mine for example).

Feel free to post in comments, but I'll be honest with you: Emails and names will go a long way towards establishing your credibility (even if I don't know who you are) and that will determine how much weight I give your opinion. (Except Uncle Joe. He gets full comments' rights.)

So fire away gang! Let's hear how dire it is for the Tories, how shocked Gary Doer will be on Tuesday, how the Liberal caucus will remain a duo (but which two will it be?).

Predict away!


* - Bleg (bleh-g') - When you post a request of your readers. Combination of "blog" and "beg". Kinda hokey.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, May 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

When the dust settles next week, one baffling aspect of the Tory campaign that will need to be looked at is the distinct lack of a response to the NDP claims about our record and what we "intend" to do - particularly on Hydro. Richard Cloutier just made that comment on CJOB's reporters panel just now and I heard the exact same thing last night.

Where was fact-checking on the NDP policy announcements and statements? Where was the rapid response? Why did it take until this morning for someone - again Cloutier - to point out that the NDP has been busy cutting Hydro deals with private outfits on wind power and aboriginal groups on dam-building? (Imagine how the NDP would get their underwear in a bunch if someone offered the exact same sweetheart deal to Wellington West or another investment house?)

The race will still be fairly close on Tuesday, coming down to three to five seats that we will spend the evening watching closely. But post-election, a very serious and very frank dissection of the pros and cons of the campaign will be required. As a high-ranking Tory pointed out to me earlier this week, it took an honest asessment of Harper's 2004 loss to improve his overall campaign efforts in 2006.

How the leadership group handles the post-election fallout will go a long way to determining the strenght of Hugh McFadyen's long term leadership.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, May 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

The Calgary Grit has a good round up of one-liners stemming from yesterday's ridiculous story about the federal gov't going after foreign-trained strippers.

The Harper "conservatives" are not SOFT on foreign strippers.

SAY NO TO FOREIGN WORKERS and support home grown.

This is fantastic news! For too long we have neglected the development of our own Canadian based strippers. I am looking forward to a new domestic crop which doesn't try to marry me every time I purchase a lap dance.

And of course, Paris-bound Paul Wells weighs in with a good zinger:

Here's a gang that acts like the government of a trillion-dollar economy...

I've been meaning to mention it, and this is probably a good topic for a far more meatier post once the provincial election is completed**, however I have to say I no longer feel any pride for the Tory government in Ottawa. There are still areas that make me swell - think Afghanistan, foreign policy in general - and I'm usually pro-justice policy initiatives, however there is simply too much other garbage going on to keep justifying a high esteem. The Tories remain the best alternative of the bunch and I'm still a member of the party fighting for the right causes, but I just can't get too excited about it anymore.

The Prime Minister and team can still win me back - quite easily actually - but it's going to take more than petty shots at the Liberals and a horribly sub-par economic agenda to it.


* - I've always felt a little blasmaphous due to Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" being my all-time favorite stripper song.

** - Still got it 28-27-2 for the NDP, though I'm juggling two Tory seats during this weekend's pre-election wrap up.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

"Hello....Can you hear what I'm saying?"

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

There are a handful of issues where Paul Tuns and I will never see eye-to-eye - for example, on same-sex marriage or the evil that is the New York Yankees. However, those issues tend to be few and far between, and on the issue of campaign financing, I subscribe to Tuns who subscribes to someone else whose name eludes me at the moment. That someone wrote the seven words in the title of this post. It is that simple and in the end, isn't that all you need?

(Course, the political animal in me likes the current federal system because the Tories have a significant advantage over the Liberals, which only helps in the cause of supplanting those Liberals as "Canada's Natural Governing Party".

That being said, the my policy wonk side - which has been pretty twitchy lately - figures the federal system is faulty on merit and purpose.)

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, May 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

As gas just took another five or six-cent increase today.....Figure out how big the provincial share of the extra revenue will be and start using the line:

"Gary Doer wants to keep all of that revenue for himself, however we are thinking of Manitobans and the pressures on their household budgets and that is why we're committed to cutting your taxes. In his arrogance and rush to spend your money, Gary Doer might think that it's fair the government keep that extra [X dollars]. We think it's better you keep it."

Update: A real down and dirty research has learned me that Manitoba has a flat tax of $0.115 cents per litre, so the only increase to provincial revenues would be the PST increase, which probably doesn't add up as greatly as I first thought it would be.

Upperdate: The commenter also corrected me before I could get this post up, so kudos. Everyone else, as you were.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

People are going on and on about how "dull and boring" this campaign has been. This is partially motivated by the media who keep calling it "dull and boring", however there is some legitimacy to the comment that it feels like a listless beast slowly plodding along until it finds some place to hanker down on E-day and die.

However, for true political science students, there are many interesting facets of this campaign that should be looked at a little closer. Why is the campaign so dull? Parties have been offering new pledges almost every day. More than half of the ridings have legitimate stories of interest to watch. The number of undecided voters remains high at this late time and the final seven days of campaigning is going to be crucial. There are many potential catalysts for "excitement" election-wise.

