campaign bubbles, and the lessons of elections past

The Toronto Star reported today that the Harper campaign lives in a bubble.
No surprise here, really. All winning campaigns innoculate their candidate from the flotsam and jetsam of real campaigning, if only to protect their lead.
The challenge for Liberals here is to pierce the bubble. Fortunately, there are lessons from 1988 and 1993 that should guide the Dion team.
1/ Call upon the PM to leave his bubble, and listen to the challenges facing ordinary Canadians. Turner did this in advance of the debates, reminding voters (and the media) that campaigns were about more than staged photo-ops organized by Mulroney, and on rare occasions should be about vital issues (like Free Trade). This warms the electorate up to step two…
2/ Bet the farm on the debates. Turn earnestness into passion, in both English and French. Everyone remembers how Turner came back from the dead in the 1988 English debates as a result of his passionate defense of Canadian sovereignty, but few remember how he performed above expectations in French, as well (read Graham Fraser’s Playing for Keeps for a refresher on the Debates).
Dion needs to start memorizing some great gut-check lines (in both languages), to make voters warm up to the idea that this guy could easily hand out treats at 24 Sussex come Hallowee’en (in other words, seem human). He should talk about how he wrote so many pesky letters to Lucien Bouchard that the guy eventually left politics in a huff, or mention how he first came to Ottawa with little more than a sleeping bag and a napsack, at a time when few in the country were optimistic about Canada’s longterm prospects. In other words, show some emotion, but whatever he says, don’t talk about that dog Kyoto.
3/ Challenge both Layton and May in the French debates, and ask (before Harper) why Duceppe is even here. He needs to start making a play for the abundance of progressive votes out there. He should also quote from his father Leon Dion, to remind the Quebec electorate that he’s something else besides a mousy caricature from Le Devoir, and would arguably better represent his home province than Duceppe.
4/ Inject some energy - chaos, even - into the campaign. The media has been increasingly reporting about the dismal enthusiasm surrounding the leader’s tour - poor attendance at campaign events, a light campaign schedule, etc., etc.
Dion needs to shake things up, by presenting some of the energy his team showed the morning of the leadership race. Go reckless, and avoid whatever bubble might be created for you. Mainstreet, phone-bank, do anything, as long as it shows activity.
Some historical tips, on how to successfully leave the bubble?
In 1988, after his own campaign fell into temporary disarray by the re-emergence of Turner in the polls, Mulroney righted the Tory ship by facing the key issue, unscripted. In one campaign stop, he sat down with anti-Free Trade protestors, and debated the merits of their concerns point blank. He certainly did not win their vote, but the media scrum that reported on their encounter showed a Prime Minister who was supremely confident of the direction he was ready to take the country.
Press reports state that Dion is in Quebec City today. He should be taking the media to the suburban neighbourhood he grew up in, and attempt to connect with voters. A risky strategy, especially if there are few Liberal voters to be found in Quebec’s suburbs, but to change the dynamic of this race Dion needs to cut through the media lens, and reach out to all those who fear a Tory majority.
In 1993, Chretien helped create a winning campaign by literally manufacturing enthusiasm. There was precious little down time on his tour, as even the late-night hotel stops became campaign events (I remember, because I used to attend them). It did not matter that these events were only scripted enthusaism, or that they were held well after reporters had filed their stories. They created energy, and that is just one of many items the Dion campaign seems to need.

Memo to Sarah Palin

The Bush Doctrine is ultimately responsible for shipping your son off to Iraq.

Dion, the linguistics professor

It's been a while for this blog, but in honour of the federal vote, this scribe has decided to plunge once again into the frigid waters of Fundy democracy.

The Liberal leader was in Saint John today, and besides giving a workman-like speech on the merits of the Green Shift, he poked fun at the linguistic absurdities of Canada's two official languages.

After mentioning carbon credits blahblahblah and his jet from Inuit Air, Dion noted the oddity that in French, you travel in a plane, while in English, you travel on one. He then wondered how anybody could ever travel on top of a jet.

It wasn't quite Chretien's pepper-on-a-plate, but it was refreshingly human, and a novel way of poking fun of his own challenges with the language of Churchill. And the crowd genuinely laughed.

Any bets not one of the scribes on the leader's tour picked this up?