Via Capital Notebook comes news that the Alberta Liberal Caucus has released a new political ad-style YouTube video trying to tie Premier Ed Stelmach and Danielle Smith to Ronald Reagan, Brian Mulroney, George W. Bush, Don Getty, and Stephen Harper.
Communications Director Neil Mackie described the motivation behind this video:
"Conservatives in this province get a free pass on being fiscally responsible. They don't have to do it. This is an attempt to address that misperception."I've long been an advocate of Alberta's opposition parties becoming more creative with their message delivery, but I'm not sure what to think about this video. First, round numbers are nice, but it is a little disingenuous to round up Alberta's projected deficit from $6.9 billion to $10 billion. Second, beyond 'the ominous music means that these fiscal conservatives are bad people,' I'm really not clear what the message is supposed to be (I'm sure it won't take long for someone to create a video showcasing David Swann with Liberal Prime Ministers and Premiers who have run deficits).
It will probably generate the media, blog, twitter, and water cooler chatter that it was produced to create, but unless there are sequels, I'm unsure of what the objective of this video is.
(h/t Trish Audette)
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60 comments:
It shows that the ABLibs know they'll never form government and are scared of losing their opposition status the the WRA. Instead of attacking the governing party they're attacking the new kid on the block.
I thought that the enemy of my enemy was supposed to be my friend?
I like the ad. It's fair, it's accurate (besidesthe inflation of the current deficit -- that's a silly mistake) and it's policy-oriented. I think it neatly captures how irresponsible most fiscal conservatives have been over the last few decades.
Positive campaigns didn't work for the Liberals. Negative campaigns didn't work for the Liberals. Nothing works for the Liberals except government incompetence. Ed Stelmach seems to be doing a good job at that. So I say keep up the pressure, Liberals, and maybe sometime before 2030 Albertans might realize you deserve a shot!
Ronald Reagan. Huh. Why?
And why include Stephen Harper. 50-60% approval ratings and sitting above that in voting intentions in the polls in Alberta. He's a hugely successful Albertan that we should be proud of.
So how can bashing a popular Albertan PM have any benefit to provincial Liberals. Dumb!
Dave, your "post-partisan" bit is wearing just a wee bit thin. I mean, you aren't even posting the Liberals justification for the $10 billion number, which is sound, even if it is debatable. You're making it sound like they just rounded, which is misleading.
You're not post-partisan, you're just post-Liberal. Can you honestly say they've shown no signs of progress? They really seem to be stepping it up a notch lately.
I know that would ruin a new party hobby horse, but is it such a bad thing the official opposition is getting its act together?
Thanks for the comments.
Laurence: It's just a YouTube video, but I'm not sure how it is policy focused. It points out that some self-described fiscal conservatives have led governments that have run deficits, but it offers no policy alternative. It doesn't even suggest how the Liberals are different from the men and woman featured in the video.
Robert: I invite you to please post what that you believe are signs of Liberal progress. If they are, let's get that discussion started!
We get it. Stelmach sucks. Smith sucks.
What are the Liberals? Aren't they supposed to be fiscal conservatives too? Or are they something different now? Are they telling me that I can't trust them? Should I even vote? What?
Going to finish my beer now.
Well, how about for starters they have half the debt they had when they were burdened with you a year ago?
When did the Alberta Liberals hire Warren Kinsella?
This is by far the most stupid ad I have ever seen. First, most Albertans are proudly fiscal conservative and their biggest complaint that most Albertans have is that their government is not fiscally responsible. So why alienate all of those people who are looking to vote for someone else.
Second, the last time I checked, Stephen Harper's government was overwhelmingly popular in Alberta, thus attacking him doesn't really help your cause.
Third, are they saying that the federal government should have balanced the budget in the worst recession in recent memory. By all accounts, Canada is doing better than everyone else.
Fourth, why would you aim your attack at a party that has one seat and give Smith instant credibility. At the very least, couldn't they have found a picture where she didn't look great.
I am all for attack ads, but this one shows that the party does not have its pulse on mainstream Alberta.
Uh oh. Sounds like poor little Chima is upset his new party might have competition from the older kid on the block.
