Tuesday, September 30

People Are Going To Be Looking For Work

Considering the Prime Minister's well-known habit of shifting through election entrails when it's all said and done, my hunch is that the constant self-sabotage and the ridiculous misuse of dollars building a campaign HQ that is hardly being used or churning out strikes against the opposition will eventually lead the PM to the decision that some new people are in order.

If the Tories had been half as organized as they sounded like they were, the majority would have been easy now, instead of probably lost.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | | Comments

Because I Love Nothing Better Than Posting Stuff That Makes Me Look Smart

Any number of drinking companions will tell you that I never once felt concerned about the Liberals re-taking the government over the last two years. 

Why, they would ask.  Polls show your guy isn't too personally popular and the Liberal brand is pretty solid, while yours is taking time to grow.

"Easy.  The fastest way the Liberals would get back into office is to run towards the right.  Reclaim the superior position on economics from the Tories by properly attacking the GST cut and the increases in spending.  Pick off fiscal Tories like myself who are seriously frustrated with our handling of the budgets.
 
"But they won't do it.  They can't do it.
 
"The Liberals natural tendancy - especially Dion's - is to run left on any given issue.  So long as that stays in place, the Tories are safe for awhile."

Andrew Steele suggests pretty much the same thing, which is also why he says that the Liberals can't just pin the blame on Dion for their forfeiture of the economic file, thus losing the most important issue of the election*.  This one is a group effort for the party.
 
* - Yes, the economy has become the big issue and currently it is slated for twelve whole minutes of leadership debate on Thursday!   That's over two minutes a leader.  Nice, eh?  I'm extremely glad to hear what Elizabeth May's course of action for the Canadian economy should be to weather the storm.  Should be enlightning.  Ditto Gilles Duceppe!  I'm sure his opinion on liquidity merits study and consideration like those of the Prime Minister or even the Leader of the Opposition's.

Once more with feeling, our debate process is a sham.  Our elections don't feel important because we don't treat them as important.  


 

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | | Comments

Smart

Not many Manitobans realize it yet, but the whole "Saskatchewan is going to pass Manitoba in economic and political importance" thing that some of us railed on for a couple years....Yeah, it happened already.  Probably about a year ago now.

And Premier Brad Wall's not looking to stop anytime soon:

Saskatchewan Premier Recruits In Ontario


But yes, let's continue to tout ourselves as the "hidden gem" of Canada that leaves it to others to find us and hear about opportunity here.   Our strategy so far has ensured that the "hidden" part remains as true as the "gem" part and that truly is a shame.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | | Comments

Bad Sign

Invesco Trimark - the company behind the vast majority of my mutual fund holdings - has their website down tonight.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | | Comments

Saturday, September 27

Paul Newman

The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Slapshot, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Sting, The Color Of Money, The Verdict, The Hudsucker Proxy (yeah, that's right!), Hud, Nobody's Fool, Road To Perdition and for lil' Nolan Day, Cars.

Just a sampling of some of his best.

Thanks for the performances Mr. Newman. I greatly enjoyed many of them.

* * * * * *

And thanks for inspiring one of the all-time funniest - and easiest-to-use - quotes from The Simpsons.

"Paul Newman's gonna have ma' legs broke!"

He sure is...He sure is.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 27, 2008 | | Comments

Blatch On Hughes

[link]

No, what is wonderful is that Ms. Hughes has had such a good go of being such a proper little Canadian lefty (I rarely use words like this, but there ain't no other way to describe her) that I have no doubt she's genuinely bewildered.

She's played by all the rules as she knew them, embraced all (well, okay, almost all, the Sept. 11 conspiracy theory, being a shade out there) the right causes, and what, now this kick in the teeth?

Not even a Raging Granny, one of those women who with hideous regularity show up at protests and the like to sing hideous ditties, could have summoned up greater righteous indignation.

As a perfect illustration of the peculiar sort of Canadian-ness Ms. Hughes seems to embody was what she said yesterday when a TV reporter broke the news to her that Mr. Dion was giving her the boot, and then, it being television, asked her how she felt.

"I guess this is how soldiers die in trenches, eh?" she said. "This is how it must feel."

Only a particular kind of Canadian woman of a certain age who has spent her life in the safe and cozy confines of Winnipeg, making a decent living and reputation as a caring social activist and never coming within a hair of a battlefield could compare her suffering as a cruelly aborted Liberal candidate to that of a dying soldier.




Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 27, 2008 | | Comments

Friday, September 26

21st Century Politics



The debate ended less than one hour ago as I post this. (10:17 pm)

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 26, 2008 | | Comments

Girls Who Have Googled Me Still Wanted To Date, So I Guess I'm Still Safe.....For Now





The Frog has a post so funny, I just had to share it and the corresponding image.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 26, 2008 | | Comments

Thursday, September 25

Hey Jerkwads!

Which one of you dropped the ball and forgot to tell me that Greg Staples was blogging again?  Dude was one of the first to help me gain traffic back in the day and I'll be needing to add him back to the blogroll tonight.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 25, 2008 | | Comments

Isn't This Exactly What Those Opposing Her Debate Entry Argued She'd Do?

Dear Green Members (honest-to-goodness Green members and not just those kinda sorta on their bandwagon),

She's not helping your cause towards growing your party. Remember, every vote for you is worth $7.50ish or so. Can you really afford to tell voters to cast ballots for the other guys?

May urged Canadians to do all they can to throw Prime Minister Stephen Harper out of office, including strongly suggesting they shouldn't vote Green if another candidate has a better chance at defeating a Conservative.
***
"I'd rather have no Green seats and Stephen Harper lose, than a full caucus that stares across the floor at Stephen Harper as prime minister, because his policies are too dangerous," she said. So determined is May to keep Harper from power she also told the Star she wants Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton to join her in a pact to beat Conservatives candidates. The Green, Liberal and New Democratic parties should prevent vote-splitting that would favour Conservatives, and carve up electoral ridings according to who has the best chance of winning, May said. "We sit down and say, `Who has the best chance of winning in all these ridings?'



