This seems to be the first one out the gate for the NDP. It takes a page out the Republicans’ playbook, directly attacking what’s purported to be Harper’s greatest strength. Tackling his “strong leadership” head on, the ad draws a sarcastic contrast between it and several alleged disparities.
“Steven Harper is a strong leader,” the female narrator says in a steely voice. “With the strength to brag about billions in corporate tax cuts, while one eight children lives in poverty.” And so it goes characterizing Harper as a callous SOB. “Strong enough to ignore nearly 5 million Canadians who can’t find a family doctor,” the voiceover says, each point reinforced with an ominous drum beat. “And destroying the environment while you pay record high gas prices… strong leadership,” the voice sneers.
The end of the ad shifts to the new kind of leadership being offered by the NDP, as Layton appears, in a sky blue shirt with and open collar and, of course, rolled up sleeves. “The new strong is about fighting for what’s right, for you,” he says, adding special emphasis to the word “new” when announcing the name of the party at the very end.
I have to say that for an attack ad, I quite liked it; nicely produced, well paced, clear and concise. Some might find the sarcastic tone of the voiceover a little harsh and the claims being made are highly suspect to say the least. Is Stephen Harper really “destroying the environment” (manifested here with a picture of an off-highway hauler in the tar sands)? Don’t most people realize that healthcare is primarily a provincial issue, not a federal one? Is there a direct correlation between corporate tax cuts and child poverty? The message will play well to the NDP base, of course, but I wonder how effective it will be at swaying independent voters. Anyway, as an initial salvo at Harper, it’s very sharp and provides a rather shocking contrast to the gauzy Conservative fluff pieces that have been filling the air of late.
23 Comments
September 6, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Beats the hell out of Sweater-Guy. Too bad it can’t win me over (lol saskatchewan NDP).
September 6, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Actually, I thought it was a pretty good ad (and, I am not an NDP supporter). It got to the point, and didn’t even need to use a sledgehammer!
As for health care, yes it’s a provincial matter that the feds are supposed to pay half of. Their contribution is somewhere less than 20% now I believe (but I stand to be corrected).
September 6, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Much better than their previous election ads. I especially like the fact that they dropped “working families”.
I do find the ending incongruous to the hard hitting criticism of Harper’s so-called accomplishments (and I might have gone for a different selection of themes). Jack comes across as very soft spoken in contrast to the voice-over throughout the ad. I prefer his tone because he comes across as reasonable and trustworthy but it just doesn’t seem to match the tone of the rest of the ad. I think they could have ended it with just a card stating: The new strong is about fighting for what’s right for you. On Oct. 14, Vote New Democrat. or something similar.
They could use the footage of Jack with a completely different ad that has a softer tone in outlining why the NDP is a strong choice.
September 6, 2008 at 2:17 pm
BY — Well, it’s probably part of a series I would think, so the themes touched on might vary. I was just reading the comments over at Steve’s place (he beat me again — damn!) and someone there also commented on the odd contrast between the hard-hitting voiceover and Jack’s “soft” tone at the end. It didn’t strike me that way, but I do like your wording better.
September 6, 2008 at 2:18 pm
It’s a good ad…..but they do need new material to go along with this so-called new image stuff.
They have’t had new vision or policies for over 40 years.
September 6, 2008 at 2:19 pm
OMG! That was so brilliant! I’m voting EN-DEE-PEE! My local candidate is a celebrity even…he was in a crowd scene on Starlost or something.
…I hope that irritates some lurking Hissy Dipper.
September 6, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Re: “…destroying the environment while you pay record high gas prices.”
Dippers have such a blind spot on this contradiction. It is not possible to put forward a strong environmental plank AND defend the interests of unionized, industrial proles, i.e. the auto industry. Uh, yup, 700 million automobiles on the planet is okay and, by the way, we’re also big on Kyoto.
September 6, 2008 at 2:40 pm
BY, I like the softer voice on Layton. Makes he come across as a lot more classy than I’ve seen in a long time.
As to the ad, it’s a slam dunk. Very well done.
September 6, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Don’t get me wrong Chrystal, I definitely like how Jack comes across in that bit at the end. It’s not OTP “Happy Jack” or angry Jack pontificating. It’s very good.
I just find the contrast in tone within the ad a bit jarring. It reminds me of Stephen Spielberg’s tendency to cut from a very dramatic narrative to the present day, contemplative reality as in Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. It’s a mash-up style that doesn’t appeal to me. I find that it makes you change emotional gears too fast.
As I said, I would like to see that ad dissected and spun into two separate ads.
September 6, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Meh. As an attack ad, it’ll do. And it’s merely mendacious rather than sleazy (we’ll need to wait for the Rovian CPC attack ads before we see real sleaze).
At least the ad does what the Libs should have been doing since the end of their last leadership convention: deliver a swift and unapologetic kick to Harper’s twins. So I give it two thumbs up.
