Sunday, September 06, 2009

new liberal ads are a proven formula

the new liberal ads may not appear to be much to some (in particular political pundits). however, these ads follow a formula that has worked previously.

it may be a distant memory for some, but i can recall when dalton mcguinty was in a similar situation to ignatieff. the government of the day had portrayed him as being incapable of leading a province. negative ads attacked him throughout his first election and term as leader.

shortly before an expected election, the ontario liberals released ads that are similar to the ones focusing on ignatieff. the ontario liberal ads had the premier in the middle of a winter forest expelling what he would do for ontario. similar ads followed in the later of 2003, only with more focus on specific policy issues.

while these ontario liberal ads were airing the provincial conservatives were facing a budget crisis. ernie eves and janet ecker were facing tough questions from the media and the public about the future of the provinces' finances. the liberal ads offered hope and an alternative to the dribble that was seeping from the ontario pc machine.

to add to the above point ernie eves was not seen as a charismatic leader and his finance minister was in over her head following the magna budget. in many ways these two are like harper and flaherty with their prime time budgets and pathetic spin.

the ignatieff ads are the start of something bigger and better to come. they exhibit his personal side and give canadians an idea of where the liberal party is heading.

if anything the federal liberals are ripping a page from the provincial formula that has worked over the past two elections. positive, direct and hope filled ads can work. although it is impossible to speculate on the future themes of an election, expect similar ads with growing themes. we see some of these themes emerging in the french ads already.

on a final note... without naming names... one liberal strategist (last name starts with a k) knows what he is doing!