Tories turn attack ad guns on Mulcair,
Leader must convince electors he can be trusted with the economy
OTTAWA— The New Democrats head into this election with their most credible shot at forming government, but to win they will need to sustain that momentum through a brutally long campaign under unprecedented scrutiny.
Going into this campaign, the NDP needs to convince many voters outside its tradi-tional base called for “socialist” — who might be wary of supporting a party which until two years ago principles to be applied to government — that it can be trusted with the economy.
To help calm those fears, the NDP began rolling out major policy planks nearly a year ago, including a key promise to contribute 60 per cent of the funding required to create a million $15-a-day child care spaces within eight years.
“I think the contrast was between Stephen Harper, whose plans aren’t working, Justin Trudeau, who didn’t have any plans, and then our plans, which were progressive, practical and achievable and would actually make a difference in people’s lives,” Anne McGrath, the NDP national campaign director, said in an interview.
And, lest anyone forget, the surprising spring victory of the NDP in Alberta also put wind in the party’s sails.
Those promises have garnered much more attention than any NDP announcements in years past, but they have also come under greater scrutiny by the media, the public and the party’s political rivals.
This will only heat up as Thomas Mulcair heads into the first campaign where an NDP leader is expected, from the outset, to do more than react with outrage to whatever the other party leaders have to say.
“I am sure there will be a lot of nastiness in this campaign, but scrutiny, I think, is welcomed and responsible and I think that we will hold up very, very well,” McGrath said. “I think we’ve got a really strong team. Our policies are costed and practical and we have a strong leader and a strong team around him.”
Those “practical” plans – addressing socalled pocketbook issues that appeal to the middle class – are central to winning over the kind of voters NDP sources see as key to their growth: the “sandwich generation” of adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who want to make life better for themselves, their children and their retirement-age parents.
Those voters are heavily represented in Ontario, especially the Greater Toronto Area, where the NDP remains vulnerable to vote-splitting with the Liberals that could see the Conservatives hold power.
Analysis by the Star shows Mulcair scheduled events in Ontario 64 times between Jan. 1and Aug.1, more than any other party leader, including an eight-day campaign-style tour through southwestern Ontario in July. The NDP announced Thursday it had raised nearly $4.5 million from about 48,000 contributors in the second quarter of this year – “the most New Democrats have raised in any quarter, ever,” McGrath crowed in a video sent to supporters – but the 78-day campaign also puts the party at a disadvantage compared with the Conservatives, who have always had more money and knew better than anyone this was coming.
The NDP is planning to stay the course, mostly, by continuing to have Mulcair travel the country without the expense of a campaign plane, taking part in the first debate Thursday, canvassing voters in the ridings and holding more than 40 of the 75 remaining nomination meetings.
The party will wait to spend the majority of its resources on a more traditional leader’s tour, with a plane, announcements and a big advertising buy, after Labour Day.