(h/t Bourque)
This is a "damage control" article from the Globe and Mail.
...Campaign watchers said the gaffe could become one of the defining moments of the campaign, which has been relatively positive and policy-oriented. Child care is an issue on which the Liberals and Conservatives have starkly contrasting positions. The Liberals want to create a national system of regulated daycare programs while the Tories want to give money to parents and let them choose who will look after their children.
"This is the first big gaffe of the Liberal campaign. The one issue that people are talking about [in this election] is child care, and that makes it all the more damaging for the Liberals," said Heather MacIvor, a political scientist at the University of Windsor. "It's quite remarkable that a senior Liberal official . . . would have put things in such an insensitive way. To paint yourself as worse than Mr. Harper is trying to paint you is really quite astonishing," she said in an interview.
...Prof. Tupper said many voters are seeking change for the sake of change, and that remarks like the one about beer and popcorn will fuel the perception of "Liberal arrogance" in the electorate.
The crazy thing about all of this is that John Duffy should know better. The guy wrote a book on political strategy. It is clear that Stephen Harper is running at modified "Dief's Populist Rush" using the classic "The People vs. The Powerful". As Duffy points out this play is based a New Vision/New Leadership and the talking points are
- democracy
- Libs arrogant
- Time for a change
The guy who identified the play is now giving his competitor a shining example of Liberal arrogance.
