Much Ado About Klander

There's been some media attention given to the Klander comments, but it really doesn't seem to be generating a ton of traction. It may just be because the story broke on Christmas. It may just be because of the tragic shooting in Toronto which is sure to dominate the news for the foreseeable future. It may just be because it's a blog and most people assume that blogs are all full of zany racist hijinx.

But I think the real reason this story won't go anywhere is because it's easy to write Klander off as a nutjob; This won't reinforce any beliefs of fears about the Liberal Party. If the Tory version of Mike Klander had made similar comments, people would pay attention because a lot of people think the Conservative Party is full of Mike Klanders (be that a fair or unfair opinion). The general public doesn't see the Liberal Party as bigoted so they're more likely to write Klander off as a "bad apple". Had he embezzled from his riding association, that may have fed the Liberal corruption theme, but the only underlying fear of the Liberals this incident will feed is that Liberals make for bad bloggers.

That's why beer and popcorn got traction. It was based on policy and there's a feeling out there that Liberals feel the state can make decisions better than Canadians. The Klander blog will certainly help Olivia Chow, and a few people who follow politics will no doubt shake their heads and say "Paul Martin has the dumbest advisors in political history" but I expect the buzz around these comments to die down quickly, causing little movement of public opinion.