This afternoon, the Liberals released a pair of web ads that both have a positive tone. In the first, Michael Ignatieff speaks about his patriotism, his family’s history in Canada and how being the son of immigrants has shaped his beliefs.
The second ad, which is the longer of the two, is a mix of video shot last year and newly recorded material. The aim of it seems to be to inform the voting public about Ignatieff himself, perhaps in response to the relentless attacks he has faced from the Conservatives.
The Conservatives were not having any of it; they responded by posting an error-laden “fact check” on their attack website. While purporting to tell the “truth” about George Ignatieff’s immigrant experience (for example, they claim that he wasn’t really all that poor when he fled the Bolsheviks), it simply comes off as an attack on him. The rage on Twitter has been palpable; people have compared the ad to the Chrétien “deformity” ad from 1993 and the “Paul Martin supports child pornography” attacks from 2004. Suffice to say, most people would agree that it was a dickish move.
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