If Canadians become more focused on
economic risks, the thinking goes, they will pay less attention to the Duffy scandal, and they will be more cautious when casting their ballot. In this world -
view, it actually helps the Conservatives to talk up bad
economic news. This marks a U-turn from earlier messaging, when Conservatives first tried (futilely) to deny the economy was in any
trouble at all. With the negative numbers piling up around them, the Tory spin machine has decided to throw in the towel, and try to make a silk purse from this sow's ear. They now want to emphasize the gloomy
economic outlook (while simultaneously, of course, evading blame for contributing to it at all).
I expressed my
views in this regard on WhatsApp last weekend, «Any country in which its elites consider re-electing a president like Buhari just as thousands of citizens are murdered across the country with not a single person arrested; a president who can not make an intelligent conversation on any policy or global issue with other global leaders; a president whose EFCC and DSS engage in open confrontation; a regime which crippled the economy and relies on cyclical movements in oil prices as its sole
economic lever; a regime under which 10 million jobs are lost; and key accusations against top officials are treated with levity; just as the regime appears complicit in the invasion of its senate by thugs and seizure of mace... such a country is in serious
trouble, that is if it isn't doomed.