Ignatieff Most Winnable...says Tories Secret Memo
Linda Diebel drops a bomb into the leadership race right before Super Weekend
I am on hiatus until Sunday...enjoy
Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff is the Liberal leadership candidate the Conservatives would fear fighting the most in the next federal election. And, of the top contenders, the Tories would most like to take on former NDP premier Bob Rae.
The conclusions are contained in a confidential memo obtained by the Toronto Star, and written by Conservative national campaign chief Doug Finley.
Addressed to the CPG, or Campaign Planning Group, the memo assesses the Liberal leadership race from a Conservative campaign perspective to determine "which leadership candidate would be most formidible." It came after extensive polling and focus groups conducted by the party during July and August, including surveys of both the general public and so-called election "switchers," who could change their vote to the Tories.
Finley, a key Tory war-room strategist in the last federal election, says Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) "worries me most." However, a hand-written margin note by an unknown person adds: "Puts his foot in his mouth too much. Will be problematic (for Ignatieff)."
The memo deals principally with the four candidates considered front-runners in the race for the Liberal leadership, calling them the "only serious" contenders. It says:
Rae has "real problems" with potential Liberal-to-Conservative switchers, 35 and over. People think he's a "nice guy" but always come back to his record as Ontario premier.
"The only silver lining for Rae is that his negatives are concentrated in Ontario and Quebec and Ontario, to be fair, has changed a lot since the early 1990s," says the memo. It adds, however, that his record, including "Rae Days" would become a campaign issue.
Former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy is described as not ready for leadership, with a Mississauga focus group member saying, "He looks minor-league." His French was criticized in Quebec. "People love Gerard Kennedy on paper until they see him perform." Has a "great life story, nice family" and good record as Ontario Liberal education minister. But "when exposed to Gerard Kennedy on TV, the dials go south."
Adds Finley: "If the Liberals are willing to invest a few elections in Gerard Kennedy, he could grow into the job."
Former federal cabinet minister Stephane Dion got "good news and bad news." He appears more popular among ordinary Quebecers "than the media establishment gives him credit for." Plus, he is not associated in the public's mind with the sponsorship scandal, in which the auditor-general's office found $100 million in taxpayer funds was misspent to sell federalism in Quebec.
Outside of Quebec, Dion was "the toughest sell," criticized for his English. He is rated "the most boring" of the leadership candidates. Comparing him to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finley writes: "This guy makes Harper look exciting."
Ignatieff was "the most interesting candidate to probe/test." The memo says he "takes quite a bit of heat for his foreign policy positions" among left-leaning Liberal-Conservative switchers. He'd probably lose votes over foreign policy from Liberal/NDP switchers, says Finley.
"But he is an impressive performer and the more people watched Ignatieff, the more they liked him," says the memo, adding one woman in London said "he looks, sounds and acts like a prime minister."
Finley considers Ignatieff's appeal to be strongest among university-educated, middle-to-upper middle class voters in ridings the Tories hope to target, including Don Valley West, West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast and Lac St. Louis.
Concludes Finley: "Dion and Kennedy could evolve into formidable competitors over time but that depends on how long Liberals are willing to sit in opposition and let these two men grow into national leaders."
Liberals in 308 ridings across Canada meet over so-called "Super Weekend," beginning Friday, to choose delegates to the Nov. 28-Dec. 3 Liberal leadership convention in Montreal.
The memo says Dion and Ignatieff supporters are the "most firm in their support," while Rae support is "relatively soft with ordinary members," although he will probably do well among 890 ex officio delegates.
"As my earlier memo on party support indicated," says Finley, "the Liberal Party has a lot of work to do to convince Canadians that they have learned their lessons from January 23rd and changed for the better."
Finley declined to comment last night. A spokesperson told the Star "he is absolutely clear he has had no change of heart on the contents (of the memo) or on strategy. It's as true today as when he wrote it."
I am on hiatus until Sunday...enjoy
Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff is the Liberal leadership candidate the Conservatives would fear fighting the most in the next federal election. And, of the top contenders, the Tories would most like to take on former NDP premier Bob Rae.
The conclusions are contained in a confidential memo obtained by the Toronto Star, and written by Conservative national campaign chief Doug Finley.
Addressed to the CPG, or Campaign Planning Group, the memo assesses the Liberal leadership race from a Conservative campaign perspective to determine "which leadership candidate would be most formidible." It came after extensive polling and focus groups conducted by the party during July and August, including surveys of both the general public and so-called election "switchers," who could change their vote to the Tories.
Finley, a key Tory war-room strategist in the last federal election, says Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) "worries me most." However, a hand-written margin note by an unknown person adds: "Puts his foot in his mouth too much. Will be problematic (for Ignatieff)."
The memo deals principally with the four candidates considered front-runners in the race for the Liberal leadership, calling them the "only serious" contenders. It says:
Rae has "real problems" with potential Liberal-to-Conservative switchers, 35 and over. People think he's a "nice guy" but always come back to his record as Ontario premier.