They aren't working though. At least not amongst most voters, media and even political insiders. That fact alone makes it interesting for the students and profs (at least those who take their field of study seriously).

I maintain strongly that the NDP have run a seriously flawed campaign (even should they prevail on E-day) and post-election, we'll try to look at that a little more specifically. The Tories had their high moments (justice weeks - generally viewed in positive light by friends and foes alike) and their low moments ("Give me a J! Give me an E! Give me..."). That was to be expected. What wasn't expected was by the overall lack of a vision for private sector development. That was seriously disappointing for this Tory and something I'll be working my ass off trying to change post-election.

(I'm going on the record right now....It's time Tories stop feeling sheepish over the MTS privatization. History has proven we were absolutely correct to do it and it's time we held it up with pride. Manitobans are better served by the company - look how the internet infrastructure grew quickly and consistently for example, MTS TV is another area where the crown wouldn't have been - and Manitoba is now home to the third-largest telecommunications company in the country, one with bolds ideas for growth outside the province and I, for one, applaud them. So when the NDP try to throw "You sold MTS!" at us as if it was a slur on par with our mothers' sleeping arrangements, we should say, "You're damned right we did. It was the right thing then. It was the right thing now. And if you still haven't figured it out, you aren't fit to run a dollar store, least of all the finances of our wonderful province!"

Listen to me Tories...Most Manitobans are smart enough to know that MTS is far stronger private than it was public. They get that. Gary Doer and the NDP look foolish suggesting otherwise. Let them look foolish.

By time the next election rolls around, let's ignore their catcalls regarding MTS. It will only help us.)

Anyhow, lunch is over and I've got to go back to work, but those are some general thoughts heading into this final week.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Hacks & Wonks, Sunday, April 18th, when discussing the possiblity of Brandon East going Tory:

By week three or so, Curtis Brown will start to pick up the trend line, and who knows, by the final weekend, people will be really watching it closer.

Curtis Brown, Sunday, May 13th, when discussing the possiblity of Brandon East going Tory:

Tory candidate Mike Waddell has made the race in Brandon East a nervous, nail-biting affair with just a week to go. I said so in my Spin Cycle column this weekend (which is behind the Sun subscription wall) and I say so based on the momentum Waddell seems to be gaining based almost solely on his work at the door and the unexpected resurgence of the Liberal Party in Brandon East.

Hehehehe....Thanks Curtis. Making me look good. Now we'll leave the ball in Mike's hands to carry the rest of the way. I think he wins. Curtis sees Drew Caldwell holding. Going to be fun to watch.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

"The Greens aspire to create a better society and provide the policies that would get us there."

Ah, Dan? I think that's kinda what all politicians aspire to. Just because we disagree on how to better that society doesn't mean the righties like myself are out there trying to stick it to everybody. Wouldn't the Greens bring in Kyoto like tomorrow if they could have a chance? Wonder how those who became suddenly unemployed would feel about the Greenies feelgood plans then? Think gas is expensive today? How much you enjoying society when it's at least 50% more?

Say it with me Dan. "Tories. Are. Not. Bad. People."

[Hack Note: I can't claim the theme of this post as an original thought. Pretty sure I read someone else discussing "conscience of..." and the NDP federally last week. It's a ridiculous fallacy and one that people need to start being called out on.]

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Dan Lett - in a piece full of otherwise lousy assumptions and statements - actually hits the nail on the head with this line. During a period when Manitoba's economy was strong, when home building was booming, when federal transfers skyrocketed.....Did we really improve that greatly as a province? If we can't take a step ahead during such prosperous and otherwise good times, what the hell does that say about the government guiding the province during them?

Say what you want about the Filmon years, but very few people would have suggested that Filmon did not improve the province during his eleven years. And he managed that with a recession in the early 90's and massive federal transfer cuts during the mid 90's.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, May 09, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

As for the politics of it....Flirts with becoming a mockery, but so long as it can stay on the right side of the line...Not a terrible political pledge.

Policy-wise? Notsomuch. But hey, this is an election. Apparently policy debate and elections don't get to mix.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

James Howard from Slurpees & Murder has stolen the "Hack's Current Favorite Blog Title" from the no-longer posting Heather over at But My Mom Says That I'm Special..., and he's got a pretty original take on today's announcement:

See, as you'll recall from your introductory Political Studies courses -- or as I'll recall for you, if you prefer -- the classical understanding of small-C conservatism is to protect the status quo against those unsavoury pie-in-the-sky radicals that would ruin our collective society by making dramatic changes just for the sake of change. And classic small-L liberalism is based on the continued evolution of society to better the lives of the individual, rearranging whatever structures necessary to make incremental progress and keep the existing system from trodding on the common man.

