As Bob Dylan famously said, “You don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
After watching Dalton McGuinty parry with the media yesterday at the Trillium Health Centre, you don’t need a political pundit to see how the Liberals will fight the election that will be held in October 2007.
The announcement of more funding to reduce wait times that took place in the lobby at Trillium’s Mississauga site had the look and feel of an election stop.
And the way McGuinty answered, or rather avoided answering, the questions/provocations from the media in the post-announcement scrum was very telling.
He absolutely refused to be drawn into any discussion of the questionable Liberal tactics in the Toronto by-election, saying simply, “I am proud of our campaign.”
He took every negative critical query and flipped it over to maker a positive statement about his government’s record.
Next year at this time, McGuinty and the Liberals will be fighting a retroactive campaign. By that, I mean they will try to run against Mike Harris all over again and pretend that the kinder, gentler Tory regime of John Tory does not exist.
A question about long waiting lists for hospital services other than the five the Liberals have targeted for wait-time reductions drew this response: “We are making real, solid measurable improvements within medicare and that has been our message from day 1.
“Our test scores are better. There’s better morale and enthusiasm within and about public education.”
Then the Premier posed a series of pointed rhetorical questions that you can expect to hear again on the hustings.
“How many days have been lost to school strikes since we took office? Has the economy continued to grow? Are wait times in hospitals down?
The clear message: You may not be crazy about me but I’m still way better than the last guy you hired.
He may not have Mike Harris to kick around anymore but that won’t stop Dalton from donning his boots.
Beating up a straw man is a lot easier than combating a real, live opponent.
Can McGuinty run the 2003 campaign over again or will the Liberal strategy just raise — you should pardon the expression — a red flag with voters?
Comments (2)
John,
Regarding Premier McGuinty's tap dance with media at the Trillium Health Centre, you wrote:
"And the way McGuinty answered, or rather avoided answering, the questions/provocations from the media in the post-announcement scrum was very telling."
"very telling"... yes, indeed it is, John.
The Premier's clearly attended the provincial version of the Municipal Communications how-to-handle-media Conference.
This Municipal Communications Conference is something you might consider attending, John (so you sit there, and look around the room at the municipal types actually plunking down $999 + $59.94 (6%) GST= $1058.94 just to receive instruction on how to hide the truth from you, You are certain to recognize people, John)
Attending the October "Never Say No Comment" workshop will help you reflect on McGuinty's song-and-dance at Trillium.
Here. Let me demonstrate:
"WORKSHOP A: 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
MEDIA RELATIONS 101: NEVER SAY NO COMMENT
Cynthia Lockrey, Lockrey Communications
This interactive session teaches:
-the basics of working with the media
-common pitfalls to avoid
-media relations strategies to use when you get the call
You’ll learn how to:
-respond professionally to that initial call
-tailor your response to the needs of the media organization
-get your organization’s key messages across
-manage issues before they become a crisis
-turn reactive situations into positive opportunities
-speak in sound bites to be quoted accurately
-build positive relationships with members of the media
-become an expert to tell your story"
John, regarding McGuinty, you wrote:
"He absolutely refused to be drawn into any discussion of the questionable Liberal tactics in the Toronto by-election, saying simply, “I am proud of our campaign.”
WORKSHOP TOPIC:
-common pitfalls to avoid
Well, McGuinty avoided your pitfall-questions, didn't he? And no matter what, YOU couldn't pry anything out of him, could you, John? See? The "NEVER SAY NO COMMENT" workshop WORKS!
More examples:
Regarding "a question about long waiting lists for hospital services other than the five the Liberals have targeted for wait-time reductions" McGuinty responded with:
“We are making real, solid measurable improvements within medicare and that has been our message from day 1. Our test scores are better. There’s better morale and enthusiasm within and about public education.”
With that response, McGuinty nailed two WORKSHOP birds with one stone.
-speak in sound bites to be quoted accurately
-turn reactive situations into positive opportunities
(Actually three, if you also include a revisit of:
-common pitfalls to avoid (like actually ANSWERING the long-waiting-list question)
Last, regarding McGuinty's message, you wrote:
"The clear message: You may not be crazy about me but I’m still way better than the last guy you hired."
BINGO, John. That's WORKSHOP TOPIC:
-get your organization’s key messages across
The McGuinty organization's message?
"I’m still way better than the last guy you hired."
You know what's so depressingly-depressing? Only with "I’m still way better than the last guy you hired." does McGuinty tell the truth.
"I’m still way better than the last guy you hired." translates to "Sure we're dismal and slimy but we're less dismal and slimy than Harris." depressingly-depressing....such is the contempt the Province has for the citizens of Ontario.
Such is the "choice" offered Ontario's voters --who's least-worst!"
Now I have a question for you and other members of the media, John.
Where is your combined outrage? Government shows such contempt for you-all that it even attends conferences designed on how best to avoid-telling-the-truth to you and at the same time offers a WORKSHOP TOPIC on how to
-build positive relationships with members of the media
So. Do you feel positively towards McGuinty after Trillium?...
How's it feel to ask a question like "What did you have for breakfast?" and a government spokesperson comes up with "I went swimming."?
At this point you need to take a lesson from Councillor Nando Iannicca, Ward 7 on THEEE appropriate response to being diddled by the Province.
Now Mr. Iannicca --there's someone who knows how to react appropriately.
"I'm fed up with being CONNED. We're not stupid and we're being CONNED!"
How's that for raw truth --"CONNED".
Mr. Iannicca continues:
"And they have the GALL --and the POMPOSITY???!... What do you DO?! And we let them get away with it!"
"And we let them get away with it!" I really respect Mr. Iannicca for admitting that.
"And we let them get away with it!"
Yep. The media let McGuinty et al get away with it.
The pathetic thing is, John, we ALL let them get away with it.
Signed
The Mississauga Muse
"And they have the GALL --and the POMPOSITY???!... What do you DO?! And we let them get away with it!" --Nando Iannicca, Ward 7 (June 14, 2006 General Committee Meeting regarding treatment from The Province)
For conference details, click on "The Mississauga Muse" (below)
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | September 14, 2006 8:02 AM
Posted on September 14, 2006 08:02
McGuinty's going to be in far a harder ride then in 03.
Polls show him only a few points ahead of the the Tories and if an election.
If an election were to be held tommorow the Liberals would likely win but it could be a minority government.
check out democraticspace analysis of it:
http://democraticspace.com/blog/ontario2007/polls/
Posted by OJ | September 13, 2006 8:24 PM
Posted on September 13, 2006 20:24