[R-G] Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows

[Anthony Fenton]

Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
ALEXANDER PANETTA
The Canadian Press
March 25, 2008 at 6:15 PM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080325.wtorytalk0325/BNStory/National/home


OTTAWA — Next time you're listening to your favourite radio phone-in  
show, those pro-Conservative opinions you hear from callers might not  
be as spontaneous as they sound.

Some of those apparently ad-libbed musings are actually being  
choreographed at the Conservative Party of Canada's national  
headquarters.

The governing party has produced talking points for grassroots  
supporters on a variety of issues, feeding them lines on everything  
from climate change to child care.

For Conservative supporters, the process is as simple as 1-2-3.

Surf the party website. Type in your postal code. Click on a topic  
you'd like to discuss on the radio.

And the website spits out the times, phone numbers, and names of local  
talk shows to call — along with a handy list of good things to say  
about the Conservatives and bad things to say about their opponents.  
The website includes similar advice for letter-writers to newspapers.

The system has been in place for months but an Ottawa-area talk show  
host first raised it with listeners Tuesday after learning about it.

“We want people to phone in and express their own opinions. We don't  
want people phoning in and reading from a script,” said Mark  
Sutcliffe, who hosts CFRA's The Chatroom.

“(But) I don't think we get a ton of calls like that.”

The Conservatives describe the practice as state-of-the-art  
politicking. A party spokesman said the practice offers enhanced  
transparency, and is used elsewhere in the world.

“This is part of campaigning in the Internet age. Party activists are  
increasingly becoming virtual volunteers,” Conservative spokesman Ryan  
Sparrow said.

“And just as rank-and-file investors want the same data as market  
professionals, grassroots activists want the same info and (talking  
points) as party strategists and spinners.”

The Conservative talking points on taxation, for instance, list  
details on the GST cut, the child tax credit, and tax cuts to seniors.

The same talking points contrast Conservative achievements with the  
Liberal sponsorship scandal, gun-registry boondoggle, and failure to  
cut the GST. They also suggest the Bloc Quebecois could never achieve  
real tax relief because it's perpetually in opposition and describe  
the NDP as tax-hikers.

All parties produce speaking notes for elected MPs, staff members, and  
lobbyists or activists who serve on their behalf as unsalaried,  
unofficial spokespeople.

Liberal and NDP websites also include phone numbers for radio shows or  
tips for getting on the air.

But the Tories appear to take it one step further: their site offers  
speaking points for members of the general public to pass off as their  
own musings to fellow radio listeners.

The headline on the Tory web page with the call-in instructions says:  
“Tired of hearing the vested interests of the Liberals and the special  
interests of the NDP get their messages out via the media? Call in to  
a show yourself and fight back with the facts!”

A Liberal party spokesman says it's a new extreme for a government  
that has already placed an unprecedented gag order on its elected  
members, political staff, and civil servants.

In one famous incident during the last election campaign a  
Conservative MP was stuffed into a restaurant kitchen by a Stephen  
Harper staffer when approached by the media.

That strict discipline has survived their two years in government:  
requests to speak publicly are routinely vetted by the Prime  
Minister's Office, scores of MPs will recite identical sound bites on  
any given topic, and the government often allows only one person to  
make public utterances on a given issue.

“This undermines our democracy,” said Liberal party spokesman Daniel  
Lauzon.

“It's not up for someone in Ottawa to tell someone in Blind River what  
they should think. . . All we tell our supporters is, 'Speak your  
mind. Get out there and talk.'

“Never do we dictate messaging.”

The Conservatives do pay more attention to talk radio than some of  
their rivals, seeing it as a more useful barometer of public opinion  
than other media.

Upon taking office, a Harper strategist famously told prime  
ministerial staff he didn't need to see daily clippings from the major  
national newspaper — he wanted talk-show transcripts.

But the attention to detail in messaging has occasionally raised  
eyebrows.

On a recent CPAC television call-in panel, host Dale Goldhawk  
interrupted at one point when a caller appeared to be stumbling over a  
list of written notes.

“Are you reading from something?” the frustrated host interjected.

The radio-host who reported the practice to his listeners Tuesday  
noted that even if callers phone in with a script, they still need to  
be able to engage in live conversation.

As Mr. Sutcliffe says, they're not speaking to an answering machine  
but a radio host whose job it is to ask probing questions.

Still, the system for distributing government talking points through  
the general public does strike him as somewhat strange — and certainly  
more elaborate than what other parties do.

“What I think is unusual about this Conservative website is just how  
systematic it is,” he said.

“The process for the Conservative one is a little more automated:  
punch out your topic and your postal code, and we'll spit out a script  
for you to follow.”