Right Turn: How the Tories Took OntarioIt wasn't so much a big blue machine that chugged its way across Ontario's political landscape in the spring of 1995 — it was more a big purple bulldozer driven by leader Mike harris and a new breed of Tories. Gone were the pinestripes and the cigar-chomping backroom boys of the forty-two years of Tory rule. These Tories were young, hip, and they were riding the wave of their Common Sense Revolution, a platform launched a year earlier. Still, there were only a few who thought the PCs stood a chance of winning the Ontario provincial election. Though Bob Rae's NDP government was foundering, Lyn McLeod and the Liberals were holding what looked like a steady two-to-one lead in the polls. Rlying on a combination of video tapes, clever advertising, and a brilliant campaign plan, the Harris team turned it all around, pulling off one of the most stunning upsets in Canadian political history. Right Turn tells the story. |
Contents
1 | |
5 | |
9 | |
4 Out of the Smoke | 16 |
5 Dont Underestimate This Guy | 20 |
6 Beyond the Big Blue Machine | 30 |
7 Just Call Me Janet | 36 |
8 Dial 1800668MIKE | 41 |
15 With the Greatest of Respect | 97 |
16 The Young and the Hip | 101 |
17 A Blue Lady in a Red Outfit | 107 |
18 Shout at Your Spouse Lose the Election | 110 |
19 Playing the Percentages | 114 |
20 The Dreaded Red Book | 122 |
21 Landslide Ernie | 128 |
22 Whatever Happened to the Liberals? | 136 |
9 Sex Halftruths and Videotape | 46 |
10 Mussel Power | 55 |
11 Hey Presto Reform Vanishes | 64 |
12 This Bus Was a Gas | 68 |
13 Closet Politics | 78 |
Illustrations | 83 |
14 Trust Me I Can Do It | 95 |