Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 26, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba I n in sunday Winnipeg free press Margo Goodhand 6977076 d h of i polities estrange bedfellows promises two political veterans with vastly different backgrounds and approaches to running the country what makes Jean Chretien and Joe Clark tick election platforms of Canadas four National parties the Federal election the free press election panel the Bottom line Nam calling will sour voters taste for our election panel predicts there Are casualties in any and this years Rock pm sock pm Federal election is no according to the free press election the real casualties were honour and the Public opinion of politics and the Days of the traditional where a party released a formal those Days Are said tory la Darren who is sup porting the Alliance in this this Cam none of the parties have run a Campaign where they Haven suffered from problems or getting offside that by and this has been a Campaign about and the images have frequently been a steady diet of eight second soundbites and personal attacks have reduced the Campaign to a War of Brenda a University of Manitoba political said the general Public will come out of this election with a much greater distrust of politics and All the negative stuff has done nothing to raise politicians or politics in the Public said and according to panellist and pollster Scott head of probe with All the attacks and this Campaign May be remembered most for the Lack of Impact All the vitriolic language had on the final Mackay noted that the liberals managed to More or less maintain their Lead in the polls despite a poor performance in the a questionable decision to Call the election and a genuine scandal erupting at no party has been Able to scale the Liberal Mackay because the parties Are shackled to regional issues and the with a barely sufficient level of support across the coun try have been Able to maintain their but Only because their opponents have not been Able to break out of their regional if the polls Are actually predicting the Way the vote is going to go on what we Are seeing is a deeply divided country we have this country fractured along regional lines and i dont know when its going to get Todd Scarth executive director of the Canadian Centre for policy Manitoba office i Best Campaign the they have done what they had to do to it there Tough and experienced Cam they were Able to keep the Alliance off guard and off balance during the whole i most impressive Joe he showed a lot of Atten Tion to he was More than any of the other opposition Lead to stay in subjects that could Hurt the he is experienced and it i biggest Gaffe Stockwell he was one Gaffe after the biggest Gaffe was the string of racist incidents in one week late in the if there had been just one it could have been dismissed but a string of them leads to the conclusion that there is an inevitability about i turning Point the first Day of the Campaign when Day didst it was typical of him and demonstrated that he was out of depth and it set the tone for his performance during the rest of the i most memorable moment Betty grangers reference to asian i biggest disappointment the they missed a big Opp Ortu they had a Chance to stake out some ground on the left but they failed to take advantage of they ran such a single Issue Campaign and ignored issues that were important to the and the Issue they stuck health Well you find any real difference Ara Fudg the Jordan Wheeler to screenwriter and free press columnist i Best the they actually developed the Agenda for the by Rais ing the Issue of health care and stay ing with without getting caught up in i most impressive Leader progressive conservative Leader Joe he was honest More than i biggest Gaffe Winnipeg South Centre candidate Betty grangers comments about an immigrant asian invasion on the West coast underlined the fears of voters who see the Canadian Alliance As a redneck i turning Point Clarks performance in the Clark had a a play a sincerity and an Irever he was the most Trudeau like at the i most memorable moment Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Days reception in the drum was there and the native peo ple were protesting and Day was try ing to speak Over the i remember him at one Point saying we do support native self govern i biggest disappointment How shallow the dialogue Between the leaders was and Jiow much of a role the Media Days writers really bought into the 15second sound Billy Bob Thornton Brenda Oneill professor of political University of Manitoba i Best Campaign the Joe Clark came out of the Campaign looking very every Day of the the tories Are benefiting from Joe Clarks i most impressive Leader Alexa she was consistent in getting her message out she is the Leader of the party that is going to fix health with the exception of calling Stockwell Day a she didst stoop to the Nam calling and i biggest Gaffe from the Alexa Mcdonough saying anyone who earns More than a year is i turning Point there want a turning Point should reflect change of a shift in Public it just didst i most memorable moment Jean Chretien comment about not getting along with politicians from the i just Shook my head when he said biggest disappointment this has done nothing to raise the image or politics and politicians in the Public Darren Praznik provincial tory la Lac do supporting Canadian Alliance i Best Campaign the Canadian Alliance will have achieved its first goal if it solidifies support in the gains a toehold in Ontario and forces a minority gov i most impressive Leader Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day tried to Campaign until he started reacting to personal attacks about his religious at least he credit for try i biggest Gaffe prime minister Jean Chretien lobbying of the Federal business development Bank on behalf of a Friend who owns a hotel in his i turning Point the last few Days of the Campaign when the possibility of a minority government made voters feel they could make a i most memorable moment Chretien telling people on the East coast he likes them better than politicians from for a prime minister Vjio has prided himself on keeping Canada that to me is just the epitome of i biggest disappointment that after seven years of absolutely do nothing Jean Chretien could still be leading in the Scott Mackay president of probe research i Best Campaign nobody really ran an effective Campaign there was very Little move ment in the level of support for each i most impressive Leader nip Leader Alexa Mcdonough showed some until she called Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day a i somehow liked the Way she carried i biggest Gaffe Canadian Alliance my Jason kennels suggestion that the party is open to a two tiered health the Alliance provided daily examples of i turning Point i most memorable moment every time i see Stockwell i think of Fred Dino and Stockwell superimposed into this absurd Day has said he believes humans and dinosaurs walked the Earth at the same i biggest disappointment what we have when the smoke clears on election Day is a very deeply divided country regionally More so than it has Ever that is a disturbing thing for anyone who believes in Canadian ;