Once again my verte-minded friends, ask yourself, do you believe the Greens would be in the best party to beat the Tories in any riding across the country? Your fearless leader is essentially wanting to take you out of the game. (Though to his credit, Jack Layton is giving her the brush off.)

Anyhow, just some more food for thought for those wondering why I refuse to cede much ground to the Greens in the campaign. Show me you're serious first.


*****

Greetings my Small Dead Animal friends. Nothing like a link on Kate's juggernaut to spur a four-fold increase in daily traffic. While I never expected this wee post to earn the attention (Paul Tuns as well like it), it always amazes me which spur of the moment offerings sink in.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 25, 2008 | | Comments

Wednesday, September 24

Damned Globe & Mail Biases...

Just terrible.  Terrible I tells ya!

If you're a Liberal reader.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 24, 2008 | | Comments

Tuesday, September 23

Hot Hand

Earlier this summer, I shot craps for the first time. In Calgary for the evening*, bored, needing to get away from the family for a few hours**. Punched "casino" into my brother's Garmin and off I went.

Now usually, my casino game is blackjack. So I sat down and began to play a few hands. A miserable shoe went by and while I was only down $10, I wasn't feeling it. Nearby, a lone shooter was throwing craps and I had been wanting to watch the game in action, so I stood up and wandered over.

But no sooner that I had, the shooter crapped out and the stickman looked at me, "Sir?", while pushing the dice over.

Having a one-hour DVD's worth of training from earlier in the year***, I decided it was time to see what the fuss was about. Laid down $5 and started off.

Now, I knew the basics. Always take odds. Try to cover off about four numbers at most. Avoid the "prop bets". I just started throwing, asking questions of the staff and very quickly, winning a lot of money.

Couldn't have asked for a better run. For you craps novices, once you open the betting, you can only lose by rolling a 7. You keep going and going if you don't.

I must have gone at least 20-25 throws before stopping that first run. Since I was putting a portion of winnings back into play as my streak began, there was about $60 riding on each roll towards the end and it seemed like I was winning $15-$20 every other toss.

Finally rolled a seven and started counting the winnings. Up several hundred.****

Knew it wasn't going to happen like that every time, but also took to heart a long held craps idiom: Keep riding the hot hand.

Which leads to the point of this long-winded tale of victory on the battlefield:

Nik Nanos is the pollster I pay closest attention to right now.

Nanos has the distinction of being the closest pollster to the election results in each of the last two federal elections. With pollsters being all over the map depending on the company, two-in-a-row is enough consistency to extend the benefit of the doubt towards for the third.

Today's Numbers: [pdf]


CPC: 38%
Lib: 27%
NDP: 21%
Bloc: 8%
Green: 6%

These feel right to me for the moment. Checking out the graph on the site, I see the lines all fairly steady, except with the NDP showing slow, consistent growth at the expence of the Tories and the Greens, who crested at 9% early last week on the strength of the debate debate. While the Liberals numbers have decline, that vote appears to have shifted to the Tories(*5).

My hunch is that the NDP just need to keep the numbers above the psychological 20% barrier for another week and suddenly you will see the Liberal vote move towards them. What this makes me think is that there is a very real possibility that by time election day rolls around, the NDP could actually out-poll the Liberals nationally. (I feel polling numbers of 24%-23% feels absolutely doable.) The catch however, is that despite that potential development, the NDP remain extremely unlikely to pass them in seat count. The NDP vote is still pretty spread out, while the Liberals have actually begun concentrating their vote in Ontario, Montreal and Atlantic Canada. The worst I see the Liberals falling - the worst - is still about 60ish seats, and there's just no way the NDP has a ceiling higher than 50.

Makes for interesting times though.

Never was too sure that the Harper/Layton gambit of the NDP supplanting the Liberals was quite possible, but a combination of factors are conspiring to bring about it. Even if the NDP just close the polling gap and narrow the seat gap, Layton will continue to win people over. And let's face it, the Liberals - when in opposition - struggle to organize properly in non-held areas. In the west, organized Liberal politics is beginning to wilt. Manitoba is soon to be a 1-Liberal or no-Liberal province. Saskatchewan is only holding on by their Goodale. Neither province has strength at the provincial level to work with.

Alberta's not getting stronger for them.

BC has the advantage of a provincial party named Liberal and many divisions of that party helping the federal cause.*6 But even then, the party hold is narrowing to Vancouver and the NDP - some potheads and skinny dippin' Dippers aside - should continue to pick off voters.

The longer in opposition, new leadership or not, organization is going to degrade for the Reds. Thanks to the fundraising rules, they have to run a lean organization of paid staff. Without paid staff, most Liberals tend to drift away.

Anyhow, I'm going to continue watching the NDP numbers in the Nanos Rolling Poll. If they start to fade, the Libs are safe.

But should Layton manage to hold his national numbers....More than just Stephane Dion need be nervous about their long-term prospects.


******

The Kermit The Frog Update (Or The "It Ain't Easy Being Green" Update): The Calgary Grit makes a good point that I think everyone reading here should keep in mind. The Greens poll lower here than other polls because Nanos doesn't offer choices when asking which party the person on the phone supports. When not prompted - or when not given as an option for the "None Of The Above" crowd - the Greens look a little less promising as an option.

* - Don't be angry Calgary friends. I know I didn't call, but I was traveling with the family and wasn't even sure we were stopping in town that night.

** - It was the second last day of a longer trip. Loves ya guys, but closed quarters and such.

*** - Classic Manitoba Gaming Story: One friend receives a "How To Shoot Craps" DVD last Christmas. Another friend is back home visiting. The Manitoba casinos had just installed their craps tables. It's Monday night and we plan an evening of beers and DVD watching, then a trip to McPhillips Street Station to test our learning. We arrive at the casino only to learn that the table doesn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays. Makes sense, huh?

**** - That night was my single best casino outing ever (outside the Vegas trip). I ended up winning big on craps, winning small on blackjack and winning medium on poker.

*5 - There's a very good chance that the Tories had a bad sample day of polling last Thursday or Friday, which resulted in the "burp" of their support line and artificially pulling the Liberals up for a day or two of rolling polling. Hence the 3-pt swing today. Last week I thought that there was a rogue poll when the Tories appeared too high and the Liberals too low, but taken over the last two weeks, it appears the gap really is larger than it appeared during this weekend's Nanos polls showed. Watch the next couple days to see if the current trends hold again.

