Brad Wall's Attack Ads May Backfire
To change the channel from the story of his historic fiscal mismanagement of the province, Brad Wall is spending a rumoured $150,000 to $300,000 on an attack ad campaign.
The Star Phoenix puts it this way:
For a majority government such as the Saskatchewan Party's to adopt such attack advertising suggests a puzzling element of panic.
A minority government can be defeated almost anytime, so in theory it's always in election mode. But why would a government with a comfortable majority and a fixed election date almost two years away stoop to adopt questionable political tactics?
Up until now, Brad Wall has tried to portray himself as the bright and sunny 'golden boy' of Saskatchewan politics.
Now that it turns out the 'golden boy' has King Midas's touch in reverse when it comes to the province's finances, he's turning to an attack ad campaign:
Ultimately, negative political advertising is like using a grenade up close: If you don't hit your target, you're going to hurt yourself badly, and even if you do hit your target, you're still likely to suffer some harm yourself. That's why attack ads have been used cautiously in Canada, particularly outside of writ periods.
For the Saskatchewan Party, this marks a distinct shift in message from positive to the negative. What's obviously missing is sufficient ammunition for an effective attack and a motive for the change in strategy, other than to ape the federal Conservatives.
The lingering impression the ads leave reveal as much about the Saskatchewan Party's new tactic as they do anything about the NDP leader.
All I hear from the ads is Brad Wall messed up a good economy and finances and that he is a loser.
Brilliant strategy! :)
Now the Sask NDP need to respond with "We've cleaned this mess up before..." ads, pushing the positive solutions to dealing with deficits and their track record.
Didn't Manitoba go from a projected small surplus to a $500 Million deficit that only came to light after Doer fled to Washington.
Is there a government anywhere that has come remotely close to estimating there revenue correctly during these challenging times?
Didn't Manitoba go from a projected small surplus to a $500 Million deficit that only came to light after Doer fled to Washington.
Is there a government anywhere that has come remotely close to estimating there revenue correctly during these challenging times?
I've been looking for Manitoba's fiscal update, do you have a source?
It was a small story out here on the west coast not long after the new Premier was sworn in - I didn't post it at the time as I thought something else might post it on the Prairies board. The headline was something like " last Canadian province falls into deficit.
Will see if i can find a link for you.
Here's the story that catch my eye:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091222/business/cbusiness_us_manitoba_deficit
from Politics101's link above:
I don't think the Manitoba NDP are neoliberal ideologues who will sell off valuable assets and money-makers to rich friends of the Tory or Liberal Parties as a result. The structural deficit is with Ottawa.