(P.S. - It's a great ad.)
The ad works. The next election isn't tomorrow Chima.
Unless the conservative brand is roughed up a little, no opposition party - Liberal, NDP, new party, or otherwise - stands a chance.
It won't happen overnight, but we've got to fight to make it so "Conservative" is no longer synonymous with "Good". Until then, the PCs will keep winning. Because people think of themselves as Conservatives in Alberta. Because Conservative values are good. Right? I mean, even flaky progressives defend them! So why not vote for the Conservatives?
Your poor "progressives" just shoot themselves in the foot if they think otherwise. At least the Liberals have a plan besides "Let's get a bunch of losers who have never voted in the past to magically come to the polls and vote unanimously for a totally untested and ridiculously ill-equipped political non-entity that thinks you can facebook your way to government!"
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Also, you say that attacking Harper's deficit is stupid because it's necessary and Canada is well off. But that the problem in Alberta is that we've been fiscally irresponsible and run a deficit.
But here we are. Well off. More jobs than most provinces. No debt. You're really sucking and blowing at the same time.
Is the liberal caucus even allowed to use their money in this way? I'm pretty sure it is a no-no.
It is, in fact, disingenuous to say that the deficit is closer to $6.9 billion than to $10! The P"C"s would have us believe that the deficits for the superboard AND for post-secondary institutions should not be included. Yet what are people going to say when Alberta Health Services is making cuts? That it is making a dent in the $7 billion? Because it won't; the deficit at AHS is over and above.
Guy Boutilier pointed out that $6.9 billion understates the deficit earlier this summer, but the only media that picked it up to my knowledge was Fort McMurray Today.
You would think people would be alert to how the P"C"s spin the numbers after they tried to get the media to say the premier took a 15% pay cut last week.
Somewhat amateurish ad, isn't it?. Is this the best they can do? Accepted, conservatives have forgotten about deficits. But nothing for us fish to bite on as an alternative message from them.
I think this is part of a two step process, but we'll see.
Step One: Beat Up Tories
Step Two: Offer Better Solution
Dazzer's right about the low production values though. I don't mean that in a bad way. This must have cost them literally nothing to make. That's default music that ships with iMovie, which ships with every Mac.
Anyway, I think the ad works. People will remember it, unlike presenting Swann as a talking head. The blogs will be all over it. It underlines doubts about Stelmach and although I think it bounces right off Danielle Smith (since it elevates her to heavyweight contender), take just 5 to 7% away from the P"C" party vote shares in each riding and give it to the Wildrose and I suspect that it would double the size of the Liberal caucus. Fact is, she's the best thing that's happened to the Liberals in years. The Wildrose did manage to slingshot into the #1 spot in Calgary Glenmore, but in Edmonton in particular the bigger the Wildrose vote the more the Liberals are in the game.
I don't think it hurts to go after Harper for his spending, either. The idea is to stimulate the nuggets of doubt in the back of self-described "conservative" brains. See http://thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com/2009/10/latest-ekos-poll-reveals-big-problem.html and the comments and you'll see that there is some frustration with the PM amongst Tory voters.
I'd second-guess the jab at Reagan, since he considered a demi-god whose spending was OK if it won the cold war. But all in all if people think Bill Clinton and Paul Martin as contrasts the ad will work.
Remember that it is the Tories get enormous mileage off the "conservative" label. When I was door knocking for the Wildrose Alliance last year several people refused to take any interest in what my party was about, saying "I only vote conservative." Many Albertans don't get furthered engaged. If you can expose the label for what it is it really opens things up.
SupremelySkeptical said...
"Unless the conservative brand is roughed up a little, no opposition party - Liberal, NDP, new party, or otherwise - stands a chance."
I think “SupremelySkeptical” is absolutely right.
I like the Ad, about time the Alberta Liberals step up and do something to bring some buzz and stark contrast. I would have to agree that unless the Alberta Liberals say how they could do it better, this Ad may only succeed in an even lower voter turn out in the next Provincial election.
From a policy perspective I have a hard time with conservative style debit management. The P.C's stopped necessary spending to pay down the debit, which created a social and infrastructure debit that we are trying to catch up with at a with much greater cost.