September 6, 2008 at 6:57 pm
This whole corporate tax break stuff – makes me want to slap him….I’m sick of hearing about it.
Layton admires socialist countries like Sweden – they are doing well……Layton’s quiet on the fact that they give huge corporate tax breaks and I believe use the green shift tax type of plan.
September 6, 2008 at 7:17 pm
He can “jack” the corporate tax rates up as high as he wants, but that’s not going to do much good if businesses just relocate to a lower tax environment. Canada is competitive in this regard, actually more so than the U.S. surprisingly, and about on par with most of the European countries. This is one of those issues where he needs to get specific so people can see how flaky the NDP’s economics can be sometimes.
September 6, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Reading the comments and looking to see if the ad is working.
It needs to win over disaffected Liberal supporters.
…No, doesn’t seem to.
September 6, 2008 at 8:34 pm
No, doesn’t seem to [be].
Thanks for the report, Tomm. Your study would have had greater scientific validity, though, if this thread actually contained some “disaffected Liberal supporters”.
For more reliable data, you may want to peruse a thread on a Blogging Tories post…that is, of course, unless you think the recent mild spike in CPC support is coming from the recently commissioned droids of neo-con clone factory.
September 6, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Sir Francis,
If I wish to see if Jack Layton is “borrowing” more votes, permanently or otherwise, why would I go to the Blogging Tories? It seems unlikely that a Tory supporter would see Jack Layton’s magnificent social justice movement (a thing of unmentionable holiness and beauty) as an option.
However, the Liberal Party has pretty much put itself in the same phone booth and therefore, maybe Jack is finding some resonance, over here.
September 6, 2008 at 9:11 pm
If I wish to see if Jack Layton is “borrowing” more votes, permanently or otherwise, why would I go to the Blogging Tories?
LOL, Tomm! My point was that “disaffected Liberal supporters” are more likely to be stalking BT blogs than this one, which appeals more to committed Liberal supporters (being written by one, an’ all).
As to that set of companion colouring books to go with my comments, I’ve got some people working on it. Hey, I’ll do anything to help…
By the way, in the spirit of cross-partisanship, I’m thinking of sending to CPC HQ the screen-play for a devastating pro-Harper TV spot I just wrote. It features our hero looking lovingly into the eyes of a tiny, fluffy cat while stating his commitment to little, itty-bitty kittens and excoriating that élitist know-it-all Dion for never having publicly given his support to Canada’s darling little cats, all of whom work hard and play by the rules, darn it.
The ad closes with the words, “Stephen Harper: Standing Up for Our Little Kittens”.
What’s your verdict, as a non-disaffected CPC supporter? Will it fly?
September 6, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Sir Francis,
I like it.
I’ve got one for you.
A photo of Dion mugging for the 6 O’clock news decrying one of the 20 pieces of non-confidence legislation that he thinks is ugly, hateful, American, bad for the country, or whatever he might have been quoted as saying. Then a cut to a list of the other 19 non-confidence issues. Then a cut back to the actual votes where he takes the country to the brink of an election and then…
…pulls out, and refuses to vote against it.
Then a smoky female voice over, “why didn’t Mr. Harper buy Stephane a condom, so he at least could have acted like a man”
September 6, 2008 at 9:49 pm
It’s OK. I am sure Red would especially appreciate the “smoky female”, for obvious reasons.
But the answer to her question is obvious: as I’m sure Harper is aware, Dion’s a Catholic: he’s not allowed to use condoms. We Papists have morals, you know.
When we copulate, we aim to propagate, pal.
September 6, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Right,
I forgot. A Papist. Unlike Mr. Harper who I think is a member of the Alliance Church? (does anybody know?)
We should be doing the ads for the CPC. Between the two of us we would make sure we got the kitten lovers votes and the rhythm method users.
A fine demographic.
September 6, 2008 at 10:24 pm
…the kitten lovers votes and the rhythm method users. A fine demographic.
…and, let’s face it, collectively a huge one.
And, no, most Canadians have no notion of Harper’s Alliance Church membership, because he’s been very careful not to mention it. Remember, Harper’s key objective is to do everything Manning and Stock didn’t do.
Frankly, I doubt if wider public knowledge of Harper’s faith would matter a whit to most Central and Eastern Canadians, and it’s sad if CPC operatives think otherwise. Apart from ideologically driven idiots like Warren Kinsella, most of us judge a person by his actions and values, not his religion.
Look at how we embraced CCF/NDP militants, Protestant fundamentalists virtually to a man (albeit of the Sermon on the Mount variety rather than of the “Book of Revelations” variety).
September 7, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I agree with the two of you. It was very good up until Layton.
Anyway I got a better slogan for them, though,
“The NDP: a new kind of old.”
September 7, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Do you Papists allow Pap tests? How did they choose Benedict again?
September 7, 2008 at 12:49 pm
When he said, “The new strong..”
I thought..”The new coke…”