HARPER:
"The hardest part of the campaign was before it started""
(An interview with the leader of the opposition)
by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES
TORONTO—The hard part of
the election campaign for Stephen Harper was out of the way before the race
even started, the Conservative leader revealed in an interview with
The Hill Times
and Corriere
Canadese in the
dying days of the campaign.
“The biggest
difficulty was before the campaign,” Mr. Harper said. “Putting the party
together and getting ready to fight in an election in a disciplined way.
That was really the big job. So far the party has really performed on the
campaign trail the way I believed we were capable.”
Mr. Harper said the major
campaign gaffes ended up being committed by the Liberals, which gave his
party a clear advantage. They even messed up their attack ads, he said.
“I expected all
along that the Liberal campaign would be highly personal, a campaign of fear
and smear. I am surprised of how undisciplined and unfocused it has been,
but not surprised at the things they said against me,” he said. “I believe
that they went so far that I believe that people realized that they could
not take their attacks seriously.” As for his own campaign, he said the only
thing standing between him and his goal was complacency, as he urged
Conservatives to remain focused on their “clear message.” “What I can say is
that in this campaign I laid out, not a personality campaign, but I have
laid out the things that we stand for and where we want to take the
country,” he said. “And I do not believe that Mr. Martin and the Liberal
Party have provided the public with any good reason why they should vote for
them.”
Mr. Harper, what is the
biggest difficulty that you are facing in the last days of this campaign?
“When you are
perceived to be in the lead, the difficulty is always complacency. People
are always over-estimating their strength. The Liberal Party had a long
string of electoral success and you can never count them out. I tell people
not to read the polls. We are going to fight right to the end and won’t take
anything for granted.”
How do you explain the Quebec turnaround towards your party? “There
are many things but I believe that our central message in Quebec is
correct.”
And the message is?
“Quebecers want a new government, and, the only party that can provide that
new government is the Conservative Party. They finally are taking notes that
the Liberal Party is not what they want, the Bloc can’t deliver anything to
them and a growing number of Quebecers are going to vote for us.”
In
the last days of this campaign you are working hard in Ontario. What do you
expect from this province? “I
always said that we can make significant gains in Ontario. We won a lot more
seats compared to the last election and I think we are going to get them
this time. I have no doubts that we are going to keep all the seats we have
and we are going to get more. And we will work to the last minute to have a
genuinely strong government.”
Is
this a vote on Jan. 23 a vote for Stephen Harper or a vote against the
Liberals?
“It’s always a combination. What I can say is that in this campaign I laid
out, not a personality campaign, but I have laid out the things that we
stand for and where we want to take the country. And I do not believe that
Mr. Martin and the Liberal Party have provided the public with any good
reason why they should vote for them.”
Are you surprised by the personal attacks against you? “No. I
expected all along that the Liberal campaign be highly personal, a campaign
of fear and smear. I am surprised of how undisciplined and unfocused it has
been, but not surprised at the things they said against me. I believe that
they went so far that I believe that people realized that they could not
take their attacks seriously.”
What was the main difficulty you had to overcome during this campaign? “The
biggest difficulty was before the campaign: Putting the party together and
getting ready to fight in an election in a disciplined way. That was really
the big job. So far, the party has really performed on the campaign trail
the way I believed we were capable.”
If
you had the possibility of going back to the beginning of the campaign, what
would you change? “I don’t
second-guess myself. What I want to tell you is this: when we had the last
elections afterwards we had a complete review of what we did, what we did
right or wrong and then made the appropriate changes. And that’s what we
will do when this election is over.”
