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Friday, September 05, 2008
Fireside chats with Stephen Harper (commercials)
The Conservative Party's YouTube page has posted a few new commercials today. (Sorry folks, the ratings and comments have been disabled at YouTube, but not here in our comment section...)
I like them, they are pleasant, if a little light on policy content:
True North Strong and Free
Canada has to stand for something
Lest we forget
A nation of immigrants (I really like this one in particular. It's the only one that hints at concrete policy proposals--improve recognition of foreign credentials in Canada--and reminds us of the fact that the Tories have lowered the landing fee for immigrants. Both are policies I strongly endorse.)
Family is everything
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on September 5, 2008 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
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Comments
Very, very effective ads. All of them.
Posted by: Matthew Johnston | 2008-09-05 2:41:01 PM
I agree, Matthew. They are exceptionally well done.
Harper is not wooden, and his gentle dulcet tones put me at ease. I think I will put these on before going to sleep tonight.
Posted by: P.M. Jaworski | 2008-09-05 2:43:55 PM
These ARE great ads, but I can't help but wish that "This Hour" or Rick Mercer were on to do parodies of them. I can just see them revealing that the backs of heads he is talking to are his kids who look bored and restless having to listen to dad go on and on.
But, yes, these are very good ads.
Posted by: Fact Check | 2008-09-05 2:46:16 PM
"We're better off with Harper"? Which clown college graduate wrote that limp stinger? It's like saying "C'mon, we already printed up the stationery". Commercial good, horrifyingly bad end though.
Posted by: Ross | 2008-09-05 4:41:17 PM
The problem his reason for an election is a farce. If the GG approves a disolution based on the whims of a minority holder of parliamentary seats, well, it will put Canada in the same standing as Putin's Russia.
Posted by: Faramir | 2008-09-05 4:47:40 PM
These ads are obviously trying to show a soft side of Harper. Remember, this is TV and he's a politician so there is acting involved. There is no real content in these ads about real issues and how he plans to face problems. The ending of the ads with the blue sky, Peace Tower and soothing music makes it seem like you are rising to heaven. Reminds me a bit of some videos we watch at bible study. But no, this does not make me want to vote Conservative!
Posted by: Tim Trudeau | 2008-09-05 5:06:34 PM
But no, this does not make me want to vote Conservative!
Posted by: Tim Trudeau | 5-Sep-08 5:06:34 PM
A Trudeau not voting conservative... Go figure.
Posted by: K Stricker | 2008-09-05 6:19:35 PM
Sorry to burst the bubble guys, but hokey ads like these only work in the fairy land of gum drop houses and lollipop lanes.
If Harper drops in the polls by even one point, they will haul out the negative ads.
Or at least I hope they do, because these sugary ads are giving me diabetes.
Posted by: Gerry Nicholls | 2008-09-05 8:20:58 PM
The 'don't worry, be happy' tone of those ads is astonishingly socialist/leftist-esque.
Note the following suggestions....
I will close those offensive HRC's.
I will shut down the gun registry boondoggle..
I will stop the government from stealing from you via the EI system.
I will govern based on what is best for my country, not my party.
I will outlaw the disrespectful and simply disgusting practice of taxing a tax.
I will NOT waste your money on any MMGW bullshit schemes.
I will demand, and demonstrate myself, some decorum in the HOC.
I will do 'the following' to start fixing an out-of-control immigration system.
I will reduce the size of the government.
I wil SUBSTANTIALY lower taxes.
I will not pander to Quebec.
Given the understanding they will be fodder for a leftist media, I will still encourage all our members of parliament to speak freely and honestly.
I will put forth legislation that ensures dangerous and career criminals get LONG sentences.
I suspect Harper would support most of those comments. When he has the balls to say even one of them in a commercial, maybe he'll get my support again.
'Til then, he smells just like a liberal to me.
Posted by: Canadian Observer | 2008-09-05 8:22:13 PM
You guys are right, negative ads work. So use them. Of coure going after someone's palsy doesn't work, but going negative means going negative on character, experience and policy, not unfortunate traits.
Posted by: Faramir | 2008-09-06 12:28:01 AM
the "look how nice I am ads" are after a bunch of people who wouldn't vote for him anyway so it seems a little pointless; he should be relentlessly going after Duhion and his idiotic green shaft instead
Posted by: x2para | 2008-09-06 8:32:44 AM
I think the ads are great!
Posted by: Preston | 2008-09-06 10:37:48 AM
...nice warm ads, but, but...i still say the image being portrayed by Mr. Harper hunched over lacks something of strength and directness.
I dunno, but I noticed he wasn't wearing a wedding ring when they did shots of his hands.
No hidden meaning, but I guess it is a family value the producers overlooked.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2008-09-06 11:45:06 AM
...albeit, these ads are better than the Aryan blonde standing very stiffly that she'd vote for Harper.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2008-09-06 11:46:26 AM
K Stricker "A Trudeau not voting conservative... Go figure."
Ha!
Posted by: tomax7 | 2008-09-06 11:48:13 AM
These ads make me want to stab someone in the eye with a fork. Myself, possibly. I don't buy the folksy Harper in his sweater-vest for a second.
I especially hate the one with all the "common people" talking about how great Harper is.
Maybe he can make an ad explaining why he decided to overrule his own set election date?
Posted by: Pauline | 2008-09-08 11:29:28 AM
Pauline:
Would you object if Harper just tagged on an extra year to his next mandate to make up for it?
I see where none of the opposition parties have boycotted this election campaign. If it was such a big deal, then they would obey the law and not start campaigning until next year.
Posted by: set you free | 2008-09-08 11:34:36 AM
"We're better off with Harper"? Which clown college graduate wrote that limp stinger? It's like saying "C'mon, we already printed up the stationery". Commercial good, horrifyingly bad end though.