*6 - Which continues to help the Liberals in Ontario, Montreal and the Maritimes and ensures they won't fade away there like they have on the prairies.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | | Comments

Bridgeworks

Here's what I don't get.  Why the seperate foot/bike bridge? 

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | | Comments

Monday, September 22

The Bigger Picture

Andrew Coyne makes a point about the proposed Canada-European Union Trade Deal that sparked a light bulb in my head:

I'm sorry, but this is huge. Huger than huge. Hugeastic. Hugeriffic....Understand what this means. If we pull this off, then Canada would be the only developed country (Mexico has its own deal) with guaranteed access to both the European Union and the United States — the two richest markets in the world, with 800 million consumers between them. Locating in either the US or the EU would give a firm guaranteed access to only one. Only by locating in Canada would they get both. [h - emphasis added.]

He's absolutely correct. Such a deal would have a tremendous positive benefit for Canadians. The US-EU deal is years away from being possible. Possibly decades. Protectionism and politics will constantly be a stumbling block on that front.

But Canada....We're the lovable cousins of Europe. We can get this deal done and it will mean billions upon billions in positive net trade. Practically guaranteed.

Now....What worries me:

Were I to ask the fifty-seven Manitoba MLAs at the Legislature if they realized that these talks were going on, how many could tell me they were happening next month? How many would really be thinking about it? Discussing it? Figuring out how Manitoba could capitalize on the development?

Ten? Maybe 15?

The Premier sure. Ditto the Trade Minister (Swan). I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that at least another five or six cabinet ministers are keeping up to date on files like these. Plus a handful of opposition members.

Shouldn't preparations for a massive business and industry luring campaign start being laid right now? These are the issues that Manitoba's future relies on much more than puppy mills and voting dates, as important as those are. *a voice whispers from the sky: "Almost none at all..."*

Let's get on this one folks. We're talking something potentially large here.

Trust me.

Let's dream about something more ambitious than novelty forts and porti potties.

Coyne continues:
But it’s the strategic advantages that are so compelling. Now imagine that we also sign a free-trade agreement with India (or Japan), as the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, among others, have recently advocated. We would stand at the crossroads of international trade and investment.
Doesn't that just spark just a little bit of entrepreneurialism within the soul? There's opportunity happening here.

Someone please show leadership on it. Let's make it so that Manitoba is the first province out of the gate when it happens.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 22, 2008 | | Comments

Sunday, September 21

Missed This

From Nestruck, some pretty good humour on the Quebec-only Tory ads.

Loose translation for English-only speakers:

Lawrence Cannon: Hey guys, remember how we promised we were going to change things, but for reals this time?

Stephen Harper: Yeah, and then we solved the fiscal imbalance and my pituitary problem.

Jean-Pierre Blackburn: So true. Also we recognized Quebec as a nation and that previously silent oppressed collectivity now finally has a voice.

Josee Verner: Oh, speaking of accomplishments, don't forget that beer-and-popcorn allowance for new families and that we reduced the GST to 5%.

Christian Paradis: I'M IN THE CABINET!?!?!

Michel Fortier: And we've got a 1000-year plan to reduce greenhouse gases without any new taxes. Question: Are we drinking grapefruit juice or really watery orange juice?

Stephen Harper: We were responsible, and we made good decisions, and we ate all our vegetables!

Lawrence Cannon: Unlike the Liberals, who made promises and then didn't keep them.

Christian Paradis: Yeah, and unlike the Bloc, who OMG GUYS, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M HAVING BREAKFAST WITH ALL OF YOU!!!

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 21, 2008 | | Comments

Don't Look At Me

[link]  [h/t Kady]

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 21, 2008 | | Comments

Jack Layton's On A Roll

[link]

GATINEAU, Que. — If elected prime minister, NDP leader Jack Layton promised Sunday to give all the provinces and territories the power to implement a total handgun ban in their jurisdictions.

Smart move.  Not the pandering policy itself, but the politics behind it.  Instead of banning them himself, he's throwing the work to the provinces, but keeps the symbolism for himself.  I would imagine such a policy will help the NDP in their prime hunting areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

I'm telling you, the NDP's number have held steady for the first two weeks, but Jack's doing everything he needs to do (with Dion helping).  If the NDP's number don't start cracking the 20's by October 5th, I don't know nothing about politics.  (And to back it up, I'm heavily invested in the NDP's popular vote on the UBC market.)

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 21, 2008 | | Comments

File This For Later

For when we discuss how Stephen Harper and some fortuitous timing in Canadian political history changed the direction of the country.   It's just another sign of what's going on.  [link]

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 21, 2008 | | Comments

Saturday, September 20

Trolling For Asper Traffic

Considering he's visited a few other blogs, including Policy Frog's the other day, this is a blatant attempt to get David Asper to my corner of the 'net.

Dear David,

I know you're getting some grief because the stadium won't have a dome*.  Don't worry about it.  Football is best outdoors. 

A dome would suck in Winnipeg.  I'm with you on the open-air. 

Even if open-air is just a cost factor.

Later.

The Hack

* - Like Bob McGowan would come to Winnipeg for a Grey Cup anyhow. 

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 20, 2008 | | Comments

Small Steps Redux

What I consider a very concerning clause in the draft language of the Wall Street Bail Out package:

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.


Seriously?   This is supposed to be acceptable within a democracy?  Big issue here people.



Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 20, 2008 | | Comments

Friday, September 19

That's Just Going To Make Their Ads A Little Confusing*

Dion: Green Shift not major platform plank


* - I also considered the headline: "And He's The One Calling The Prime Minister A Liar?"

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 19, 2008 | | Comments

Thursday, September 18

Kudos To Doer

Yes, you read that correctly.  I like the idea of political parties at the provincial and federal level working together.  Builds a better system for each level.  One of the things that Gary Filmon had to do in order to avoid the Mulroney fallout and then the right-wing wars of the 90's was to separate the provincial party into "Filmon Tories" instead of a provincial wing of the federal party.  That was great until Filmon left and we all know how the rest of that has played itself out.

