Norm Miller in a landslide.

Re: landslide. Not necessarily. And here’s why.

- Half the Liberal riding association quit after McGuinty took much of the riding out of “The North”.. taking away needed funding for various programs….Thus the Liberal Candidate has a low profile, and has been almost non existent as far as signs, canvassing etc. leaving only the NDP as credible opposition Mr.Miller.

- NDP candidate Sara Hall has deep roots in the community going back well over a hundred years, her family having a prominent name (the Pagets) that is well recognized. This matters a great deal to many voters here.

- The Tory stance on religious school funding is opposed by nearly three quarters of the Ontario population - This includes Parry Sound - Muskoka.

- Hall is a strong candidate -besides being widely well known in the community- her charisma is real and effective.

- The people that actually live in the riding - not the seasonal cottagers - actually make on average $18,000 less than the average Ontarian. Many hold two or three jobs just to get by. Hall & The NDP are the only party that recognizes this & have been talking about it.

- The liberals sound like Tories and the Tories sound like Liberals. The NDP is the only party that offers a real alternative. And there is a hunger for change.

- Finally, on the environment, health care (including dental care and the reinstating of medical services such as physiotherapy, eye exams and chiropractors), minimum wage and protection of jobs, Only the NDP’s Sara Hall has real credibility that addresses the real issues of working families in the riding.

The people here know this and it spells trouble for Mr. Miller.

Be prepared to see a possible upset.

According to Out Archival Records…

the riding of Muskoka almost went Orange

Once Before

http://www.topix.net/ca/huntsville-on

Parry Sound-Muskoka is not going orange as this is a safe Tory seat and the NDP will have outflank both the Liberals and Green on the left to win which won’t happen.

PS Is Charlenne Phinney still running for the FCP or not?

The NDP is not going to even come close here.

Not True. Liberal support is eroding. Those progressive voters are going to Hall. She’s winning the all candidate meetings hands down, and her message is really resonating with the people who live here. The Liberal candidate was literally shaking in 1’st ACM. Her support is gone due to McGuinty pulling Muskoka out of the North…. Only Hall is talking about the horrible situation with regards to education, health care and the environment etc.

I Guarantee a Landslide is NOT going to happen.
just watch.

SARA HALL IS THE ONLY CREDIBLE CANDIDATE TO OPPOSE MR. MILLER. The voters and families who actually live here are starting to become aware of this… not the seasonal cottagers.

Please note this comment is in a series of comments by me. I’m doing a prediction for every riding. For this riding I’m predicting the PC Party will win.

Here’s why:
I don’t know why people think the NDP will win here. What, a strong candidate? In 1997 the federal PC party ran an immensely strong candidate in this riding, and still lost. Sometimes a strong candidate is not enough. This riding trends historically towards the provincial PC Party. If the Tories could take it in 2003, they can take it this time around.

People are tired of Norm riding his fathers coattails. Hall has won every ACM hands down. there are record donations pouring in, she’s getting all the press, and the liberal is obviously a weak candidate. The Green party guy, os nice but comes across as a PC with a green bent. Which leaves Sara Hall as the only credible opposition. People have noticed this and progressives are going to Hall. As I said, possible upset in the making.

Dave Ungar, you would say that, being Hall’s campaign manager….

When everyone who was alive during the great orange (NDP) mistake is dead, Then maybe Parry Sound Muskoka might make the same mistake again. But I doubt it. Remember when Dan Waters was NDP? He even won the seat. Then he saw the light and ran for the Liberals.
Speaking of the Liberals, a few weeks ago, the local Liberals were trashing each other and
duelin’ Dalton McSquinty in the press. They were without a candidate until the Federal Liberals made it clear that they didn’t want Brenda as a candidate. Since she was dumb enough to take the job, she got it.
Norm Miller is not riding on his Father’s coat tails. On the contrary, Norm has done a great job for the last 6.5 years representing his constituents as a member of the government and as a member of the opposition.
Norm will win the riding in spite of the sarcasm from his competition and he will continue to represent ALL of his constituents well, no matter how they vote.

Note to Mr Ungar:
I attended the ACM in Gravenhurst and if you think Sara won you weren’t paying attention.
Remember, nearly everyone who attends an ACM has already decided how they will vote.

Gavenhurst admittedly was the not the best for us. you are right Jim, the audience was stacked with plants from all 3 other candidates. For some reason our people weren’t there in force. BUT she held her own, many did say said she won, AND the BIGGIES in PS, Huntsville, and Bracebridge were all televised and re-run by Cogeco. In those She DID win hand’s down. Don’t believe me? read last weeks PS north star. or this weeks weekender down here. Or watch the ACMs on Cogeco. Proof is is the pudding….and most of those WERE undecided voters. on three of those occasions one of the LIBs dieharders had to admit the “Our Girl won”. oh yeah, Burks falls too. Word gets around. the Liberal is weak. period. Norm is trying to weasel his way outta faith based funding (remember he’s the party whip!, and the The green guy tells a blind man on disability that he’ll cut his taxes!?!?

