In defense of the indefensible Conservative PR team

Yesterday I threw a bone to Tony Phillips, the junior Conservative staffer who no doubt put his job and his future in politics in jeopardy by publicly complaining about the “stupidity” of his party’s communications people in perhaps the most ironic way possible. As much as I would love to see Harper get spanked in the upcoming election, I had to agree that the whole “five questions” thing was a regrettable failing on the part of the Conservative war room.

But you know what? Let’s put ourselves in their shoes for just a second and acknowledge that the Conservative PR people have a really tough job.

For one thing, while the other parties are content to limit their attack ads to election cycles, the Conservatives have been on the job for years! Sure, they apparently haven’t had to come up with a new message since they launched their first “Michael Ignatieff lived and worked in America for a while and that’s a bad thing” campaign, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been putting in time for longer than any of the other parties – and certainly longer than any party who ought to be more concerned with the business of running the country.

Not only that, but in a sense, their funding’s been drastically cut. When you don’t have an election on the horizon, you can spend as much as you like to bash the opposition. Hell, you can even exploit public spending to advance your own party’s reputation. But elections come with their own set of strict spending limits – and if you violate them, they have the nerve to bring charges against you!

Add to that the fact that these guys are responsible for pushing a thoroughly anti-democratic agenda – not to mention the fact that their boss is, by all accounts, a total jackhole – and it’s difficult not to feel sorry for the people responsible for making the Conservatives look good these days. Is it any wonder they’re overworked?

What do you say we give them a break, you guys? Maybe a few years off?

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