Harper slammed again for tight control over campaign events
Posted April 6, 2011 7:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – He is now being called the “bubble boy” by his opponents, but Prime Minister Harper‘s campaign style is par for the course — a tried-and-true technique for protecting a lead.
There have been Tory apologies for screening participants at a Harper rally in Ontario on Sunday and accusations a student was barred from another rally on Monday for being an environmental activist.
Some pundits say it is simply smart “front-runner strategy;” that is, limit any chance of criticism. But Associate Professor Nelson Wiseman with the Political Science Dept at the University of Toronto says it is backfiring. “They’re going to get beaten up and they’ll quickly lose that lead. These campaigns are very fluid and dynamic.”
“If you see big burly staffers throwing out 19-year-old students who innocently came to a rally, and went to other political rallies and weren’t disruptive, that looks like you have disrespect for Canadian democracy and the Canadian people,” he adds. “That can hurt you.”
But Wiseman suggests there is very little wiggle room for Harper. “If they try to loosen up, there’s the greater danger there will be openings for reporters and others, if not to disrupt their rallies, then to make Harper uncomfortable.”
“And he is not very good at reacting spontaneously,” he tells us. “He’s very smart but gets very defensive in his responses. You don’t have any humour and you don’t have acceptance for anything.”
Wiseman suggests it may be wise for Harper and the Tories to limit exposure to their weaknesses.