Posted by: Ross | 5-Sep-08 4:41:17 PM
Its the "lesser of two evils" principle.
Thing is, its still a poor choice even though the others are worse. The whole system needs an overhaul.
Posted by: JC | 2008-09-08 11:35:50 AM
JC:
The system's not the problem
The quality of candidates stepping up for office in Canada is.
Do we have a Sarah Palin in Canada? No.
Do we have a Barrack Obama? Jack Layton has already plagarized Obama's theme.
Posted by: set you free | 2008-09-08 11:41:17 AM
Do we have a Sarah Palin in Canada? No.
Posted by: set you free | 8-Sep-08 11:41:17 AM
Wasn't Rona Ambrose supposed to fit that bill. She unfortunately fell considerably short.
Posted by: The Stig | 2008-09-08 12:22:50 PM
Come on, Pauline, the ads are great. Clearly this was a hidden camera sort of thing, where Harper invited regular Canadians and started chatting with them and, little to his knowledge, some Tory had hidden cameras around the place, and then surprised Harper with the footage.
Okay, seriously for a moment: The ads are really good. Down-home, folksy, gentle, soothing, and they will be extremely effective.
As for the fixed election dates, this is just one more reason why we should pay extra attention to the Public Choice school of economics--incentives matter.
Harper sees an opportunity to a) win another minority, b) possibly, but unlikely, a majority, and c) bankrupt the Liberals (they've got no money. No one contributes to the Liberals. No one. And why would regular folk contribute to the Liberals? What do they stand for, exactly? They stand for getting elected, and their positions change with the wind. I don't believe that the Liberals are big environmentalists even if their leader calls his dog "Kyoto." I hope you see through that nonsense as well.), where was I? Oh yeah: Leading to d) Next election, if not this one, majority.
Posted by: P.M. Jaworski | 2008-09-08 12:35:37 PM
stig:
Can't recall any stories about Rona Ambrose hunting moose or playing basketball.
She was a pretty successful Alberta bureaucrat, but fell far short in the personality department.
Posted by: set you free | 2008-09-08 1:12:00 PM
What are you people smoking... oh weed, thats right, we're Canadians.
Even still... wake up, put down your doobs and realize one thing... we have not had a SINGLE GOOD REPRESENTATIVE for our country in at least 20 years of politics if ever.
We have jumped from U.S. led PM's, to socialist funding nuts, to monopolistic business tycoons.
We also jumped from Conservative to Liberal and then back again with both parties failing miserably so we vote the other one next time in hopes that they don't screw up as bad as the last guys. We don't even expect them to do a good job anymore... we just want something better than what we have been having. That is complacent down to the t. That means our standards and quality of life has been depreciating ever since we started voting for them.
Name a single party that has ever turned something around for Canada and not had their bills over turned or vetoed by the following elected party. Sometimes the same bloody party comes back into office and wipes their own bills out.
Have any of them ever fixed health care?
Are we not still using the same deaf and dumb system of the 60's to teach our children?
We are using a slow down everyone mentality to keep everyone on par kind of system and that is exactly what keeps the new gens and old gens complacent and stupid so that we actually take the time to vote for one of these jokers of parliament. Remember these assholes are raised in the same system of controls and know nothing else so is it a surprise that they expand the measures of control every single year.
Has Europe not shown us one thing if only one thing... easing controls around social interactions and judgment allows for common sense rules to take action and improve themselves as needed. It also frees up our politicians so they can vote and make decisions on important issues. Instead we have government legislature dictating whether gay couples can marry... or where in our schools, the funding should go. How did the government EVER get control of where health care funding is needed most? That is a provincial matter and should never have made it to parliament. We have people with major injuries sitting on a chair in the hallways of hospitals because there is no space for anyone and there are no doctors or nurses to see them. Don't even think they are going to do anything for you anyways. I have been to the hospital three times in the last five years and have met one hour waits to see triage and tell them what is wrong and then wait 5 hours or more to be seen by a doctor and then told to wait an hour in between beds, sitting on a chair, and then they have the nerve to not give me anything or do anything for me. They gave me advil when I almost broke my shoulder. WOW advil... good thing you doctors get degrees to push these pills. My arm was dislocated at the socket and my tendons and ligaments stretched so bad from the blow that my arm hangs lower. People get operations for that so that they can use their arm properly without pain. They wouldn't even offer physiotherapy. No I had to pay to actually get it... so how is this free heath care and how is it functional?
I wanted to get one of the new health cards of Canada when they were offering them for free if you had an old one but they spent the majority of the budget alloted for the replacement of old cards on new foreigners just coming into the country... so I pay taxes on EVERYTHING so that someone coming into the country with 50 dollars in his pocket can jump on welfare and take the advantages the long time Canadians are supposed to be getting.
Come on people. We are living in a hidden manipulated governmental control system to keep the status quo and nothing else. You wonder why they pass bills that hurt Canada but it is only to keep the status quo or more often than not, make the rich richer.
Right now, Canada is becoming a failing country and you won't hear that on the news until it is too late, particularly with the massive network of propaganda journalism that we are stuck with. Our health care system is now rated below some developing countries. Where we pay hundreds of dollars for a medication that is derived from natural ingredients we could have just ate or drank, you can go to a Country such as Columbia, France, Morocco, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Portugal... and get that same medication for a fraction of what we pay. Comparably... it was stated by Michael Moore of all people in his film Sicko, we pay 300 dollars for an inhaler and in Columbia for the exact same inhaler, it is 5 dollars to 15 dollars. In some countries it is free because they are a tax paying citizen. Why are our citizens dying, poor and homeless when our government is fighting a fucking war with millions of our dollars......
think about it... they don't care.
Posted by: Crob | 2008-09-13 7:34:29 AM
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