I was a little surprised to hear that Premier Doer was going to do an event with Jack Layton, because my sense was that Doer wasn't totally onside with Jack.  Guess I was wrong, and I really don't mind that in this instance.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 18, 2008 | | Comments

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I'd love to see Sam's face if this was ever thrown at him.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 18, 2008 | | Comments

I'm Going To Go Out On A Limb

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 18, 2008 | | Comments

Wednesday, September 17

Poll Dance II

I wasn't the only person who noticed.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | | Comments

Tuesday, September 16

Poll Dance

I seem to remember CBC made a big deal out of "Not Following Poll Stories" during each of the last two elections.  But that strategy has gone out of the window this go around as they are regularly including polling data in stories and as stories.

Let's discuss.

Did they reverse course because their viewers demanded the need for poll-related stories?  That people weren't getting the right information?

Or did they change the policy because poll-related stories are amongst the easiest to create and make for great filler?

Or something else entirely?

Thoughts?

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | | Comments

Small Steps

I loiter on an online message board that discusses everything under the sun.  Today's topics ranged from literature to boobs to the bail out of AIG.  One guy - one knowledgeable and cranky investor-ish guy (I really don't know what he does) - wrote this:

I mostly find it sort of stunning that the Fed can dole out $85 billion with zero transparency and zero legislative oversight and virtually no one squawks. that sure ain't democracy, and it sure ain't capitalism. i'm not really sure just what in the hell it is, but I'm pretty sure I don't like it.

To which not one, but two people responded:

Isn't it technically fascism?

And someone else posted this.

I chuckled at the poster.  But then I went back to, "That sure ain't democracy, and it sure ain't capitalism."

No, it isn't.


Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | | Comments

Good Series

Busy with work and a itsy bitsy amount of campaigning thus far into the week.  In my absence, wander over to Policy Frog for his oral history on Mayor Sam Katz & Rapid Transit.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | | Comments

Monday, September 15

UBC Stock Martket Update

Sold my heavy position in the Green Party popular vote when it hit 8.9% over the weekend.  Have reinvested about a third of my portfolio into Conservative Majority (though I'm still believing it'll be a minority, I figure that the majority will appear at some point during the campaign to raise the stock).  I've eased off my NDP holdings, slowly selling them whenever the price appears right.  I'll be buying back in about a week or so, as their popular vote and seat count stocks should rebound a little bit after the debate when Dion looks poor and May looks like a gimmick.

Otherwise, everything is settled pretty close to where it looks like it'll be.  Unlike the last election, I don't expect a lot of jostling for the top spot, which takes away most of the secondary stock movements.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 15, 2008 | | Comments

NIMBYs, Start Your Engines!

If you're not complaining, "That's great, but not here," you are not a true Winnipegger.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 15, 2008 | | Comments

Saturday, September 13

Humility

If you think I'm the bigger guy and not egotistical enough to tee up a post connecting this and this that will automatically post sometimes Saturday afternoon.....

....Yeah, you're sorely mistaken.

Meanwhile, I'm on the Teulon golf course at the moment and probably pretty drunk. But still telling my friends how I'm (and by extension others) the blogger(s) who started it all.

Even if I wasn't.

And I probably wasn't.

Right?

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 13, 2008 | | Comments

"Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better."

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 13, 2008 | | Comments

Team Couch Classic

Headed out of town for a golf weekend.  Back on Monday.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 13, 2008 | | Comments

Friday, September 12

Audibles At The Line Of Scrimmage

NDP Leader Jack Layton promised to beef up monitoring of fuel prices Friday as the price of gas jumped 13 cents overnight in some parts of Canada.

Layton made the pledge as part of a wider campaign announcement targeting the "unacceptable and outrageous" practices of many banks, oil companies, telecom and credit-card firms.

"Every day, Canadians are paying millions of dollars due to price-gouging and hidden fees of all kinds," Layton said during a stop in St. John's, N.L.

"It's wrong and it's got to stop."

Layton said oil companies "shouldn't have a free licence to gouge consumers" and he promised to stop it

.
 

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 12, 2008 | | Comments

Man Of The Arts

An interesting article on the Prime Minister's relationship with music.  Couple of good quotes about the recent arts' program funding included.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 12, 2008 | | Comments

So It Comes Down To This

Sure it's been a few years since the Jays have had to make September pitching decisions like they made yesterday (AJ Burnett, Jesse Litch & Roy Halliday all pitching on 3-days to go against the Red Sox this weekend), but for all intents and purposes, anything less than 3-1 at Fenway will mean their faint-hope is gone.

Painful season.  I was never anti-John Gibbons, but the move to a coaching manager Cito Gaston has shown just how much potential the team pissed away the last few years.  There's hope for next year (isn't there always?), but it is sad to think about how just 1 extra win a month would have them on the cusp of playoffs for the first time since '93.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 12, 2008 | | Comments

Thursday, September 11

Well Ain't That Refreshing?

Dion said the suspension doesn't go far enough and called for Sparrow to be fired.

``Suspending and not firing Mr. Sparrow outright is a sad attempt to brush this under the rug,'' he said.

``No wonder the prime minister promised a nasty campaign: his staffers are impugning the motives of a grieving father. It doesn't get any dirtier than that.''

However, Sparrow got some support from an unlikely source: the man he insulted.

Davis, speaking from his home in Bridgewater, said he doesn't think Sparrow should be punished.

``Ryan called me to apologize and I thought he was a big man and I feel for him . . . I accepted his apology and I hope there are no consequences against him. It was just the heat of the moment. I forgive him.''

``Suspend him? That's politics. That's being ridiculous.''

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 11, 2008 | | Comments

Wednesday, September 10

I'm Cheering For The Bid

No wonder Brandon is bidding for the 2010 Memorial Cup.  They have two prospects that TSN has going in the first round of the 2009 draft.  Pair of nineteen year-old first rounders forms a tidy little M-Cup core.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

Don't Say I Didn't Warn Ya

[link]


Update: And if you don't think my first visit upon hearing the news was the UBC market to take an aggressive position on the Green's popular vote tally, you've got another thing coming.  They're headed up.  I'll sell off when it starts to register above 10-percent for awhile.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

But Is It A Gimmick To Drum Up Hits?