My vote goes to the party that are strategic thinkers, who have a vision and a plan to get there without the need for reactionary policy making.
About time the Liberals tried to get tough and direct, but this one isn't all that well done. A tough principled message, even a critical one if well done, will have more political impact than all of Taft's uncomfortable smarminess.
The idea that so-called conservatives typically manage public finances well is provably false, and this ad tries to get at that. So good basic idea. Hardly a new one. Let's see if they're willing to stick with it - or something like it. The biggest question is the inclusion of Smith. There's no way they have enough information to know whether it's wise to attack Smith. So why do it? My guess is they don't really know. They don't seem to think things like this through very well.
Their best hope (at least in the medium term) could be that she and the WRAP gain real traction and keep peeling away support from Ed. WRAPs real vulnerability - and any Liberal advantage - is on the social side of the ideological ledger. Let WRAP be known as the fiscal slash and burn party. Why question this? It allows them to accomplish just what the Liberals need them to accomplish, which is to peel off conservative support on the right. A slash and burn party combined with suspicion about the social agenda has a sizeable but ultimately limited growth potential. But the Liberals need them to grow into this role. Attacking Smith now, even sowing seeds of doubt right now, is probably not the best idea. At the very least, it's based on sheer guesses. Better to pile on Ed and see where the political chips fall.
And Daveberta, attacking the policy record of fiscal conservatives is legitimate policy-oriented politics. Do you really expect a You-Tube ad to offer alternatives. The policy alternatives are out there as a matter of record. Get over yourself. Tough political criticism is good.
I think Anonymous 8:22 is right that this video builds up the WRAP by attacking them when there's no way to know yet if they're a real threat, but I almost think that's the point.
The Liberals are acting is if it's already a three way race. As noted, a strong WRAP means vote splitting means Libs clean up in Edmonton. So why not make them look like the real threat to build them up?
Particularly if you can do it while attacking Stelmach and Smith, helping put them in little boxes.
Also, in a week that was going to be all about the WRAP anyways, the Liberals are now getting ink.
Savvy.
Does David Swann want Ed Stelmach to cut $10 billion from the budget?
I don't like it, only because the ALP is (should?) be branding themselves as being fiscally conservative.
I'm all for attacking Stelmach's financial record/etc, but going after Harper, Reagan, etc makes the party look too left-wing in my humble opinion.
So, we shouldn't trust politicians?
I LIKED IT and I support(ed) many of the aforementioned 'fiscal conservatives'.
GOOD AD!
Although it says nothing of the Liberals. Not needed right now though.
I think the fact that the WRA is seeing such a groundswell in support is evidence that Stelmach isn't getting quite the "free pass" that the ALC thinks it is.
And the fact that the ad listed Bush as a fiscal conservative (Republicanism hasn't been fiscal conservatism for quite some time now) shows just how little the caucus knows about real fiscal conservatism.
And it wasn't real smart to put Stelmach and Smith in the same group as Ronald Reagan. They guy has conservative cult status in the US and an aircraft carrier named after him.
All it did was show just how out of touch with the majority of Albertans the ALP really is.
Both the WRA and the ALP are critical of the Tories for spending, the difference is the ALP really has no credibility when it comes to fiscal conservatism. All they've done is validated the WRA posiion.
Groupthink strikes again.
@hatrock
Not needed right now though? Gee...lets talk about it. Mulroney was a bigger spender than Trudeau and had higher deficits. It took another Liberal by the name of Jean Chretien to eliminate the deficit altogether.
And...it took another one-time Alberta Liberal to slay Alberta's deficit AND debt, that being Ralph Klein.
Having said that, we have to realize that the current Alberta Liberals are way out of their depth. I wouldn't give them $1.50 to spend on a candy bar...they would screw it up somehow, someway.
Are any betting houses taking bets on who will defect from the PC's and Libs to the Wildrose Alliance?
David Climenhaga seems to think that a right leaning ALP MLA is soon to go.
David Climenhaga seems to think that a right leaning ALP MLA is soon to go
I don't see that anywhere in his blog, what are you referring to?
