Out in Left-Centre Field

So now the Liberals, NDP and Bloc are working on attacking the Conservatives, and maybe forcing an election, on a bunch of ethics-related issues and scandals like the so-called "in and out" scheme.

To be honest, I hope it works. The Conservatives have run the most mean-spirited, close-minded, opportunistic, divisive and generally nasty government in my 22 years of living memory. Except, maybe, for Mike Harris and his PCs in Ontario -- from whence Harper draws several of his most prominent ministers, like Jim Flaherty and Tony Clement, as well as a number of close advisors and PMO staffers. Coincidence?

At the same time, there's a sizable and growing part of me that feels these "scandals" are never really going to have the impact that they could. As much as they might be readily apparent to the politically-connected, well-informed subset of Canadians, they need to resonate with the majority, who are mostly inattentive to politics outside of an actual election situation.

Have many Canadians even heard of the "in and out" spending scandal? What does it mean? Hell, I pay fairly close attention to politics and I can hardly tell you how the Conservatives went about circumventing Elections Canada's rules. And if I can't explain it, how are the less-connected people going to grasp the Conservatives' misdeeds?

Contrast, if you will, the sponsorship scandal (or "Adscam") that dogged the Liberals until their defeat in 2006. The Liberals' Quebec wing secretly and illegally took public funds and channeled them to their insider political friends. There! I summed it up in one sentence! And that's a huge reason why it resonated with the public to the extent that the Liberals went down to defeat. Average voters were able to comprehend exactly what had taken place.

Can you say the same about this "in and out" furor? Do most average Canadians know how the Conservatives broke Elections Canada's rules? I'm sure the vast majority of people out there (including myself) have never worked on elections campaigns, so we have no idea how the accounting and budgeting is carried out. For all we know it could have been an honest mistake.

The point is this: it may be a complex issue, but it must be framed more clearly, more straightforward, so that average Canadians can get the point and can understand the issue. If you can't explain it to them, then the Conservatives will simply appeal to more base sentiments and outflank the people (i.e. the opposition parties) who are trying to turn this into a national issue. This is not news; the Conservatives resort to that strategy all the time. It's why they lead -- people vote more with their heart than with their brain.

For example, I'm sure the Conservatives' response to the alleged scandal will generally follow this sequence of talking points:

1.) "There is no scandal. We have not done anything illegal."
2.) "The opposition parties have made it all up to force an election."
3.) "You don't want an election during these tough economic times."
4.) "These socialist and separatist traitors want an election so that they can form a coalition and take power away from the legitimate government."
5.) "You don't want that, so stick with us if you want stability and security."

... there, done. Issue deflected; lowest common denominator pandered to; mission accomplished.

So how to prevent that? How to make it stick? Make it clear what the Conservatives have done. They stole hundreds of thousands (at least) of your tax dollars. This from a party that claims to preach "respect" for the taxpayer and prudent use of public funds. Obscure Elections Act rules are tough for average people to grasp as anything more than abstracts. But theft, on the other hand, is easy to understand, and in this case, it is what happened.

You wouldn't get away with theft, so why should your government get away with it?