An interesting pissing fight on the Globe & Mail Politics site.  (Which is awesome by the way.)

Anytime one insider pulls out the Jon Stewart "Please stop hurting the country" argument on another insider, it makes for good reading.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

Opinion From Afar

Every misstep just prolongs the inevitable.  John Tory is toast and the sooner he realizes it, the better for all involved.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

"And Now For Something Completely Different..."

An interesting reflection on the 50th birthday of Michael Jackson: 
 

'I don't know what I was thinking back then [about plastic surgery],' he recently said. 'Everyone makes mistakes when they're young, I guess. But I still look OK, don't I? I mean, for 40?'

When reminded that, in fact, he was about to turn 50, Jackson gave a sad, half smile.

'It all went by so fast, didn't it? I wish I could do it all over again, I really do.'

 
Check it out, if only for the computer generated image of what he probably should look like today.
 

 

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

Two For Two

Another day.  Another Tory pledge I do not like.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

UBC Election Market

I put $100 into the market on Monday.  Plan to update from time to time with my holdings and overall account balance.

My major holdings today are:

1) Minority Government - 32% - (currently: 65% likely) 
2) CPC Popular Vote - 15% - (currently: 37.6%)
3) NDP Popular Vote - 9.8% - (currently: 16.4%)
4) Tory Seats Market - 9.7% - (currently: 143 seats)
5) NDP Seats Market - 8.5% - (currently: 36 seats)
 
The minority government stake is too high (for now) and I'll be lowering that position over the next week as value emerges elsewhere.  I expect the Conservative and NDP popular vote to rise over the next week and a half on stronger polling, so those are value positions at the moment.
 
 
 

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | | Comments

Tuesday, September 9

"League Of Below Average Prime Ministers"

I laugh and laugh and laugh, and wish like hell I was the one to think of the name.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 09, 2008 | | Comments

"Yes, Stephane Dion would like to see me in the House of Commons and I think that he should be prime minister."

A Liberal candidate, you ask?

Not quite.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 09, 2008 | | Comments

Cutting Consumption Taxes

I really want to believe that the Tories plan to actually get around to building a Canadian economy that reaches our potential, but every time they go for the low-impact economics to score political points, I lose just a little more faith in our Prime Minister Economist.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 09, 2008 | | Comments

Monday, September 8

NDP

One of my assumptions going into this campaign is that Jack Layton is going to have a good campaign.

Today's photo-op flying over the tar sands in Alberta suggests to me that he's been planning this campaign well. Even if the footage didn't convey the mess he was purporting to show, it doesn't take nasty pictures to convince Canadians that the tar sands likely leave a tidy little blight on the land. We get that fairly intrinsically. But the message - that Jack Layton wants to take a stand against the tar sands - probably plays very well with his base and his potential voters.

Now it becomes clear why the NDP spent the first 30 hours of the campaign in Alberta of all places. Yesterday's rally in the Prime Minister's riding was about "taking the game to Stephen Harper" and today's photo-op was not meant for any Albertan, but instead aimed directly at your swing urban voter in Toronto, Montreal & Vancouver.

I'm telling you. Watch Jack this campaign. I don't think we've got to worry about any "Paul Martin responsible for homeless deaths" outbursts this go around.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 08, 2008 | | Comments

Scott Smith

Just heard on CJOB about former NDP Trade Minister Scott Smith's $89K gig to "help remove intra-provincial trade barriers".

I'm not questioning his credentials - he was the minister, after all - and I'm not even questioning the salary. My understanding is this is a newly created position, so what I'm wondering about - and would love to hear an answer from Gary Doer or current Minister Andrew Swan on this - what I'm wondering about is this:

"Isn't that the Minister's job?"

"And if not, why has it taken so long to create this position?"
Other provinces have been moving pretty quick (relatively) on this file and I get the sense we're a little pokey on it, for reasons I do not understand.



The Curtis Brown Update: Seconded. (And provincial Tory friends, this is something that you should have been going on for the entire last year.)

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 08, 2008 | | Comments

Common Sense Wins Another Day

Shockingly actually. As you can tell below, I fully expected this to go the other way...

UPDATE: Bang on analysis on why this is exactly what May needed. I'll go one further and suggest that it'll even increase their support thanks to pity votes and "cheering for the little gal"itis.


A-Question-For-The-Supporters-Update: You know how Elizabeth May could have guaranteed that this would be the last debate that the Greens would be left out of?

She could have run in a riding where she had a chance to win in and then actually win the seat. That action would have shown her seriousness about taking the Greens to the next level. There's probably about four or five ridings that would have sent the Green leader to Ottawa, starting with London North Centre, where she received 25% of the vote and finished second to the Liberal in a by-election held the week prior to the Liberal leadership.

Does anyone believe she couldn't build upon that 25% with a second run at the riding? Does anyone believe she couldn't build upon that 25% with the Liberals swooning somewhat and Dion as their leader? (Remember, during the by-election, it still looked like Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff to be leader.)

But instead of doing that and showing true resolve to establish the Greens as a serious player within the Canadian political system, Elizabeth May chooses a foolish stunt run in Central Nova where she has little chance of upending Peter Mackay.

That is not sound leadership of the Green Party.


Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 08, 2008 | | Comments

Manitoba Predictions

I'm going to break the overall predictions down somewhat, starting with the home province.

Essentially there are only five ridings of the fourteen that have interesting story lines behind them. The rest are all relatively safe holds. I know some people are going to suggest that Kildonan-St. Paul is in play, but it's really not. Joy Smith holds.

Where We Stand Today:

Tory: 8
Liberal: 3
NDP: 3

* * * * * * * * *

Churchill

I'm told the Liberals are already writing off Tine Keeper's seat. This riding has usually gone NDP over the last three decades, with one short interlude from 1993-97 when Elijah Harper ran for Jean Chretien and again from 2006-present when the NDP vote split between spunky Nikki Ashton (provincial cabinet minister Steve Ashton's daughter) and the former NDP MP Bev Desjarlais, who had been turfed by leader Jack Layton over same-sex marriage.

