Monday, May 18, 2009

Now That's Spin

Tim Powers argues that almost absolute criticism amounts to "enjoyable" from the Conservative perspective:
What it is equally enjoyable I am sure for the creators of Ignatieff.me is to see all the earned media generated by the commentary of the campaign.

Wiki defines "earned media" as:
Earned media refers to FAVORABLE publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising

Yes Tim, I'm sure the Conservative war room is ecstatic at all the paid media. It's so "enjoyable", Conservatives are ranting and raving about all the "digesting".

I suppose, you could say "people are talking" and that fact represents publicity. Trouble is, when you're being called bigots, nitwiks, desperate, bottom feeders and mean spirited hyper-partisans, when normally sympathetic publications are rejecting, the "commentary" isn't exactly a net positive.

I'm sure it's high fives all around Tim. Just what they imagined, probably more...

10 comments:

sassy said...

"enjoyable"Gotta give Tim credit for putting on a brave face.

ottlib said...

Look up smarmy in the dictionary and you will see Tim Power's photo, smirk and all.

Patrick said...

linkCheck it out, the conservatives stump speech has been leaked. I know a bit off topic... basically we get to see the backbenchers talking points before they even say them!

Not really surprising but nice to see the proof.

Tomm said...

Steve,

The Liberal's shrill complaints of attack ads just don't sell very well.

The LPC has had its own attack ads. And nasty ones they were. There are also the continuing web blogger attack ads that I noticed you carry. The LPC has also never left the fear mongering/hidden agenda of 2004 behind, and they continue to find (5 years later) that they can still dust that off whenever they wish to scare Canadian's about what Harper is doing to THEIR country. Then of course, there is the always fun little ploy of blaming the Conservative's for a Liberal mistake. The most recent example is Ruby and the Libs trying to make it seem Jason Kenney is doing the dirty stuff here. Nice slight of hand.

The truth is the truth. Ignatieff was out of the country for 34 years and has built a personna as an upstairs academic. This isn't an attack ad, it is reminding the Canadian voter that the LPC leader has not lived our national experience.

Jerry Prager said...

Tomm, the truth is also that Stephen Harper has been in Alberta waving his cheesy little master of corporatist economics in the air like it was a map to the holy grail almost as long as Ignatieff was out earning the respect of the intellectual world. Your guy is emotionally deficient and intellectually dishonest and his lies about the nature of Canadian democracy during the prorogation crisis he created should be punishable as treason. The only people in Canada who don't care about Harper's inadequacies are reformatories. And soon you and your buddies will be slipping your long knives into Stephen's chubby underbelly and dumping his gutless inards into the ooze pools of the Tar Sands.

Anonymous said...

Tom Flanigan - Harper's "mentor" - let's talk about who's Canadian here eh?

Thomas Eugene Flanagan is an Americo-Canadian writer and professor of political science at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. He is of an Irish-American family from Illinois. He has one sister who currently resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He attended the University of Notre Dame, Indiana as an undergraduate.

Born in the United States, Flanagan fled to Canada at the height of the Vietnam conflict after completing a Ph.D at Duke University to take up a post at the University of Calgary.

Flanagan is part of a group known as the Calgary School and a senior fellow of the free-market think tank, the Fraser Institute.

Flanigan "ran away" from the US but didn't leave his Republican thinking behind - and he has influenced Harper greatly.

Tim Powers is really looking like a sarcastic, smug jerk these days - not cool for a strategist is it.

RuralSandi said...

Don't you think the Johnnie hit me first stuff from the Cons supporters is getting tiresome.

The Cons just don't get it. After years and years of this kind of politicing in the US - the people finally had enough. They voted for the man who had a clean campaign, who did not believe in demeaning anyone - Obama.

Perhaps Canadians are feeling the same.

This going back to who did what does not prove a thing other than it's time to stop this pathetic personal attack nonsense from all parties - enough is enough, is enough.

Steve V said...

I actually find it pathetic that people actually use ads that 5000 people have viewed online as evidence of "you started it". Tomm, do me a favor, go on the street and ask 1000 people in they've heard of "Grit Girl". Then come back and report the results. Please.

Steve V said...

"This isn't an attack ad, it is reminding the Canadian voter that the LPC leader has not lived our national experience."

Tomm, and just so you get your messenging straight, you're supposed to call them "truth ads". That's the new sanitizing language approved by Ottawa.

Tomm said...

Steve,

I've been busy surveying people. You're right, the average man/woman on the street doesn't know who "GritGirl" is. I even got slapped once. Who is she to promote such a negative reaction? Kinsella's make-up queen?

And you are right again, I should be calling them "truth ads".

The ads, for all their smooth corners, are going to have an effect. Curiosity Cat is right. They will introduce the CPC message about Ignatieff and they will end up framing the discussion.

I think Ignatieff has been trapped by this. He can't get out since the ads are essentially subtle and true, for as far as they go. He just needs to laugh them off. He may not lose any support, but he may have his negative's go up.

He will be spending the next year defending his 34 years abroad. It might be an easy sell in Montreal, but the guy in Melfort doesn't think Ignatieff knowing the best places to eat in Paris is all that relevant. In fact the guy in Melfort wants his PM more comfortable in small town Canada than being the urbane internationalist in Europe's old capitals. He wants a hockey dad not a blue blood.

This whole discussion is kind of amusing. I know your support for Ignatieff is more than a little soft (from the leadership race), and you know my support for Ignatieff is stronger than it appears.

Strange bedfellows...