Canada-related stuff
By Now that’s a game.
Why this country prefers the dreary postseason of the NBA is beyond me. I’m also grateful to Sports Illustrated for confidently declaring that a Tampa Bay victory was inevitable, hence guaranteeing victory for the forces of justice and truth.
To make things slightly more relevant, while watching my beloved Flames I saw a lot of political ads on the CBC, which we’re lucky enough to get in Seattle. I would, if you held a gun to my head, predict a Liberal minority government. But watching the ads today was gave me eerie premonitions of 1993, when the Conservatives were reduced from majority government to rump party. The NDP and Conservatives had effective ads. The one the Liberals were showing, on the other hand, was just godawful. The theme of both ads is Liberal leader Paul Martin, alone, talking about how the Conservatives’ tax cuts would mean not enough investment in health care–a sound concept. But, first of all, Martin looks like he’s about to be subjected to a lengthy torture session throughout the commercial. The tone of a scare ad has to be “trust me,” not “I’m even more scared than you should be.” And then, rather than having him look straight at the camera it shows him talking in profile while looking at something in the distance, as if he had become bored with the filming and decided to check out the local talent on the adjoining beach.
I have no idea what the effects of this ads will be. But–especially given the stakes, with at least 3 million people watching the game in Canada, an audience you’re not going to have many chances of reaching again–it’s hard to believe an effective political operation let these things get off the drawing board. I suspect the Liberals are in trouble…