Who the hell ever said Don Getty or Ed Stelmach were fiscal conservatives? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Silly Liberals Alberta Opposition Status is for kids
In response to the last post from Anonymous....I'm pretty sure once you call yourself a "fiscal conservative" you're a fiscal conservative Mr. Lol-a-little-too-much.
Albertans are blinded by the word "conservative".
Ask most Albertans why they vote conservative, and I bet many of their responses will not actually apply to the PCs, and even less to the WRAP.
This ad is smart, and sent out at a good time. Smith is all over the news coverage....and with her in the video, it makes it far more relevant to what's hot right now.
It's clear the Liberals are starting to get it, and they're thinking big. You either go big...or get out of the game.
The story about the 10 PC MLA's crossing the floor if Danielle won the leadership was a sheer fabrication and leak to Paul for her campaign to gain momentum on her way to victory.
The fact that she said it was very unlikely to happen on Monday during her news conference only confirmed my hunch.
I admit, I did get a giggle out of the ad - more piss and vinegar out of the ALP than I had dreamed possible but I think they muddled their own message!
I mean, do they really want to run on being fiscally liberal?
It seems the point of the video is to cause Albertans to ask the question "what does being a fiscal conservative really mean?" If it means spending like you own a money press, then something needs to be done about "fiscal conservatives".
How about The PC and WRAP stop with the word play and start saying things like fiscally responsibly, or we won't hand out multimillion dollar severance packages and huge bonuses while other hard working Albertans lose their jobs.
They need to stop relying on the affect the word "conservative" has on people.
Nice to see the ALP is still just as relevant as ever. Hey, if we can't come up with a platform, let's just front some ominous music and mug shots! That'll help. Wow.
ALP has always offered pretty elaborate platforms - even ones aligned fairly closely to what Albertans indicate they want. They just can't sell them. Or nobody takes them seriously enough to pay attention.
There's nothing really new about questioning whether Conservatives are really conservative fiscally. The Liberals have pushed that angle for years, even if not in a YouTube ad. It's worth pushing. Decore tried to outflank the PCs on the fiscal right. And I think Taft made a brief splash with some policy on savings and spending restraint.
You can agree with the sentiment that lots of supposedly conservative governments aren't in fact conservative (or even faintly responsible). And you can agree that the Liberals may at some point have to start taking some of the wind out of the Wildrose Alliance's sails. But whether this is the right ad at the right time is a different question. To me this is pretty clear evidence that the Liberals continue to flail around aimlessly. No serious strategy. People rightfully question Stelmach's inner circle. This is more proof that that Swann and his inner circle aren't up to snuff either.
The critical questions with this ad, given the new political environment, is whether the the ad should be targeted at Smith's WRA and whether it's the right time. And it raises obvious about where the Liberals are going to position themselves fiscally now. My guess is they don't really know. Are they saying Smith too might not be a real fiscal conservative? Does that mean they're saying they are conservative? Who's the real audience? The only likely impact of this, (theoretically anyway) is to make Tories thinking about moving to Alliance rethink. Personally I doubt you'll get anyone to question whether she's a real fiscal conservative. But even if you could, weakening her and her credibility is not in the Liberals' interest right now. Premature political ejaculation.
Of course they don't mention the record $1.8 trillion deficit by who - Barack Obama. Somehow that's okay.
A deficit largely required - at least in the view of most economists, left and right - due to conservative policies, even if some of them signed into law by a Democratic president.
But, to be fair to my tea-partying friend at 6:55, and to return to the Liberals' ad, Harper might be excused for his deficit for similar reasons (forced into it). Except for the fact that he's spent his life opposing the policies that kept Canadian financial sector relatively safe and sane...(when taking a break from arguing for participation in the Iraq war and setting up Alberta firewalls) and then denied a crisis was happening or that any fiscal stimulus was needed.... Oh, and now he splashes his party logo on the cheques! Gotta love that guy.
You are really going to take a hit at Obama? Bush racks up a record deficit, Obama comes in to clean up the mess...and you blame him? Sounds personal to me. Plus in case the point wasn't clear enough, the ad takes a swipe at the endless reign of "fiscal conservatives." The ad makes a good point. What's so "conservative" about this government flushing money down the toilet...while simultaneously lining their pockets with taxpayer dollars in the form of a 35 percent pay raise they gave themselves! If that happened in another country 1e would all be shaking our heads at how corrupt that government was. Think about it for a second.
