The longtime broadcaster and successful entrepreneur pounced on perhaps the biggest strategic error of the mayoral campaign. Bike lanes.
Having never before mounted an election campaign, the political novice had to build the operational side of his team and develop a full policy platform – all while marketing himself to more than 700,000 voters in 24 municipal wards.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Ottawa SUN, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
His decision to make that announcement in Kanata, rather than near his home in Wellington Village, spoke to a critical element of his campaign strategy: win the suburbs. Sutcliffe, meanwhile, had to win decisively in the suburbs and rural areas to have any chance. He would get there on a bicycle. Nanos called McKenney’s bike policy the biggest strategic error of the campaign. “McKenney was very passionate about that issue, but it just did not resonate with voters.”
McKenney was aided by Horizon Ottawa, an activist group that landed one of the most significant tactical blows of the campaign against Sutcliffe when it accused him of hosting a “cash-for-access” fundraiser at a Lansdowne Park condominium – the same kind of event that he had criticized as a Citizen columnist. Attendees were invited to donate up to $1,200.
His profile was bolstered by a punishing schedule of debates – seven in 10 days – that some regard as the campaign’s turning point. Sutcliffe performed well on stage and was able to deliver a digestible message to voters, in no small part thanks to his broadcast skills. A key part of any campaign strategy is the selection of key words and phrases to explain and define a candidate.