Bev's not running again, but Nikki is, and I believe that spells trouble for Tina Keeper, who should now have plenty of time for the next North of 60 movie.

* * * * * * * * *

Elmwood-Transcona

Thomas Steen's a nice guy, but he's no politician. Jim Malloway is a politician, though whether a nice guy is a question better left to others.

Either way, I don't expect the smiling Finn Swede [thanks reader - hack] to fair any better on this endeavour than the one he did with his Maple Leaf Distilleries and Protos International dealings.

* * * * * * * * *

St. Boniface

Not much to really analyze. I just believe that Shelly Glover has put in the work over the last two years and has as much, if not more, name recognition than Liberal MP Raymond Simard. Expect to see the Prime Minister make a trip or two into the riding to help out. Winning this riding is the top priority of the Manitoba team and party president Don Plett.

* * * * * * * * *

Winnipeg South-Centre

I'd almost chalk up Tory Trevor Kennerd as another gimmick candidate (former Blue Bomber place kicker), however he's been in the field for a year now, so even if it was a stunt recruitment in 2007, just working that hard towards the election earns him some credit.

That said, don't expect the upset. The riding is fairly strong Liberal and more so than most other ridings, probably still has the "majority fear" of Stephen Harper. The only way I see possibly changing is if my hunch about a stronger than expect NDP national campaign pays dividends locally and enough Liberal vote moves leftward.

But the NDP have been slow to get a candidate in place, so I'm just not banking on it. Toss in some instability of the Tory team behind Kennerd, and it's another four years for Liberal Anita Neville.

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

Winnipeg South

I only place this on here to appease those who believe the narrowest of victories in 2006 in combination with remains of John Loewen's name recognition equals a fight for Tory Rod Bruinooge.
Hardly.

Bruinooge is safe. He'll work the riding tough, little doubt about that, but if he doesn't beat Loewen by at least 1,200 votes if not more, I'll be shocked and amazed.

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

Where We'll Stand On October 15th

Tory: 9
NDP: 4
Liberal: 1

Posted by The Hack at Monday, September 08, 2008 | | Comments

Sunday, September 7

And There You Go...

We're going to hold two debates and no more.  And people want to give 48 minutes of the four hours to Elizabeth May.  The leader of a party that has never elected a single soul and is extremely unlikely to do so this go around.*

That's useful to no one but the Prime Minister, who has less time to kill and fewer direct questions that require a response.   Remember that when you watch.


* - I'm offering 7-1 on the Greens winning even a single seat.  Email to lay down a friendly wager.  Let's see if there are any takers. 

($5 minimum/$20 maximum.  A total of three separate bets only to the first three takers.  I'm not offering a bookie service.)

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 07, 2008 | | Comments

And So It Begins...

7:00am - I'm starting off with the tv on Global, though I'll likely cycle thru the main three all morning. Still shaking cobwebs out of my head, so I might grab a quick shower prior to the start of the festivities.

7:06am - Kevin Newman just revealed how he was out of the country for a few years. "In my lifetime, I don't remember a Canadian election running concurrently with an American one."

Well, the 2000 election was eight years ago.

7:11am - Most Prime Ministers walk across the street from 24 Sussex Drive to 1 Sussex Drive. Prime Minister Harper is going to drive. Really? That's necessary?

7:14am - The official events are a little delayed. Kevin Newman and Jacques Borbeau are discussing why and Borbeau states that Harper is a fan of Coronation Street, so maybe that is what he is waiting on. Looks like you were on to something mrchristian.

7:17am - Global's having audio issues between Newman and their pollster Darryl Bricker from Ipsos-Reid. I'm moving over to CTV.

7:18am - Just in time, the Prime Minister's motorcade just crossed the street. Some protesters were there, so maybe that's why the motorcade.

7:42am - Showered while the PM was in Rideau Hall. Perfect timing, he's now coming out.

7:46am - While we await the Prime Minister, I'll fire off my first prediction: Slim minority. Like micro-slim. Like if-Dion-really-collapses-it'll-become-a-majority slim. I can get the party to about 150-155 seats, but not quite over the hump.

7:48am - And it begins...."Her Excellency has accepted my request to dissolve Parliament."

7:49am - It was a rare speaking appearance where the PM didn't begin in french. He's working our second language into the comments, however english is predominant in the early going.

7:51am - He's hitting the usual talking points. Nothing more, nothing less.

So to segue, here's the ticket I'm going to play later today on Sports Select:

Detroit over Atlanta. (2.00)
Cincinnati over Baltimore (2.15)
Jacksonville over Tennessee (2.00)
Arizona over San Franciso (2.00)
Saskatchewan over Winnipeg (2.20)

$20 on that becomes $756.80.

7:54am - We're into the scrumming....Asked the expected questions regarding the writ, the law, etc....Until someone asks if the ads about Harper being a family man are meant to imply that Stephane Dion is not. Interesting.

Harper's response is excellent I think. He says that the ads are to show a side of himself that his caucus, his family and his friends know and one that is not always conveyed at "podium events" and other like events.

7:59am - The majority question...He's forced to going back to the line about being held in check by the bureaucracy, judges and the Senate. The Prime Minister thanks the bureaucracy for helping the gov't and suggests he has "no complaints" with them. On judges, he talks about the Supreme Court judge he nominated last week. On the Senate, he smiles....There's maybe some work needing to be done there.

8:03am - Asked about how nasty or personal he'll be in ads. He suggests he won't be. Please send someone over to revive me when I pass out from holding my breath.

8:06am - A Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac question....Overall on the economy. Strong fundamentals. Housing might weaken, but certainly not like down south.

8:20am - I'm not really feeling this live blog this morning. (I'm sure you can tell.)

I'm going to wrap up and come back with an official predictions post in a couple of hours while watching pre-game football coverage.

Posted by The Hack at Sunday, September 07, 2008 | | Comments

Saturday, September 6

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

A review of the first show of Cheech & Chong's reunion.

