Through the Looking Glass: Swing Voters 2021<\/a>,\u201d a weekly online series that made its debut Monday and will run until Canadians go to the polls on Sept. 20.<\/p>\nThe episodes will follow voters in the lower mainland of British Columbia and the 905 region of Ontario, two of the places the election will be determined.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re taking viewers through the looking glass of a focus group boardroom, done virtually, and into the minds of everyday people,\u201d Herle said.<\/p>\n
POLITICO is working with Air Quotes Media, publishers of \u201cThe Herle Burly\u201d and spin-off podcast, \u201cCurse of Politics,\u201d to bring exclusive content to readers during the federal campaign, including daily analysis and weekly voter focus group results.<\/p>\n
The first focus group was held on Zoom and much of the session was devoted to introductions and campaign basics.<\/p>\n
Worth noting is the fact every participant in Saturday\u2019s focus group knew a campaign was imminent. All seemed to agree the only reason Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau called a campaign was to win back a Liberal majority.<\/p>\n
When presented with a photo of O\u2019Toole, many in the group were at a loss to identify the leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a middle-aged man who needs more exposure,\u201d said Dragan (top row, middle square), an airport customer service manager from Mississauga who might vote Conservative. Or maybe NDP. \u201cNot Liberals this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few in the group could name Jagmeet Singh, but when offered a photo of the NDP leader, they all seemed to know. \u201cEven people who aren\u2019t voting for him right now think he has potential to lead the country in the future,\u201d Herle said.<\/p>\n
Sisi (middle row, center) is originally from China. She lives in Vancouver, works for a telecommunications company and can\u2019t wait to travel again. She said she plans to vote Conservative, though was stumped to identify O\u2019Toole.<\/p>\n
Jane (bottom row, left) is a competitive swing dancer who \u201cescaped to the West Coast\u201d from Toronto 35 years ago. She\u2019s the one with the parrot. She called O\u2019Toole a \u201cdandy\u201d and told the group she plans to vote strategically.<\/p>\n
Daryl (middle row, left) is a former Red Seal chef now working in sales and living in Mission, B.C. He\u2019s \u201cleaning Liberal\u201d and away from the Conservatives and has questions about Canada\u2019s recovery plan.<\/p>\n
During a session of almost two hours, participants shared their thoughts on Trudeau\u2019s decision to call an early election. They identified the issues at the top of their lists \u2014 health care, dental care, housing, the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe election is on and people know it,\u201d Herle said. \u201cAnd they have opinions about what it ought to be about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tara, (middle row, right) a teacher from Oakville, is leaning Liberal and placed health care and education at the top of her priority list, though she acknowledged they are provincial responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Polite interaction gave way to testy exchange when talk turned to mandatory vaccinations. Sisi and Yi (bottom row, right), both originally from China, argued the state should have no say in the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be an exciting race,\u201d Herle said after the close of the session. \u201cI didn\u2019t hear the foundations of a slam-dunk reelection for the government. I heard the foundations for a vigorous debate and a vigorous contest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next week the group will discuss advertising and platform initiatives. <\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: Politics OTTAWA \u2014 Takeaways from a focus group of eight swing voters and a rowdy parrot reveal that Conservative Leader Erin O\u2019Toole has some work to do. \u201cEven people… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":18284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18283"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}