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Published on: 9/21/2003
Last Visited: 9/21/2003
Michael Nolan, a politics professor at King's College in London, says the negative campaign has been damaging for the Conservatives.
"They really rolled the dice there because that put the focus on McGuinty and he's performed relatively well," said Nolan, who also teaches journalism and the University of Western Ontario.
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Nolan and Nesbitt-Larking agree that Eves's performance in Tuesday night's leaders' debate to be broadcast on CBC could be a turning point in the campaign.
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"It will be interesting to watch Eves in the debate because what he is going to try to do, I think, is shore up the NDP vote," Nolan said.
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The Conservatives will be looking to get "a tremendous performance out of Eves," Nolan said.
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Nolan said "the Liberals have the momentum . . . it would take a major gaffe on McGuinty's part to really be hurt."
Nolan added that the Liberals "were obviously very well prepared going into the campaign and they've done a pretty good job of controlling the campaign media environment."
Surprises are something the Tories must avoid before voting day on Oct. 2, Nolan and Nesbitt-Larking said.
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"They have to hope that nothing more negative comes out of the campaign . . . that they don't have any more incidents that throw them off message," Nolan said.