Vote for him or else

In a now-infamous interview with Terry Roberts of The Telegram, published on August 14th, Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair PC candidate Dennis Normore said:

"People realize that we have to be on the government side in the next four years. Otherwise, we're going to pay dearly for it... People are telling me. 'We've got to be on Danny's team.'...If we elect [Yvonne Jones], we're electing a person who will serve in opposition, and if we do that I guess we're going to be the sacrificial district..."

The next day... not so much. Again from a Terry Roberts report:

Tory candidates who try to browbeat voters by saying they will be punished if they don't elect a government MHA can expect a terse phone call from Premier Danny Williams.

"I won't stand for those kinds of statements being made by any candidates on our behalf in this election," Williams said Wednesday.

...

Williams said he contacted Normore Wednesday morning to "express my displeasure" about the "improper" comments.

"This is not the way we operate. There's not a question of any district paying at all for not being a government seat," Williams said, adding that he was "very annoyed."

"It hasn't been the pattern or the policy of this government to punish districts. I saw too much of that during the years when I wasn't in politics and just standing back as an observer," he offered.

And, the next day:

Dennis Normore apologized Thursday for stating that the district of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair would "pay dearly" if voters do not elect a Progressive Conservative in the Oct. 9 provincial election.

Acting on the advice of Premier Danny Williams, Normore said his comments in a Tuesday article in The Telegram were a mistake and are not reflective of the way the Tory party governs the province.

He attributed his comments to his inexperience as a politician*, his eagerness to defeat Liberal incumbent Yvonne Jones, and his strong commitment to the district.

"It was a mistake on my part to be so strong with my words. I probably, and I will, apologize," stated Normore.

Tonight on VOCM Nightline with Linda Swain, Normore supporter "Hedley", who has repeatedly hit the airwaves to make essentially the point that Normore did on August 14th, said, in response to a challenge from the host:

What Dennis said at that time is right.

Another Normore supporter, Francis Bolger, who has hit the airwaves and the internets with other iterations of what the Telegram headline writer called "Vote for me - or else", wrote on a Labrador internet discussion board earlier today:

If we put the wrong canidate [sic] in I will cry for the people who have to choose from food or medication because money is tight. cry for our elderly who live on a fix [sic] income and prices a high and they do without. people who need help with housing and are on long wating list.

Are Bolger and Hedley speaking for the Normore campaign? Are their statement condoned by the campaign central?

Is it OK for Danny's Minions to engage, openly, notoriously, publicly, and repeatedly, in the same kind of Smallwoodian politicking that Danny himself supposedly is "very annoyed" about?

Is it OK for Minions to do, openly, notoriously, publicly, and repeatedly, what candidates get their noses rubbed in?

Someone ought to ask the PC campaign:

Elizabeth Matthews
Leader's Tour
709.697.4064
Email: elizabethmatthews@thefutureisours.ca

Ken Morrissey
PC Party Campaign Headquarters
709.757.2148 or .2007
709.728.6549
Email: kenmorrissey@thefutureisours.ca

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* Normore is a second-time provincial candidate.