"The only silver lining for Rae is that his negatives are concentrated in Ontario and Quebec and Ontario, to be fair, has changed a lot since the early 1990s," says the memo. It adds, however, that his record, including "Rae Days" would become a campaign issue.
Former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy is described as not ready for leadership, with a Mississauga focus group member saying, "He looks minor-league." His French was criticized in Quebec. "People love Gerard Kennedy on paper until they see him perform." Has a "great life story, nice family" and good record as Ontario Liberal education minister. But "when exposed to Gerard Kennedy on TV, the dials go south."
Adds Finley: "If the Liberals are willing to invest a few elections in Gerard Kennedy, he could grow into the job."
Former federal cabinet minister Stephane Dion got "good news and bad news." He appears more popular among ordinary Quebecers "than the media establishment gives him credit for." Plus, he is not associated in the public's mind with the sponsorship scandal, in which the auditor-general's office found $100 million in taxpayer funds was misspent to sell federalism in Quebec.
Outside of Quebec, Dion was "the toughest sell," criticized for his English. He is rated "the most boring" of the leadership candidates. Comparing him to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finley writes: "This guy makes Harper look exciting."
Ignatieff was "the most interesting candidate to probe/test." The memo says he "takes quite a bit of heat for his foreign policy positions" among left-leaning Liberal-Conservative switchers. He'd probably lose votes over foreign policy from Liberal/NDP switchers, says Finley.
"But he is an impressive performer and the more people watched Ignatieff, the more they liked him," says the memo, adding one woman in London said "he looks, sounds and acts like a prime minister."
Finley considers Ignatieff's appeal to be strongest among university-educated, middle-to-upper middle class voters in ridings the Tories hope to target, including Don Valley West, West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast and Lac St. Louis.
Concludes Finley: "Dion and Kennedy could evolve into formidable competitors over time but that depends on how long Liberals are willing to sit in opposition and let these two men grow into national leaders."
Liberals in 308 ridings across Canada meet over so-called "Super Weekend," beginning Friday, to choose delegates to the Nov. 28-Dec. 3 Liberal leadership convention in Montreal.
The memo says Dion and Ignatieff supporters are the "most firm in their support," while Rae support is "relatively soft with ordinary members," although he will probably do well among 890 ex officio delegates.
"As my earlier memo on party support indicated," says Finley, "the Liberal Party has a lot of work to do to convince Canadians that they have learned their lessons from January 23rd and changed for the better."
Finley declined to comment last night. A spokesperson told the Star "he is absolutely clear he has had no change of heart on the contents (of the memo) or on strategy. It's as true today as when he wrote it."
par / by Anthony à / at 10:03 a.m.
8 Commentaires:
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ahahahahahahah oh my god I can hardly breathe I'm laughing so hard. Tories fear Iggy???? Every poll taken of Canadians since he declared his intentions says otherwise; but whatever you say Antonio, I mean Iggy , I mean Harper lmfao.
Le journal Le Quebecois, run by separatists put out a smear book on Ignatieff today by Pierre Luc Begin, saying Ignatieff is worse than Jan Wong
HAHAHAHAHA
Its clear the Bloc do not want Iggy`s vision of Quebec become the Liberal vision.
The NDP would gain some votes, however, ask any of them, and they want Bob Rae to win as well. Probably because they have him saying so many bad things about Liberals.
Take the article for what its worth, I didnt editorialize all that much
Leaking a memo in order to sway the decisions of the members of the party you oppose, just before that party votes on the issue, sounds just like the thing the neocons down south would do upon the advice of, say, a Frank Luntz or a Karl Rove. Let's not forget that Harper and his new team were addressed by Luntz and seem to be taking his advice on many things, including using disinformation (avoiding addressing global warming but framing it as climate change, etc).
So, speculation about how and why this little surprise memo was written in the first place, and leaked round about now, is valid.
Unless of course Liberals cannot make up their own minds and are now dependent on Harper and his new Tories to tell them what to think ...
The Cat's advice is: forgeddabout it. Think for yourself. Vote your convictions.
The Cat yields the floor to the Mutant, but retains the right to hiss and strike out at odd times .....
oooo a cat fight
people always jump to conspiracy theories. Take the article for what it is worth.
I have heard both Tories and Dippers express fear at facing Ignatieff
Kennedy is as thin as paper and is in no way shape or form ready to be leader of any federal PArty. I got a message from him yesterday and he was still yammering on about fighting hunger. Give me a frigin break. Have you got nothing else to say. He is years away from federal leader if ever. I don't even know if he should be in cabinet. He comes off dumb as a bag of rocks. Really. He's a mental midget against the likes of Igs Rae Dion and Dryden. It salmost a joke that you think he could win a federal election. Even he doesn't think he can win the next Federal election. He is a huge disapointment. That's coming from someone who supported him initially before it became obvious how outclassed he was in this race.
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