{"id":331062,"date":"2021-08-26T21:48:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T18:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/federal-election-2021-something-sounds-off\/"},"modified":"2021-08-26T21:48:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T18:48:39","slug":"federal-election-2021-something-sounds-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/federal-election-2021-something-sounds-off\/","title":{"rendered":"#Federal election 2021: Something sounds off"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Federal election 2021: Something sounds off<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Tone has been a major issue for the Conservative Party of Canada since its founding in 2003. The early opposition years featured an angry (yet deserved) focus on Liberal sleaze (see: Scandal, Sponsorship), while the early years in government were chippy on account of their rather tenuous position as \u2018Canada\u2019s New Government\u2019 with only 125 seats to their name.<\/p>\n

With a possible election around every legislative corner, Stephen Harper\u2019s Conservatives hardly ever took their foot of the gas. When the Liberals finally got around to crowning a permanent successor to Paul Martin, the Tories were quick out of the gate to brand the nebbish and eloquent (in English) St\u00e9phane Dion as \u2018not a leader<\/a>\u2019. Dion was rendered dead on arrival. There was even a pooping puffin.<\/p>\n

Nor did things slow down when Liberal saviour Michael Ignatieff came to town\/country. He\u2019s \u2018just visiting<\/a>\u2019 the Tory attack machine wailed, noting the then-Liberal leader\u2019s rather tenuous ties to his home and native land. It was a rude awakening for the longtime academic, as evidenced by the entire book he wrote about the experience. Let\u2019s just say the title \u2018Fire and Ashes<\/a>\u2019 was an accurate descript<\/a>ion of the 2011 Liberal campaign and where it left the party.<\/p>\n

Enter Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n

The Tories were quick to also brand Trudeau out of the gate before he could get his legs under him. Only this time, the attacks<\/a> (\u2018in over his head\u2019 and \u2018nice hair though\u2019) didn\u2019t stick. The charismatic Trudeau had something Dion and Ignatieff didn\u2019t have: a compelling (and all-Canadian) back story and, more importantly, some serious stardust.<\/p>\n

Trudeau also happened to hit the scene at the precise moment Canadians were becoming fed up with the Harper approach to politics and when social media<\/a>-fuelled celebrity was a viable route to market for political messages. Trudeau re-energized and grew his party and then dropped an ambitious platform during the 2015 election.<\/p>\n

The Liberals\u2019 2015 majority-winning campaign was a masterclass in tone. It radiated positivity and energy and drew the perfect contrast with a Tory machine that was out of gas. And with the economy improving and the deficit gone, Canadians took the opportunity to back the rookie leader.<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s victory was a timely reminder most people don\u2019t follow politics closely. In fact, most don\u2019t follow it at all. It means most people don\u2019t harbour the same hatreds as the average partisan. This is the point the Tories have consistently failed to grasp as they have flung their arrows the Prime Minister\u2019s way. Sure, Trudeau has earned a few, most notably for blackface, SNC-Lavalin and this spring\u2019s WE Scandal, but for most, Trudeau is still the smiling guy from 2015. He\u2019s not Justin Turdeau or Turd\u2019oh, of whatever juvenile appellation is currently whetting the lips of the meme monkeys.<\/p>\n

Which makes the Liberals\u2019 decision to have Trudeau front some of this campaign\u2019s attacks even more strange. Instead of having the Prime Minister crow about his successful vaccine rollout and vast sums of money tucked into pockets, the Liberal war room is having him film self videos attacking \u20182-Tier O\u2019Toole\u2019 over jumped-up claims the Conservative leader would end Canadian health care as we know it. After years of telling Canadians he was for \u2018evidenced-based policy\u2019, Trudeau is now counting on Canadians\u2019 ignorance of how their health care is currently delivered.<\/p>\n

And while Trudeau fumbles about in his closet for an attack that sticks, Erin O\u2019Toole is keeping things calm and collegiate. Bar the wonky Willy Wonka web ad from the Conservative war room at the onset of the campaign, the Conservatives\u2014and O\u2019Toole himself\u2014have kept things largely above the belt. To the point where O\u2019Toole could credibly decry the Liberal importation of \u2018American-style\u2019 politics into Canada following Chrystia Freeland\u2019s foray into half-cocked hatchet jobs. We\u2019re in bizarro land.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n