Tories take an early jab at new Liberal leader
‘They can see him basking in glory and they want to pop that balloon early’
OTTAWA — In a preview of the branding battle to come, the federal Conservatives wasted no time Monday labelling new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau “in way over his head” with new video attack advertisements.
The ads are an indication of the ground all three major parties are trying to stake out in the new Canadian political landscape ushered in by Trudeau’s leadership.
The 30-second videos include footage of Trudeau taking his shirt off at a fundraiser for the Canadian Liver Foundation, with carnival-style music playing in the background.
“Justin Trudeau — he was born with a famous name, but does he have the judgment to be prime minister?” the narrator asks.
Negative Conservative ads helped sink previous Liberal leaders Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
The Tories described Dion as “not a leader” and Ignatieff as “just visiting.” At the same time, the Conservatives have worked to present Stephen Harper as a prudent economic manager, strong leader and caring father.
The Liberal attack ad “doesn’t engage in a meaningful conversation, it doesn’t make clear arguments, and it is gratuitously malicious,” said Jonathan Rose, a Queen’s University professor and an expert in political communication. “It is an effort to frame (Trudeau) as a lightweight before he’s had an opportunity to say to Canadians who he is and what he’s all about.”
The Conservatives will target both opposition parties over the next two years before the 2015 election. But they went after Trudeau less than 24 hours after he became leader, and in a more personal way than they have so far targeted NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.
Some commentators say the ads are clearly aimed at galvanizing the Conservative base, rather than influencing undecided voters.
“Right now, I think they’re just shoring up the anti-Trudeau, anti-Liberal attitudes. I think it makes their base feel good,” said media consultant Barry McLoughlin. “They can see the poll numbers, they can see him basking in glory and they want to pop that balloon early.”
On Monday, Trudeau dismissed the ads and reiterated his stance that Canadians are tired of negativity and cynicism.
“This government knows how to do one thing which is attack, which is low-blow, which is to try and incite fear and cynicism,” he told reporters. “The Conservatives are going to discover that the one thing they know how to do really well is no longer working for them.”
Trudeau has predicted the attack ads, and has pledged to remain positive. But experts said it’s important that the policy-light Trudeau learn from Ignatieff and Dion, and respond to Conservative missives somehow. If there’s nothing to counter the ads, they may stick in the minds of undecided voters, they said.
“In these kinds of situations, silence is not golden,” McLoughlin said, adding that these ads were certainly extensively focus-grouped. “If they can frame the opponent before the opponent frames himself, then they can be highly effective.”
“The Liberals have not been willing to take their gloves off the way that the Conservatives have in the past. I actually think they probably need to,” said David Soberman, Canadian national chair in strategic mar- keting at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “If you start fighting fire with fire, then maybe the Conservatives will back off this approach.”
The ads give Trudeau an opportunity to “be the adult in the room,” rather than responding to the ads point by point, McLoughlin said.
McLouglin said he agrees with Trudeau’s point that Canadians are tired of negative ads, but “in the absence of anything else, they can be corrosively damaging. So you have to put something in your storefront window.”
The official Opposition NDP has is presenting itself as the only progressive choice in federal politics, and ignoring the Liberals as the third party. Mulcair did not mention Trudeau by name during a half-hour scrum with reporters on Sunday, the closing day of his party’s major policy convention. He stressed his experience and leadership skills, in a clear attempt to contrast with Trudeau’s perceived inexperience.
Former Liberal strategist Greg MacEachern, vicepresident at Environics Communications, said the Conservatives used footage of Trudeau raising money for charity for the attack ad. Other critics — and Trudeau himself — said the ad took his words about Quebec out of context.
“It doesn’t feel like a clean hit,” MacEachern said. “I would not feel good, as a partisan, about those ads. I would want to think that you can come up with something that’s a little more substantive.”
Trudeau’s charisma and popularity have led Liberals and some pundits to say the Conservatives won’t be able to brand him using attack ads.
However, there was also a belief that such ads wouldn’t work against Ignatieff.
But MacEachern said Trudeau has done a good job defining himself and is a more known quantity, having been in public life from an early age.
MacEachern added that the Liberal party coffers are in better shape too, thanks to money that Trudeau has fundraised.
“Part of the problem with the attack ads on Dion and Ignatieff was the party was not in a position to buy ads to respond. That’s not the case this time.”