I'd love to see them on this one, but I doubt it's coming too close to Winnipeg.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 06, 2008 | | Comments

Predictions

Thank you Mr. Prime Minister for picking an hour to drop the writ that is absolutely un-gawdly on a Sunday morning. While I would normally be aghast at the notion of rising that early to watch, I'm actually going to enjoy getting up for sevenish to live-blog the event, lay out a few predictions while doing so, and then flee for breakfast while still having time to get back for the football pre-game shows.

This will actually make for a tidy little Sunday morning.

So I'll see some of your tomorrow morning for the live-blog. The rest of you can read them while watching football.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 06, 2008 | | Comments

Not Bad Jack



Check out the first NDP ad.

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, September 06, 2008 | | Comments

Friday, September 5

Well, How'd I Do?

Let me know the good and the bad.  I've already had it pointed out to me that I pronounce "frustrated" as "fuss-strated".  Never knew that, but with it brought to my attention, I can absolutely hear it and know I've been doing it for years.

Anyhow, lots of fun.  Sounds like I'll be invited back in the future sometimes.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 05, 2008 | | Comments

Once Last Notice

Tune in and listen to me make my official "guest" debut on the radio later this afternoon.

What: The Great Canadian Talkshow
Where: Kick FM (92.9)
When: 4:00pm - 5:30pm

I'll try to be entertaining.  I'll probably fail on that account, but screw it, I'm doing it anyways.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, September 05, 2008 | | Comments

Thursday, September 4

Zing!

Programmer:  I looked up Gary Lunn's website. It's made by a company in Calgary.  Way to support the local website design companies, Mr. Minister.  My girlfriend is designing a website for one of the local Liberal candidates - at least they go local.

The Hack: They're all centralized out of Calgary.

Programmer: Yes, I know that.....I'm talking about the websites right now.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 04, 2008 | | Comments

Underused

Shame to hear about Monte Solberg's retirement.  He was the first Canadian pol to really master the blog format and the day he had to shut it down when disappeared into cabinet was a loss for the Canadian blogoshere.

I wish him much luck in retirement and future projects.  He'll be missed.  I always hoped Harper would come around and realize he wasn't using the talent to its potential, but alas, was not to be.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 04, 2008 | | Comments

I'll Call It Now

At least one shameless politician will say that Harper is wrong to call an election on Sunday because of this.
 
Might even by a party leader.  Wouldn't put it past Jack.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 04, 2008 | | Comments

Yeah, I Guess That's Important Information

Friday, September 5th, 4:00pm - 5:00pm on the radio appearance mentioned below.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 04, 2008 | | Comments

Radio Appearance

Time to leap mediums. 
 
I'll be on The Great Canadian Talkshow for the full hour tomorrow afternoon to talk federal election with Marty.  Look for my official predictions posts this weekend, but I'm sure I'll be giving a pretty good taste of where I'm headed with them while on the air.

What: The Great Canadian Talkshow
Where: Kick FM (92.9)
When: Friday, September 5th, 2008

 

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, September 04, 2008 | | Comments

Wednesday, September 3

PleaseMakeThisHappen!PleaseMakeThisHappen!PleaseMakeThisHappen!

The federal government will announce today a multimillion dollar infrastructure program for Quebec that could pave the way for a Canadian Football league franchise in Quebec City.

The federal funding includes the expansion and renovation of Quebec City's Laval University sports centre where local investors are offering to expand the football stadium in their bid for a CFL franchise.

Update: The article linked above updated about ninety minutes ago and it no longer sounds good for the CFL. The Policy Frog leapt at the obvious Winnipeg angle in the now-downer story:
The project that was submitted, which due diligence was done by our officials, does not include a football stadium for the CFL. We are not in that business. I’ve said no to Winnipeg. I’m not going to go and fund football stadiums for the CFL.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 03, 2008 | | Comments

Credit Where Due

A disproportionate number of Manitoba schools on the Canadian Top 25 according to Today's Parent rankings release today.
 
Ecole Dieppe School in Pembina Trails School Division, Luxton School in Winnipeg School Division, and Moosehorn's Alf Cuthbert School in Lakeshore School Division have been named among Canada's top 25 schools.
 
Today's Parent magazine readers nominated the three schools in the fifth-annual survey conducted by the magazine.

Congrats schools.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 03, 2008 | | Comments

The Girl In The Spotlight II

Just to clarify my position Dan, because last night's post didn't make it clear and left it confusing...

I'm not opposed to allowing the Greens into the debate. I'm opposed to allowing them into the debates as we currently structure them in Canada.

I think our debate structure is ridiculously useless for the most part and needs fundamental change. At least we moved to four debates in 2006 vs. the normal two we have had in previous election. (I'm not actually that optimistic that we'll get four this year, but fingers & toes crossed, you know?)

Our current debate structure does not provoke raw reactions from our leaders and certainly present no great insights into their abilities to do anything but stand around reciting memorized lines.

We could use better.

The first change I would make is Andrew Coyne's classic argument that we should do away with a "French Night/English Night" format. The French Debate has devolved into a debate fixated solely on Quebec issues with a handful of token questions thrown in to represent francophones from New Brunswick, Manitoba and elsewhere. These debates are not of value for the country at large during the election.

We are a bilingual country and as such we should have bilingual debates. The occasional question in english, the occasional question in french, the choice of the leaders to use french or english in their responses. (If you don't think that a leader would use french too often, you haven't been paying close enough attention to our cultural identity politics of the last four decades.)

So now we have four bilingual debates. Four debates once an election cycle sounds fair and reasonable to me even if the leaders would prefer not to participate that many times. Three of the four involved this year played along with four last time so they don't have much to complain about.

How about theme nights? The economy is becoming the number one issue to Canadians, so what about dedicating one of the four for economic policy? Health Care (and social issues at large) would be an appropriate topic for another night. You see the potential, right?

Finally, and this is where I believe we would get the most value out of our debates AND allow for the entry and profile of upstart parties like the Greens, why not invite everyone to the first few debates, but leave one for those leaders in a reasonable chance of forming gov't. This is where I criticize our fixation on fairness of profile. Gilles Duceppe will never be Prime Minister because his party purposely does not stand to elect enough MPs to become Prime Minister. There is no reason he shouldn't be excluded from a debate that deals with issues such as patronage, foreign policy/diplomacy and other issues that only a Prime Minister can really address.