With that in mind, and to recap our current Manitoba setup: the NDP platform is to guard our existing system as-is rather than risk any dramatic changes, and the Conservative platform is to change everything now now now to make things better for individual Manitobans. Oh, and the Liberal platform is to push hard for social justice and environmental rights if it means spending every last dime we have.

I don't even know where to begin with this.

Heh. The Poli-sci student in me giggles.

Check out the rest of Howard's clever post, complete with pictures of a luchador destined to soon prowl the halls of the MTS Centre if Hugh McFadyen gets his way.

Dan Lett adds his two cents. So does six-year old Sean Lett. Dan could very well be right, however I believe he's missing the point of this announcement. It wasn't about overpaying a bunch of shinny players to amuse the poor robbed masses. It's about offering hope that Winnipeg can still be more than its current path suggests. On that, I have to support it out of near principle. For all the talk about us needing to aim higher, when it comes to the NHL, all of a sudden we're expected to settle once again. The symbolism is important providing we can make most of the numbers dance.

Curtis Brown is aiming for more. He doesn't just want the Jets, but the Winnipeg Fury and Winnipeg Thunder as well. I'll leave the soccer to my sisters who have been infatuated with the game following Premiership Football and the early days of the Toronto FC, but my only memory of a Winnipeg Thunder game is absolutely wonderful. For it was at a Thunder game that I broke character and someone assumed the role of a junior high school mack daddy, convincing the pretty girl from Glenboro that of all the young boys at Manitoba Space Camp, yours truly was the one worth spending the game with. Back to today's announcement, I think Curtis overshoots on his critique here:

Did Hugh really and honestly suggest that an NHL franchise in Winnipeg would keep someone from taking a big-dollar job in Alberta? Oh, he did? And he said it with a straight face too?

Wow.

I mean it's not like Hugh directly made the connection. He's obviously alluding to....*whisper, whisper* What's that? *whisper, whisper* He didn't say 'Absolutely', did he? *whisper, whisper while nodding* Okay, that's just dumb. I'm with Curtis on that one.

HOWEVER! That being said....I have friends from Brandon who have lived in Calgary for years. Got speaking to them both at a wedding over the weekend. Both are exactly the type of ex-pats Manitoba would do well to target and target hard. While a NHL team wouldn't seal the deal, I have little doubt that it would help grease the skids on the sleigh aimed eastward. Both are dedicated Flames fans, attending about four or five games a year. Again, exactly the type of couple needed to make the team (and in the bigger picture - the province) work.

I'll be curious to hear what the ball club thinks of this on opening night this Wednesday. All are twenty-somethings. Most, if not all with post-secondary education. I wonder how much will be negative comments and how much will play into the "hope for the city" angle?

Because that's the mix that will determine if this pig flies or not.

*********

Last Update Before Bed:

The pledge makes the national edition of Prime Time Sports!

Bob McCowen: "Manitoba politicians promise to bring back the
Jets."

Panel: *laughter*

Stephen Brunt: Are people really that stupid to believe it when politicians.....*breaks off, chuckles and acknowledges....*

Bob McCowen: *nodding up and down*

Doug Smith, the TorStar Raptors guy says the building's too small (no), the concourse is too small (probably) and that "the area" is too small (center of the universe jabroni!), though McCowen mentions that they had the designer of the building on the show shortly after the grand opening and said designer told them that the roof could be raised to put some more seats in the upper deck. (This I never knew.)

They all acknowledge that teams are going to start moving, with Brunt putting Winnipeg on the "check out" list, but behind Kansas City and the now-ready-to-shun-the-NBA Las Vegas (which is a city I frankly want to see happen in a bad way anyhow).

Overall though, they got a chuckle out of the pledge and I'm now ready for bed.

************************

Okay, I lied. One more before I go. Look who else might be ready for a return sojourn to River City:

Phoenix Coyotes housecleaning swept out veteran TV voice Curt Keilbeck, who began his association with the franchise in Winnipeg, when the Jets joined in the NHL in 1979. Keilbeck, 58, said he was shocked and disappointed. [link]

Serendipitous timing?

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, May 08, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, RIP.

*hums SportsNight theme song to remember good Aaron Sorkin times*

Posted by The Hack at Monday, May 07, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Move's finished. I now live south of the Perimeter. Might not comment too much over the next couple of days because of a wedding on Saturday, however should be back up to full speed by Sunday night.

Here's a hilarious link for your enjoyment.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, May 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

OTTAWA — There is no sign of the icy fingers of panic in the New Jersey Devils' dressing room.

They may be down 2-1 in their National Hockey League playoff series to a
determined, disciplined group of Ottawa Senators, but this is a familiar place for the battle-hardened Devils. A stroll through their dressing room after practice Tuesday saw most of them at their lockers, laughing and chatting among themselves and the media, while an unseen stereo system blasted selections from the Tragically Hip.

"Quiet confidence..." That's how I described my feelings towards the Senators earlier in the playoffs to a buddy. I called Ottawa over Jersey in six. Still liking that prediction today.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, May 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments