Loser, I declare thee Sona

Setting aside the allegations about "ethnic costumes" or Tamil candidates, I'll focus on what happened late in the day in Guelph. I don't know what exactly happened, but according to some students there, local Conservative Communications Director Michael Sona attempted to reach for and grab a ballot box at the polling station, arguing that it was an illegal poll.

From everything I've seen, he appears to have had a legitimate argument (and local Conservatives claim that he did not in fact reach for the ballot box). Regardless, this is EXACTLY the kind of publicity the Conservatives don't need right now, and precisely the wrong way of going about things.

While Stephen Harper has been condemned for the ruthless discipline he exercises in controlling his caucus, it must be remembered how utterly savage the national media used to be with every misstatement by a Canadian Alliance or Conservative candidate. Now that candidates are on such a short leash, the press has moved onto seizing on Conservative staffers.

Conservatives will argue that it was unfair, but one cannot campaign against both parties and the press, and so they should expect attention to be drawn to everything. The name of the game for the Conservatives now is to avoid controversy - and having anybody associated with a campaign openly confront voting officials is a prime example of what NOT to do. Allegations of disrespecting democracy already abound, and anything that reinforces that impression must be avoided at all cost.

While this may be attributed to it having been such a slow campaign day, this has the potential to grow. I'd even go so far as to say Guelph just started leaning more into the Liberal camp after today's incident. This one could be a costly loss in the quest for a Majority. This story fits a compelling Liberal narrative of Conservative contempt for democracy, and is already being seized upon by Liberal columnists. Just wait until the press finds out Mr. Sona works on the Hill and we'll see how much traction this will get.

So, no clear winners today, but the Conservatives lost on this front. They're going to get hammered even harder in the coming weeks. We'll have to wait to see what the full impact will be for them.

DAY 21 LOSER: Conservatives