I think Anonymous 8:55 and Calgary Grit hit the nail on the head. It is good strategy for the Liberals to legitimize the WRAP by attacking them, and bad strategy to distance themselves from the idea of fiscal conservatism.
The pro-Obama double-think exhibited in some of the last few comments here is particularly laughable.
How is a $1.8 TRILLION dollar deficit :cleaning up the mess"??
It's a good little video.
I'm quite surprised by the reaction it's caused here. Some people are a little sensitive, no?
My one quibble is that it's not really an 'ad' is it? This is an amateur You Tube video (albeit a good one), I don't think it will ever hit a TV set. I suspect a Liberal staffer threw it together and the brass decided to throw it on-line to see if they could get any reaction. Nothing wrong with that, I just wish people would stop calling it an 'ad.'
Holy Cow...The WRA doesn't need the Liberals to "legitimize them by attacking them". Look at the leadership turnout, the by-election vote, the recent polls, the number of high-powered people backing them. Wouldn't be hard to make a case that for the public and political/media establishment they're already more "legitimate" with only one seat and the leader not in the Legislature, than the consistently amateurish ALP. And this is the view of someone who doesn't even dislike the ALP or their positions.
Does anyone really think that the Liberals' intent was to legitimize them by attacking them? Not a chance. If Swann's public comments are any indication of their chosen strategy, assuming they have one, they're already trying to weaken the enthusiasm for the WRA.
And let's be serious - it doesn't matter whether it's dubbed an "ad" or not.
They had a bit more than 8000 in the leadership vote - the Liberals 5000. The tories sold almost 200,000 memberships in 2006.
Given the media attention they have received, I'm shocked that wasn't at least 50000. The Wildrose is a fringe party that the media have pumped up, nothing more.
Liberal who? Donn Lovett in the Herald>>>
Longtime Calgary Liberal organizer Donn Lovett said Wednesday his party has major communication woes and is failing to seize on the problems facing the embattled Stelmach government.
His assessment was echoed by political observers, but denounced by another leading Liberal organizer and Swann himself, although the leader admitted he's faced some growing pains.
Nevertheless, Lovett said the Grits have a lot of work to do. He said the party must move more to the centre of the political spectrum and occupy the space being vacated by the Tories as they battle with the emerging Wildrose Alliance for right-wing support, he argued.
"We're irrelevant," said Lovett, who was a campaign co-chairman in the Liberals' close second-place finish in September's Calgary-Glenmore byelection. "The party had better get their head out of their (butt)."
Done by Liberal Caucus staff, eh?
I bet the Speaker's Office will have a thing or two to say about spending tax dollars (by using staff time) on an ad like this...does this have anything to do with party or gov't policy?
LOL, what a video!
Talk about mixed signals; comparing Ms Smith to Ronald Reagan and Stephen Harper in an attempt to make her look bad to an Alberta audience ???
Don Getty and Ed Stelmach FISCAL conservatives??? Give me a break! Even calling Mulroney that is a stretch; and conveniently forgetting that Mulroney inherited a huge structural deficit from the Liberals, and that any attempt they made to deal with it was fought tooth and nail by the Liberals and their allies at the CBC, Globe and Mail, and various Government funded special interest groups is disingenuous at best. Of course, blaming Reagan and Bush solely for deficits accumulated while Congress was controlled by the Democrats is equally disingenuous and popular with liberals/socialists and the media.
And what is with vilifying Harper for running a deficit?!? Are the provincial Liberals saying that they oppose stimulus spending during a recession?!? Or are they saying that they reject Keynesian economics and Government intervention in the economy?!? Or are they just conveniently forgetting that their Federal counterparts were going to form a coalition with the Marxist NDP and separatist Bloc if the Conservatives did not run a deficit???
Of course coherence and honesty has never been the hallmark of LIEberals.
...otherwise, good ad!
Too bad the Liberal Party's broke! Kinda dilutes the message, no?