Guaranteed there is NOT going to be a landslide. Most have conceded Hall IS the strongest candidate. now whether Norm can ride his Dad’s coattails to victory again is questionable. it ios undoubtedly a two way race.

Dave.

P.s I personally like Norm. He IS genuinely a nice guy….it’s just to bad he works for the forces of darkness. ;-)

Clearly the NDP campaign manager is taking a page out of Ms. Hall’s book to criticize publicly a man who has represented (all constituents) fairly for over 6 years. I would suggest that no candidate has nearly the amount of experience or success Norm has and the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka are aware of this. This will show at the ballot box.

He does not see fit to put down any candidate to better his success - as clearly every other candidate feels they need to do to get ahead. (Of note: the feeling of guilt each opposition candidate shows by saying how much they like Norm following a sharp jab for no reason). Perhaps this shows a feeling of threat.

I also think the NDP campaign manager might want to re-read the article from the PS North Star which stated clearly that Ms. Hall criticized her opposition and shook her head consistently while other candidates spoke during the ACM. (No where did it clearly say - Ms. Hall won the debate) I would argue that is not winning a debate but a rather desperate attempt to hang on to the support she brought with her to the debate.

Don’t underestimate the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka, they will vote for candidate with the most experience, the highest regard for each resident of the region, and the person that will get the job done.

If Mr. Miller felt threatened by this schoolboy attempt to gain support - he wouldn’t be taking the high road on every issue.

I have met each of the candidates running to represent the riding, and all are very nice people dedicated to their issues - however they have a lot to learn if they want to be respected as leaders in the community.

That is what age, experience, and dedication teach you - respect for all regardless of what political stripes you have.

And riding on the coat tails of Frank Miller - come on guys - that is so ‘2 campaigns’ ago.

Mike, Mr. Miller, and the other candidates were either lying about THEIR own policies, or, like MR. Miller on faith based schools, and the liberal on northern status, were dancing around the questions .

While the North Star (and the weekender down in Bracebridge for that matter) didn’t come out and say she won, read it again. How much press was given to the other candidates? a line or two. the rest was all Hall. Why? only she had spark, knew all the issues, and challenged the other parties on their platform and records. Don’t believe me?
Watch the ACM’s on Cogeco.

we’ll see what happens & I hope you had a happy thanksgiving.

Dave.

The only one who was challenged on her record in Gravenhurst was Ms Hall. Apparently the voters in Parry Sound Muskoka still remember “Rae Days”.
Lots of people complaining about “sign pollution” around the riding yesterday. At least they are noticing them.

Jim

How about her record on supporting public education…however she homeschooled her kids…

Nice Try ….Both of Sara’s kids are in public school @ the top of their class. By the way, MR. Millers MISLEADING radio commercial was never properly exposed……”I stood helplessly by as McGuinty cut eye exams….”etc…then he turns to a different track. Now look at the policies of McGuinty and Tory. NEITHER PARTY will re-introduce those cut services. ONLY the NDP will, WHILE CUTTING THE HEALTH TAX COMPLETELY for people making under $48,000 and families that make under $80,000 will get up to a $900 tax rebate. THAT’S Halls (very partial) stand on health care. How? by moving exactly a .5% shift of taxes to the Banks, Insurance Companies, and people making over $150,000. Which will, incidentally, leave Ontario’s banks still taxed less than 11 neighbouring U.S States.

AS for signs, sounds like sour grapes ’cause Mr. Miller actually LOST THE SIGN WAR TO THE NDP! I know it must be embarrassing. We all know they’ll be removed in a week, so what are you whining about? Besides, Mr. Miller was the one spending outlandishly on HUGE signs….you know what they say about the size of a mans signs ;-) I’m willing to bet that it’s only Tories complaining.

By the way, we all know Mr. Rae is a Liberal.

One last thing. Norm is the incumbent in the riding. He is tied to Mr. Tory’s Policies (the party whip!) The Liberal is tied to McGuinty’s record of broken promises. It is more than fair to to attack the records of the governing party and the incumbent. I’ll leave it on this note… why is it under Norms (and McGuinty’s) Watch that THE AVERAGE FAMILY INCOME OF PS-MUSKOKA RESIDENTS IS $18,000 LESS THAN THE REST OF ONTARIO?

Go ahead and defend THAT Jim/Mike.

How many votes constitutes a landslide any way?
Percentage Votes
Miller, Norm 47.2% 17343
Rhodes, Brenda 26.7% 9819
Hall, Sara 13.6% 5015
Richter, Matt 12.5% 4589
Sara has managed to pull ahead of the Green guy into a resounding 3rd place.
I guess THAT can be considered defended.
Good night all.