Politics

New Conservative ad: Stephen Harper still climbing those stairs

The Conservatives just aren’t impressed by Justin Trudeau

The Conservatives have released a new ad, at least to supporters, or at least to those who are willing to provide their name, email address and postal code. This one, which follows a sunnier clip that was released earlier this fall, takes a few moments to celebrate the leadership of Stephen Harper before turning on Justin Trudeau.

(The Conservative party hasn’t yet made the clip freely available for viewing. The last round of attack ads against Justin Trudeau didn’t make it to YouTube until long after airing on television, a rollout that seemed to effectively limit coverage by the press gallery.)

The new ad seems to take the footage of Harper climbing the stairs to his office from this 2011 ad. Apparently the Prime Minister continues to forgo the elevator, which at least sets a good example for those looking to build a little physical activity into their work days.

We then get a shot of Trudeau in a serene, prayer-like pose and the text of Trudeau’s dick joke. This is followed by criticism from a series of newspaper articles—an excerpt from this column by the Post‘s Kelly McParland, the headline of this Sun editorial, an excerpt from this column by the Post‘s Andrew Coyne, and an excerpt from this column by the Globe‘s Lawrence Martin. (Glen McGregor quibbles with how Martin’s words are presented.)

We also get a new tag line: “He’s just not up to the job.” This seemingly builds on, “Just in over his head.” And, of course, Trudeau’s predecessor, Michael Ignatieff, was “Just visiting” and “Just in it for himself.” I imagine there’s a huge amount of scientific and linguistic research that says “just” is one of the most devastating words that can be applied to a political leader.

Though the Liberals and NDP have been making their own use of online video in recent weeks, it has been awhile since we saw a conventional ad from either. Remember to use and follow #SawAnAd to track what kind of airing, if any, party ads receive on ye olde television.

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