I think it’s a great ad! And it is Policy based. They're taking a hit at the government deficits....and how did Alberta get into a deficit? Stelmach policy...policy the Auditor General is so frustrated about, he's actually stepping down!
Stelmach recently chose to Pay $140,000 in taxpayer money for that address to the province earlier this month, that was clearly to save his butt going into his upcoming. If you can say the liberals are at fault...the Tory video is probably $139,800 more at fault.
And let's not forget That Mr. Speaker is a staunch Tory.
Smith calls herself a fiscal conservative...why not include her in the video? Don't brand yourself one way and expect people to not take you at your word. Wear the hat you made for yourself.
May I ask why many of you vote Conservative in the first place? A true honest policy based answer...not just because the word "conservative" is in the party name, or because your parents vote conservative.
Read it and weep...Calgary herald:
http://tiny.cc/rZkVW
Time to put down 'The War Room' and start working on policy Liberals. Nice work propping up the Wild Rose too. Glad to see tax dollars being used for important things like You Tube what's next Facebook and Twitter.
Ed who?
Deja vu David Swann - substitute his name with Michael Ignatieff. You'll find pretty much the same text written by national mainstream media scribes about the LPC.
As for the WRAP, 'equal coverage' doesn't seem to apply as much to a leadership race compared to a full-blown election campaign.
Anon 10:34: You don't include her in the ad because so far it's likely that the Liberals need Smith to gain and maintain traction to split the right. Take her out and run it against Stelmach when he's continuing to spend like crazy in his first few budgets, and you might have something. Maybe even a serious, simple, coherent election message - which they neglected to ever develop.
She's barely won the leadership, doesn't have a seat, has one member in the Legislature, and the Liberals have now officially worked harder trying to discredit her than they have Stelmach. Absurd.
I can hardly wait until the Liberals start trying to paint the Alliance as a bunch of budget slashing radicals out to eliminate critical public services that the Liberals would save. There's no serious evidence that Albertans want a big shift to the fiscal right. They want good, disciplined fiscal management. Basically, it's a competence issue dressed up in fiscal garb in the dawning recognition that the PCs blew yet another boom. Yay for Ralphbucks!
So that's where the political action is going to be and the contest is going to be fought. When the smoke clears and the Liberals figure out who the hell they are, they're going to have to reverse course and convince voters that Smith is so fiscally conservative that she's going to slash funding to and then privatize your health system and schools etc.
The Liberals seem to have been fooled by the current upheaval and where they're going to need to position themselves, what kind of contrasts they're ultimately going to need to make. They look foolish with this. Again.
For everyone's edification, Donn Lovett is a five-alarm psychopath who should be locked in an asylum and put on a Zoloft drip for his own safety. Along with Rick Bell.
I think it's fascinating to see the vein of thought that the Liberals are hypocrites for saying Alberta has to spend more, but not run deficits.
Apparently, taxes can only go down, not up.
If we agree that health care and education are important, doesn't it make sense we find a way to pay for them?
Not if it means raising taxes. If the Liberals want to save more and spend more, they should be honest and tell people how much more they'd have to shell out.
Tax and spend Liberals.
And the PCs spend like they were Liberals (at least in overall amounts - priorities would be a bit different) but pay for it with uncertain and non-renewable resource revenues. Cynical short-term politics at its worst. No courage to restrain spending when things are going good. No courage to raise revenue to pay the bills when things aren't so good. Just spend the meagre savings and pray. And now likely to defend their right flank with cuts to critical public services. Pay freezes (at least) for the working and middle class public service. Must be nice to be able to go behind closed doors and give yourself a massive pay raise Ed. You and your nit-wit cabinet of cronies should give the entire raise back. Not some insulting token amount. Did those idiot advisers of yours not tell you that tokenism (with a bit of cynical spin thrown in) is worse than doing nothing?
Gutter politics. I expected better from David Swann.
Ronald Reagan's deficit won us the Cold War.
IMHO Reagan's role in ending the Cold War is over rated. They had it coming.
Ed Stelmach won the Cold War. I was aware that he and Ted Morton single highhandedly defeated Pierre Trudeau and the Communist Menace.
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