Archive for the ‘Election 41 (2011)’ Category

Conversations and Cocktails with The Right Honourable Paul Martin

The Liberal Party of Canada invites you to attend Conversation and Cocktails with Right Honourable Paul Martin. As part of the election outreach tour, Former Prime Minister Paul Martin welcomes the chance to meet and discuss the Liberal Party’s plans on the campaign trail.

This event is an opportunity to discuss the Liberal Party’s election campaign, platform, ask questions, and have common dialogue about the direction of our country.

Tickets are available at $300. All the proceeds will go to ensuring the Liberal Party has the resources it needs to win this election. Political donations entitle you to a tax credit of up to 75 per cent.

Date: Friday, April 15^th from 5 -7pm.
Location: The Calgary Petroleum Club

319 Fifth Ave. S.W

Calgary, AB

Link for Tickets

A basic theme in this campaign is how Tories just don’t show up. In my involvement with the Liberals in Alberta this is doubly so. Nationally, with Harper’s 5 questions / day limit and his reversal on a one-on-one debate with Ignatieff, it’s the same, again. A basic question is.. why?

A basic fundamental in how Tories conceive of elections is based on Median Voter Theory. This assumption is that there a groups of voters that clump together in their opinions and are led by people who can manage to put themselves into those positions and those roles of leadership over those groups. In an election these would be the voters, with many clumping together at the centre.

This viewpoint on how elections function — of getting those voters in those clumps and getting them to the polls — is a measured way of going about politics. It cuts up different groups, extrapolates data, and encourages certain strategies. For example, if your clump of secured voters is smaller than the other clumps, but the other voters aren’t as willing to go to the polls, you could pull off an upset by having your opponent’s voters not show up. And you’d win. If you get your group out and the other group not to, you’ve won. If you have a smaller base in comparison to the rest of Canada and don’t push yourself out there–you’re not going to interact with voters who would react badly to you. And you’d avoid causing a debate, avoid causing gaffes, and avoid anything that’d encourage others to vote or for your voters to change their minds.

It’s logical for candidates in strong, Conservative ridings to not go to debates. It’s logical for Harper to not show up, to not take questions, and to starve the debate that’s needed in a democratic society.

It’s smart, but it isn’t right.

Ignatieff has gone in the complete other direction: taking every question, taking every debate, and when Harper brought up Ignatieff’s suggestion from a month ago of whether to have a one-on-one debate.. Ignatieff said any time, any place. Ignatieff has opened himself to the people, with almost not handlers watching for problems that might cause gaffes or problems. It’s the complete opposite approach, and directly challenges Harper’s evasion of the Canadian people.

I like what Ignatieff is doing. At once it’s genuine, it’s available, and it speaks directly to Canadians. And I think the electorate will appreciate this honesty–especially in comparison to Mr. Harper.