On The Ledge

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 22: No sooner did we sign off from our last episode wondering aloud if or when Doug Ford's PCs would release a "plan" that resembled a platform than the party hit the send button on a package of promises. We've heard most of it. Some of it has numbers attached. But there's no indication of how the Tories will pay for the plan. Do people care? Probably not beyond political geeks and media types. The PCs have taken a turn for the negative though in their radio ads targeting the NDP apparently trying to stem any tide of momentum Andrea Horwath and her party are gaining as we head in to the final week of the campaign.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 21: A tentative day on the hustings in Ontario. None of the major parties has made any aggressive post-debate move to shore up about a third of the likely voters who haven't yet settled on a choice. Social media and conventional media discussion today still reflects a stat in an earlier Ipsos poll that suggests 3 out of 4 voters aren't impressed with any of the major party leaders. So how will the Tories change the general perception that they're losing momentum? What will it take to make 'the middle' move? Can the 'left' coalesce around Andrea Horwath's New Democrats? Can the NDP get their vote out? Will disaffected Liberal supporters simply not show up on election day?

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 20: It was feisty, it was frustrating, if not infuriating if you were hoping for some real debate and discussion of the issues facing the province. The Ontario Leaders' Debate was highlighted by hyperbole and histrionics. The format only served to reinforce the notion that politics is driven by petty one liners and bumper sticker messaging. The media consortium created a framework designed to squeeze as much as possible into 90 minutes rather than squeezing as much as possible out of 90 minutes. The polling in the coming days will tell the tale, but count on them continuing to show real ambivalence among Ontario's electorate because the debate did next to nothing to clarify or solidify the voting intentions of nearly a third of those who intend to cast a ballot on June 7.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 19: This is a special edition of The Writ Race, featuring pre-debate analysis from John Wright, Tony Chapman of Tony Chapman Reactions, and Tim Hudak, the former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. I had the opportunity to talk to all three on my morning radio show on Newstalk1010 in Toronto today.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 18: How are the media managing their coverage of Ontario Election 2018? We sit down with two newsroom managers to talk about the challenges and opportunities to tell the story of this historic campaign. Kym Geddes is the News Director at Newstalk 1010 in Toronto. Tim Richards is the Managing Editor of CBC Toronto.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 17: Three polls hit the media today and each of them suggests the NDP is making gains at the expense of Liberals and PCs. But a deeper dive on the numbers based on CBC reporting says the New Democrats may be well ahead in popular vote but seat projections indicate that Tories would still win a majority. So, this weekend is going to be important for Andrea Horwath and Doug Ford as they prepare for the Leaders' Debate on Sunday evening.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 17: Okay. I know it looks like we missed a day on the trail...and we did, but only because John Wright tangled with a dog and ended up with a K-9 bite! The headline reads: POLLSTER BITTEN BY DOG. The good news for John is he didn't have a Poll on him at the time of the encounter. We know what dogs do to polls! So, this is part one of two on this 17th day. And we take advantage of John's experience as a pollster to take a deep dive on methodology and how we should be interpreting polls published during this campaign.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 15: Another day another poll telling us the NDP and the PCs are neck and neck across the province. As John Wright points out, the final outcome will depend on where the 'vote is thick' for either party. At this point, there still appears to be a good deal of movement. The latest Pollara poll conducted for Macleans reflects the trends we saw in the Ipsos poll earlier in the week. But the positive/negative ratings are changing. Andrea Horwath's are up. Doug Ford's are down. That ambivalence is reflected anecdotally among voters who say "I'd prefer to vote PC but I'm unsure about Ford. I like Horwath but I'm unsure about the NDP. I may just stay home on election day." So, this race is going to come down to who is the most likeable leader and which party can get their vote out.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 14: This election is Doug Ford's to lose and he's getting closer and closer to doing just that. The latest Ipsos poll done for Global News suggests it's a dead heat between the PCs and the NDP. Compare that to the Ipsos number released the day the writ race began on May 9 and the Tories had an 11 point lead over the New Democrats. The seat projection done by Global says the Liberals will be reduced to about half a dozen seats. So the last 14 days of this campaign will be a hammer and tong battle for the minds and hearts of 'the little guy' in the 905 region.

Thirty days. Thirty podcasts! Dave Trafford, Executive Producer of iContact Productions and John Wright, CEO - Insight of Dart Insight and Communications  take a daily swipe at the Ontario campaign until election day on June 7th. They chase the race and follow the leaders. What should you expect? What didn't you expect in this campaign? DAY 13: The polls say this Ontario election is coming down to Ford vs. Horwath. Listening closely, and both the PCs and the NDP are battling over the same voter. Ford's "for the little guy" left behind by elites and tone deaf government that wastes hard earned money. Horwath's NDP is for the vulnerable who've been disenfranchised and get by pay cheque to pay cheque. Worth noting that Trump and Sanders were in the same place during the 2016 US Presidential campaign - both appealing to a disconnected, angry voter who felt ignored by government and big business.