The Nuclear Option

[c9]

"The Nuclear Option" means to give up all pretense, subtlety, and possibility of "leaving it in the locker room," so to speak. Today, the Liberals released their ads that will either win them the House, or be discussed mockingly in political science classes for decades to come. As Paul Wells puts it*:

Now Stephen Harper is about to find out what it felt like to be a mid-level Liberal who volunteered for Allan Rock in 2002.

Ads in English, and en français. The one called "Military" left me speechless for at least three reasons, and not because of what Harper said.

* I swear this is funny, you'll just have to believe me.

Update: The Liberals have pulled the military ad (probably because the armed forces vote and it was a bit over the top), so thanks to a blogging Tory here's the script and a link to CTV's site where you can watch it anyway.

Here's the complete script for their new attack ad titled "Military," complete with rum-a-dum military drumming in the background, released today:

Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities.

[long pause]

Canadian cities.

[long pause]

Soldiers with guns.

[long pause]

In our cities.

[long pause]

In Canada.

[long pause]

We did not make this up.

[long pause]

Choose your Canada.

CTV helpfully provides archives of the ads. Click Liberal attack ad about Harper and military presence 0:30 on the right hand side.

Comments

[bartok.livejournal.com]

Being outside of the country during this whole thing, and therefore not being exposed to political ads what-so-ever outside of ones on the Internet leaves the whole thing feeling rather dis-joined. That military ad was probably one of the worst cases of rabble-rousing I've ever seen.

[cap-hill-latte.livejournal.com]

Ditto on the dis-joined bit. My election info sources are the following, in order of the amount of information I've recieved from each:

-- Cam
-- Other people on LJ
-- The Globe
-- CBC News: Sunday Morning
-- elections.ca

[c9.livejournal.com]

I may end up regulated by Elections Canada at this rate.

[p00kster.livejournal.com]

loves it.

[iambic-cub.livejournal.com]

I love the music - it's got a Terminator feel to it. The Liberals could just play that music over a picture of Harper, and viewers would end up terrified of him.

[bartok.livejournal.com]

Well, there is something vaguely android like about Harper. I think it's the dead eyes.

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

OMG about the Military one. "We did not make this up..."

[skaughty.livejournal.com]

Am I on crack, or did they remove the 'Military' one?

Please do tell what left you speechless - the video-less want to know!

[keenman.livejournal.com]

Frig, it looks like they did. And here I was looking forward to watching it tonight when I got home. Ah well, maybe it'll be on Limewire or something...

[c9.livejournal.com]

See my update for a new link.

[c9.livejournal.com]

See my update for a new link.

[skaughty.livejournal.com]

très helpful - thanks!

[c9.livejournal.com]

See my update for a new link.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

I wish I could see them! For some reason, I can only hear them, and they're really choppy the first time through.

Still, "going nuclear" is an interesting tactic. From what I could hear, these commercials sound a lot better than the Conservatives' rather whiny, condescending ones.

I hope the Grits' and the NDP's gambles pay off -- no question the Liberals are going to lose some seats -- I just hope that a) the Grits' new communications strategy scares some undecideds towards the NDP and b) the NDP's anti-Liberal stance keeps nominal NDPs from voting Liberal "tactically". It's all about who will strip more seats away from the Liberals.

I'll be really disappointed if there's a Tory majority -- I want to be able to have more faith in Canadians than that!

[c9.livejournal.com]

See my update for a new link.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Oh, also: nobody votes NDP because they're scared. Doesn't make it good or right; it is what it is.

The majority question is interesting, from a detached point of view. Remember than national polls mean SFA, so a huge increase in support can still be very regional. Also, people willing to answer polls are by definition more biased. Also, undecideds break for the government, not the opposition.

On the flipside, many regions of Canada, like Quebec, are good at going for the winner. Not in 1993, but in 1984 Quebec changed wholesale to PC. Obviously it's different this time, but who knows.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

Not scared into voting NDP for the sake of the NDP, but there are plenty of nominal Liberals out there who are scared of Harper enough to vote NDP, I think. If you're really angry about the Sponsorship Scandal and want to punish the Liberals, but not batshit insane enough to vote for Harper, your options are don't vote or vote NDP.

At this point, I'm guessing the NDP are going to gain some seats, the Liberals are going to lose some, and we're going to end up with large Conservative minority or (sigh) small majority. The Liberals will undergo inner turmoil, possibly replace Martin, and take back the House in the next election as Harper shitcans the country.

Not a great prospect, but heck, that's why I drink.

[c9.livejournal.com]

If the Tory minority is small, Martin will stay so he can win again. If a Tory majority, Martin's gone gone gone. I just can't decide what will happen if it's a big Tory minority.

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

I can't wait for the "Every time you vote Conservative, God kills a kitten" ads.