X Marks the Spot

Dalton has a new website on the Intertubes.

Dalton.ca. The Premier. Unplugged.

It opens with his scribbly signature, which appears to read Carlton McJavit.

When you go inside, it's his signature again. I'm not sure what the prominence of his signature implies. The page then fades to the menu, and an explanation.

"This site is simple. Dalton, in his own words."

The usage of his first name so casually is interesting. You may remember Bob Rae's Liberal leadership website, with the tagline, "Call me Bob."

Dalton's site isn't quite so patronizing, though the creator of the site does love incomplete sentences.

"Candid. Personal. Unplugged. It's all here. In black and white."

The actual content is fascinating, and the site, in general, is pretty and well-executed.

The menu gives you options on what videos you want to watch.

There's a Family Portrait video, in which his wife Terri and his brother David talk while onscreen Wonder Years-type footage from his youth plays.

"To know Dalton is, for example, to know discipline," his brother says.

He adds: "(Dalton) is an ordinary guy with a big job who is trying to make decisions everyday with these ordinary people in mind."

The video, of course, stresses that Dalton, himself, is an ordinary guy.

In fact, the video ends with Terri saying, "He's just an ordinary guy."

Another section: My Vision.

It's Dalton sitting on a stool, sans jacket and with his sleeves rolled up, giving a verbal family tree and proving that even if you come from a poor situation, you can work your way up. His grandparents were poorly educated and didn't have much money. With several mid-sentence pauses that Dalton loves (...the power (long pause) of opportunity), he tells us that in Ontario, it shouldn't matter where you start, with hard work you should be able to get where you want to be.

In the Black and White section, Dalton has a debate with a black screen that, using white letters, accuses him repeatedly of breaking promises.

You can click on different topics you want to see the screen accuse Dalton of not doing enough about. Then Dalton soothingly reassures the black screen that work is being done, targets will be met, and sometimes things are harder than one thinks and inherited deficits sometimes larger than they appear.

This is a strange strategy, since it reminds many voters of broken promises they may have forgotten. I assume the idea is that voters will be bashed over the head with these broken promises by the Tories for a couple of months, so best to have the official response available online at all times.

Finally, there are two Unplugged sections on the website, in which Dalton stands on his back porch and answers questions about the best parts and most difficult parts of being Premier, and about how he stays "normal." Then he sits on the steps of his house with his wife and answers questions about who made the first move. Which makes one queasy thinking about.

Check out the site. It's probably a good reference in the coming months so you can decide who to vote for on Oct. 10.