The provincial election campaign is so boring we’re actually pining for an all-leaders debate
Earlier today, we linked to a Toronto Sun column by Mike Strobel that argued the provincial election has been a dull affair because of the striking similarities among the four party leaders. And despite the weird graphic that accompanies the column, we have to concede that the Sun has a point. The only drama so far has been a bit of lame sabre rattling.
Here’s the crux of Strobel’s, er, argument:
Then yesterday, I dozed off during Dalton’s touchy-feely commercial, where he does that “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family” schtick.
Something clicked. I snapped awake and shrieked: Aha! I’ve got it! They’re all alike. They even look alike!
Quickly, I gathered photos of McGuinty, Hudak, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and the Green Party’s Mike Schreiner on my desk.
They began to blur and merge before my very eyes, like a 3-D movie. Like the crazy clown faces that bombard you during an acid flashback, so I’m told.
So this much we know: the party leaders are all alike and Strobel may or may not do acid. But political campaigns are often dull by nature. They’re months of men and women riding buses, kissing babies and repeating the same speeches. Now, debates—those are where the real action is (sort of). They force candidates to actually stand in the same room as one another and discuss important policy issues exchange insults. Sometimes they even stray from their talking points and say something exciting. Instead, in this election, there’s Dalton McGuinty declining to attend a debate in Northern Ontario and the actual debate taking place days before the election. No wonder things are dull. Maybe the mayoral campaign went a little overboard, but at least it was exciting, right?
• Quotable moments from the Toronto mayoral debate [Toronto Star]
• These leaders less party, more boring [Toronto Sun]
• Ontario election debate to follow head-to-head format [CBC]
Images: Tim Hudak, Ontario Chamber of Commerce; Andrea Horwath, NDP; Dalton McGuinty, Jennifer K. Warren; Mike Schreiner, Shaun Merritt)
. They force candidates to actually stand in the same room as one another and discuss important policy issues exchange insults. Sometimes they even stray from their talking points and say something exciting. Instead, in this election, there’s Dalton McGuinty declining to attend a debate in Northern Ontario and the actual debate taking place days before the election. No wonder things are dull. Maybe the mayoral campaign went a little overboard, but at least it was exciting, right?
• Quotable moments from the Toronto mayoral debate [Toronto Star]
• These leaders less party, more boring [Toronto Sun]
• Ontario election debate to follow head-to-head format [CBC]
Images: Tim Hudak, Ontario Chamber of Commerce; Andrea Horwath, NDP; Dalton McGuinty, Jennifer K. Warren; Mike Schreiner, Shaun Merritt)
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I Doubt a debate can be all that interesting when the most diverse party is excluded. Carbon tax and a move to 1 school board, are certainly different enough to liven up the room, sadly the Greens are excluded.