I received this internal memo from a source close to the Hudak campaign,
MEMO TO: TIM HUDAK TEAM
FROM: CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
RE: MEMBERSHIP CUT-OFF
Tim Hudak today congratulated his team for signing up more new members than expected in the Ontario PC Party leadership race.
“We had our internal benchmarks, and you outperformed expectations,” Hudak told volunteers. “You signed up 14,000 new members, and made us the first and only campaign to build grassroots, on-the-ground organizations in each and every riding.”
Though final numbers are still being counted, a clear pattern is emerging: while other campaigns found support among a small group of corporations and high-rollers, donors to the Tim Hudak campaign are from a broader group of grassroots members and small, individual donors.
With over $200,000 now raised we’re on par or above all the other candidates.
We’re all going to continue to work hard and convince the entire party membership that Tim is the right person to be our leader, and the right person to be the Premier of Ontario.
and this internal memo from within the Christine Elliott campaign,
MEMO – CONFIDENTIAL
To: Campaign Team
From: Andrew Boddington
Date: May 16, 2009
RE: Membership SalesTeam,
With membership cut-off now behind us, I wanted to touch base and let you know how well we have done.
The Party is reporting the total membership now stands at 40,000 people, which is roughly 32,000 more members than when we started this race. This is great news for our Party as we look to defeat McGuinty in 2011.
Thanks to your hard work and tireless effort we have managed to turn this election into a very tight race. With all campaigns having now submitted their memberships, the Party’s Executive Director Christine Hogarth called it a “real horse race” in the news this weekend, and for good reason – we are literally neck-and-neck with the other campaigns.
We will gladly let the others talk about numbers, but remember the other campaigns will always exaggerate their support. We’re not playing that game. What I can tell you is that our final membership push – literally the last few days worth of work – really paid off. Our team submitted approximately 1/3 of the memberships that were dropped off on the evening of the deadline. This result points to two very important facts: 1) Christine has the momentum going into the persuasion phase; and 2) we have the hardest working campaign team in this race.
In the coming days you may hear membership figures cited by the other campaigns – I received a leaked memo from another campaign team, for instance, that told its volunteers they signed up “14,000 new members”. This is an example of how campaigns often cite inflated numbers out of desperation. Disregard these numbers for what they really are: exaggerated figures intended to boost the spirits of volunteers who expected a coronation, and now find themselves in a horse race.
We had a remarkable first phase of the campaign comprised of fantastic events, and great media coverage. Few people could have guessed we would be able to achieve this much, having only started this race in April. We have succeeded in erasing the lead of a supposed “front runner” and Party officials confirm this race is wide-open. This is amazing work, and I thank all of you for making it possible. You can proudly spread the word about Christine’s momentum to other party members.
Great work everyone.
Thanks again,
AndrewAndrew G. Boddington
Christine Elliott Campaign
Meanwhile, a source from the Frank Klees campaign boasts that their membership numbers have surpassed 10,000.
Stephen Taylor is a scientist, political analyst and a blogger. Taylor writes here regularly and is the founder of bloggingtories.ca. Taylor has contributed to Macleans, CTV, talk radio and has been a featured speaker on new media at numerous events including the Western Standard Cruise and the Forum for Public Policy. In December 2008, Taylor organized Rally for Canada, a series of rallies held coast-to-coast to protest the proposed coalition government.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Funny someone would mention the word coronation, that thought entered my mind in the beginning regarding Tim. It appeared he was the one to beat and the others had an uphill battle. That's not a positive for any Tory candidate after the recent spectacle of the federal Liberals. It leaves a bad taste.
It's a tough choice, like many others I'm waiting for the debates.
In my riding we have a very good, popular and visible MPP who has endorsed Tim and is working hard for him.
At this time I cannot make a definite choice although I have a slight lean. Have to wonder if it's wise for sitting MPP's to go to bat for a particular candidate, it could lead to divisions.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
14,000 + 14,000 + 10,000 = 34,000 (doesn't include Hillier). But I thought they only added 32,000?
May 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Hudaks campaign has been less than impressive. They thought they had it in the bag. Kind of like being entiltled to their entitlement. 3rd in memberships, 4th in fundraising – I expect the usuall crew of ass kissers will start playing all sides to save their asses if Tim loses. Hudak will have a hard time raising money and finding endorsements from here on in.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Well, the obvious answer would be that Elliott and Klees didn't sell many memberships, but Hudak did.
I'd say the Klees number is pretty questionable… like a lot of people, I've barely found anyone who is planning to vote for him. Elliott? Who's selling them for her? She doesn't have much by way of organization. Hudak does, though — apparently he covered off almost all of the membership drop-off points last week. I'd say that having actual people out in the field, selling personally, probably makes a difference.
May 17th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Hudak is “the first and only campaign to build grassroots, on-the-ground organizations in each and every riding.`?
Last I checked my riding had a whopping total of 5 members…
May 17th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Hudak is “the first and only campaign to build grassroots, on-the-ground organizations in each and every riding.`?
Well, the so-called organization was very poor in my riding IMHO. The notice I received in the mail had the wrong date for Hudak's visit, so I missed it. :-/ And the person from the Team (in Toronto area?) who managed to reach me by phone wasn't interested in speaking with me further when I didn't a) make a donation, or b) indicate my support …. in fact I indicated I was very unhappy with the policy announcements Hudak had made to that date. No attempt to determine what I didn't like and try to discuss it, just “Oh, well, have a nice night.”
May 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
The truth is that Hudak did not sell 14,000 – That’s been proven. they arrived at 14,000 by adding the number of original party members (8,000) which they assume are all supporting him with the number they actually sold (6,000) Its incredible that he sold so few.
As for Klees' numbers – not questionable at all – he signed up virtually the same number of members last time, and is the only candidate who has done this exercise before and had a list to work from. Interesting that his campaign is the only one not to put out their numbers – certainly some strategy in that. It would be shocking if he didn’t sign up the most, though signing up the most or least isn’t always a recipe for success or failure respectively.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Stephen, could you please explain to the readers how fundraising numbers are counted and reported? Does anyone really believe that Tim Hudak has one-tenth the campaign money as Christine Elliott? (Christine's campaign certainly doesn't think so. In fact one of them told me they're worried this could affect future fundraising efforts. Why donate to a campaign with no need of money?)
May 21st, 2009 at 12:25 am
Team Hudak is in spin mode, like Lasch on Faithbased Funding. Its not hurting us!!!!
What a disaster.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:25 am
Team Hudak is in spin mode, like Lasch on Faithbased Funding. Its not hurting us!!!!
What a disaster.