Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Nope. Simply that we're not "better than that", and that nobody complaining about Harper's "Ignatief is an American" ads, or any others from any party, is occupying any moral high ground.
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Well, speak for yourself I guess. I'm pretty comfortable with my moral high ground!
In all seriousness, the first attack ads I can remember in Canadian politics came from the Conservative Party under Kim Campbell. The party was punished at the polls by voters in spite of the ad being pretty tame by American standards. If we stop punishing parties at the polls for those tactics, the parties will keep using them.
I'll make this commitment: if a party uses attack ads in the next election cycle they will not get my vote. I'll vote Green if I have to, though lord knows I'd rather not. I want civility in my politics and I want my political debates to be about issues, not image. My vote goes to the party that can present a constructive, positive vision for Canada without resorting to infantile attack ads directed at voters too stupid to evaluate them critically.
I'll agree wholeheartedly that the Liberal ads against Harper were ridiculous. They were also ineffective, and smacked of desperation. And they
did backfire--because people didn't watch them and believe their message, they watched them and correctly perceived them as a cynical attempt to smear an opponent.
And now it's up to us to make sure the same tactic backfires on Harper. If we don't, you can be sure he'll trot out the same, stupid, nativist rhetoric again and again.