Tuesday, May 25, 2004

AND SO IT BEGINS

What kind of Prime Minister calls an election on a holiday long weekend? One who couldn't make up his mind about when to call it I suppose. Anyway, I spent a relaxing long weekend mostly removed from any news or media coverage. I did, however watch the PM's stroll from 24 Sussex to Government House which made him appear either confident or frightened depending on who you talk to you. Personally I thought it was a great photo-op from a PR standpoint. The trappings of government, the RCMP security officers, the setting in general, portrayed Martin as a powerful leader, while the leisurely walk and his relaxed manner, followed by throngs of people, struck the right balance of populism. I would have preferred if he had taken a few more questions upon emerging from the GG's residence.

As mentioned, I haven't seen much campaign coverage yet but I think Stephen Harper has the best line of the campaign so far. In answering a question following his opening remarks Harper said something to the effect of, "the Liberal Party seems to think that in order to be a Canadain you also have to be a Liberal, but Liberal values are not synonymous with Canadain values" (paraphrase). This is a good message. It strikes at perceived Liberal arrogance and counter-acts Liberal attacks portryaing Harper as dangerous to the country.

Hopefully my campaign blogging will be fairly regular for the next month. I also start work for my local NDP candidate this evening so I will post any interesting updates about that. Also, I'm currently living in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora, the riding of Belinda Stronach, so I'll try and keep some tabs on the as well.

Don't forget to check on the BlogsCanada Election Blog for continuous election commentary and also the BlogsCanada political index for a wide variety of on-line election resources.

Posted by Matthew @ 12:55 p.m.