Final Campaign Update in Newmarket-Aurora: 2 days before election day!!!
Well it has been a long 35 days. Nationally we were up, later we were down, today we are back up. It seems the unengaged electorate has been very volatile. Now after putting up all of those signs, knocking on all of those doors, dropping off all of that literature, making all of those phone calls, preparing for the debates, writing letters to the editor, handing out all of those flyers at the GO Station, attending Harper events, opening our offices, fundraising, preparing for debates and working on various events at the riding association level; the campaign is now basically over and 100% of the focus is now on getting out the vote.
The campaign in Newmarket-Aurora for the Conservatives was very strong. We identified a lot of supporters. He had a lot of sign requests and easily won the sign war. We were able to send out three promotional brochures. We had the support of national party as a targeted riding. We had great coverage from the mainstream media and decent coverage from the local media. Lois probably worked harder than any candidate in the country knocking on doors for two years. We had people calling, canvassing and volunteering their time with signs and in the office. We had a strong amount of poll captains and will have a scruiteneer at every polling station on Tuesday. Cabinet ministers have come and gone. We held our own in the debates and neutralized a Dion riding here. We had hoped to get the Prime Minister in Newmarket-Aurora, but were unable to find a suitable venue due to weddings a couple of Saturdays to go. Last night's rally in Mississauga was well attended and polling has us up in the 905 and in the riding.
Going into the holiday weekend, momentum is back with the Conservatives nationally. The focus is once again on Dion's leadership and his carbon tax proposal. This is good news for Conservatives as families sit down and discuss politics at dinner tables throughout the country. Positive economic news and a strong response to our modest and principled platform has also led to a Conservative rebound in the polls. In Newmarket-Aurora, we want the ballot box question to be "Does Newmarket want a seat at the government table". With Harper in the lead and expected to be Prime Minister 2 days before election day; we hope that will indeed factor into people's minds on election day.
We cannot let up because of the good polls. We cannot assume our vote is not needed. We cannot take the day off on election day. This fight returns Tuesday and the most important part of the campaign will take place - getting out the vote. Scruiteneers will be responsible for monitoring the polling stations and identifying who has voted. Callers will then be responsible to remind supporters who haven't voted to come out and vote. In the final hours the remainder of our identified supporters who have not voted will get a knock on their door. The national party targeted riding program, call centres and CIMs data base will all play a huge role in our E-day efforts. After the polls close and the votes are counted, volunteers are welcome to gather at Madsens to watch the results as they come in. The event will be a thank you event for team Lois and hopefully a victory party as well.
Tomorrow and Monday I will stop campaigning for Thanksgiving. I suspect all of the campaigns will do the same at least in terms of contacting voters. Tuesday it is in the hands of the people based on the dynamics of 308 battlegrounds across Canada. I hope all the voters and other campaigns enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday.
Based on how everything has gone over the course of the campaign, I will be quite surprised if Lois Brown isn't our next MP in a couple of days time. Vote Conservative...Vote Stephen Harper...Vote Lois Brown! A carbon tax is simply not worth the risk. Newmarket-Aurora needs a strong voice in Ottawa!
