"Will the tax cuts cost $586 million? $682 million? $723 million? $800 million? I’ve heard all the figures this week from Hugh and Gerald Hawranik."
Wow. This from the party of fiscal probity?
The guy can't explain where he thinks the money is coming from and he can't even explain how much money he's talking about.
And they get angry when it's asserted he probably can't do it without cutting core government services?
And they wonder why Hugh is tanking.
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Overall, Dan is lukewarm on the parties' ads in this campaign.
No one seems to meet the Sausage Man's broadcast standards, with the NDP at the top of the pack, eking out a B+.
But he saves his worst for the beleaguered Tories:
"An ad the Tories call 'Worried' is beyond hyperbole; it's downright dangerous in its irresponsible portrayal of downtown Winnipeg. It's hard to tell if the ad people think this gloomy image is realistic, or whether they are aware they're essentially lying to voters."
The thing that's the most important here, and a point Dan misses altogether, is not whether journalists like them or not -- it's whether they seem to be effective in changing voter opinion.
And if the Probe poll is any indication, the NDP's ads work. The Liberals do not. And the Conservatives' ads are helping the NDP.
On that note, word is that the PC ad guru in this campaign is Barb Biggar -- former Filmon communications supremo who has put out her shingle in the private sector for over a decade now. She has a reputation as a shrewd, smart operator.
This campaign, however, may well tarnish that rep. Screaming man? What were you thinking?
And the NDP is responsible for feeling unsafe in empty parking garages at night? Whaaaa?
We've always felt uneasy in parking garages -- yes, even when Gary Filmon was premier. Even before that, too.
It's one of the biggest cliche scenes in Hollywood's vocabulary. And now, according to Team McFadyen, the NDP invented it.
Yeah, not just irresponsible, but more importantly they really missed the mark and it's not connecting with voters.
Just how far off the mark we'll see on Tuesday.
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Hugh goes after government advertising in a pre-election period:
"McFadyen acknowledged that is something all governments have been known to do, including the former Tory government in 1999 when he was the party’s chief of staff. In fact, in May 1999, McFadyen was advised in a memo from the Tories' campaign manager to run government ads on health care and education because the NDP were gaining on those issues."
Hmmm. So we guess he would have some inside information on this issue.
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Funniest column of the campaign: our pal Bunkbeck's blog, entitled: "Doer smarter than your average chicken."Oddest moment: Huey calling Doer "desperate" and "a liar", then feeling no shame in claiming the Tories have run a "positive campaign".