Doesn't this system of debates sound like an improvement over our current system? Maybe even provoke some interesting discourses where we as voters might gleen some valuable insights?

PS: I'm not fearful of Liz May in the least. I believe that she's going to be a punchline by the end of the campaign as the more Canadians see her, the less likely they are going to be supportive of her. As I wrote yesterday, the more lefties on stage - particularly one with a high probability of saying something foolish and over-the-top - the better it is for the Prime Minister. This is not spin. This is fact.

I oppose the Greens because I just don't believe that we should be taking valuble and limited airtime away from the leaders that matter in this election. Like many Canadian voters, I do not need to hear a segment of Elizabeth May and Gilles Duceppe debating the Canadian Wheat Board simply because it's their turn for a one-on-one when that question comes up.

There is no doubt that the Greens will get in one day, but this isn't the election to do it. They need to continue growing, take the big step of electing someone under their banner (still the best "out" for the consortium to leave her off), and overall act like a party that wants to win. Elizabeth May choosing the gimmick of running against Peter MacKay instead of a riding with Green prospects shows that even she isn't serious about becoming an MP. There are a handful of ridings she should have chosen from including the one in London where she finished 2nd in a by-election and would have certainly done well in this election. Instead she runs in Central Nova, a riding she has zero claim to considering she's actually from Cape Breton and hasn't made a home in Nova Scotia in decades.

This is disappointing for the Greens because after a solid decade of climbing in credibility, I think they are going to take a hit this year. It will not surprise me in the least if they receive less overall votes for the first time in several elections. This is going to be the legacy of Elizabeth May.

Not the fact that she was the first Green leader in a debate.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 03, 2008 | | Comments

From The "And People Wonder Why I'm A Determinist" Files:

It's 2008 and very likely that the man who would (should?) have been running to continue a Democratic administration endorsed the Republican Presidential nominee last night.

All it took was Florida; some hanging chads; and a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, September 03, 2008 | | Comments

Tuesday, September 2

Or Not

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 02, 2008 | | Comments

The Girl In The Spotlight?*


Okay, so the title is a little tongue in cheek, but why shouldn't acting like a party that actually wants to win some seats be a pre-requisite to demanding time be taken away from the other leaders?

I've written in the past about the standards I would use in assessing the Greens' right to entry, and I still don't believe they have met the threshold.

Elizabeth May has not yet shown she is serious about getting herself elected, least of all the Green party. And she's demanding to be taken seriously by the television consortium that puts these things together?

When Obama finally decides to debate McCain, tune in a watch how much you find out about the two men when the debate is focused on the two serious candidates for President. Then tune into ours and imagine how useful the US debate would be if Ralph Nadar and Bob Barr were let in and given equal treatment with Obama & McCain.

We hurt our debate and we hurt our electoral knowledge playing everything "fair". We should have no guilt about asking for a debate that consists of the people actually in a position to govern. It's not wrong of us to ask for that.

Finally, before anyone thinks I'm trying to make it easier for the Prime Minister - far from it. One of my fantasy football leagues is made up of a number of staffers from Ottawa and various provincial capitals, and last night was our draft night. During a break, I cracked a joke about the Greens getting into the debate.

"Let her," one piped in. "The more lefties on stage, the better our guy looks to the moderates."


* - Update: The original title of this post was "F@#* The Greens", meant as an obviously over-the-top reaction. (Think Jon Stewart doing his "f@#* that guy/those guys/them" bit on the Daily Show.)

Reread it later on however, and realized the humour wasn't coming across. Hence the change.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 02, 2008 | | Comments

All Doer Won Is One Lost Year

Funny how quickly the Premier accepted the terms of the infrastructure deal when the clock suddenly went into effect.  Wonder if Gary Doer will be able to keep a straight face when asked what his hold out gained the province...

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 02, 2008 | | Comments

An American Overheard On The Weekend: "Waitaminute! Your election is only being called on Friday and it'll still be over three weeks before ours?!"

Lots of little hits and briefs in the lead up to Friday...

- The CTV/Globe & Mail poll makes me almost 100% sure I'm calling a majority later this week.  Gains in Southern Ontario, lower mainland BC and Quebec outside of Montreal made up the lion's share of the gains.
 
- The Tory ad running (and running and running) all weekend is being remembered.  Some will say that's a bad thing, because it is being remembered as a joke, but let us all remember the hokey "Let's Take A Question From A Canadian..." ads from 2005.  Those ads received the same response and yet according to Tom Flanagan in his book, they also delivered exactly the message they were supposed to deliver.   And to the right audience as well.  My hunch is that these ads are tailored towards an older crowd and possibly even suburban parents in their 40's.  If you aren't in either of these segments, don't expect the ad to speak to you.  That also means, don't go discounting them just because they don't speak to you.
 
- Locally, I'll give you a taste of my predictions....Hold, Hold, Hold, Hold, Steal, Hold, Steal, Hold, Hold, Hold, Hold, Hold, Hold and finally, the co-chair passes it up the line to the other co-chair who stick handles his way thru some defence, passing it to the candidate who moves towards the net and makesthingssointerestingIhavenoideawhattothinkaboutthisridinganymore.  
 
- I agree with you Mary Agnes.  The Steener's entry into the race makes it one to watch and I think people are foolish to suggest that a riding is a specific party's when only one person holds the riding that entire time.  Could it just be that Bill Blakie was just that good an MP that people looked passed his party a few times to re-elect him?  *nodding head with cowbell sound effect*
 
- Not sure how involved I'm getting in this campaign.  To be determined. 

- Finally, to the readers who would be interested and you know who you are.  I'm helping out the Conservative Club of Manitoba as VP this year and we're kicking off the new season next Tuesday.  Stephen Fletcher is taking some time from campaigning to introduce his book to the membership.  I'd really like to see the club grow some this year and the committee appears motivated and keen, so I'm optimistic.

- Lunch is $20 and it's at noon at the Norwood.  If you are interested drop me a line: hackandwonks@gmail.com and I'll put you on the list.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, September 02, 2008 | | Comments

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