TAKING STOCK — Another go around the sun and PIERRE POILIEVRE is marking two years at the helm of the Conservative Party today since his decisive leadership win. Love him or hate him, the captivating character has been a tour de force in Canadian politics. “It's discipline, but it's also simplicity,” says ALEX MARLAND, a politics professor at Acadia University. “Message simplicity is a huge hallmark of branding and being able to connect in a digital marketplace where everybody is so busy.” — Contrast: The 11 minutes it takes a Liberal MP at the door to explain carbon pricing and rebates … with the 11 seconds it takes for the Conservatives to rail against the carbon tax. Poilievre’s verging-on-apocalyptic rhetoric, ability to speak repetitively in simple, snappy soundbites and quick thinking on his feet has made it easy to gain earned media — the PR practitioner term for news coverage — especially compared to his predecessors. “Even Harper, who struggled with this stuff — it wasn't natural, organic,” Marland said. The party boasts that Poilievre’s wife ANAIDA POILIEVRE is involved in designing the party’s merch and occasionally does interviews, and his family shows up in photos and ads. He’s had certain moments go viral. — A Trudeau-esque anti-Trudeau: From the quick quips to the strong retail politics game to the marketing, there’s something eerily familiar about it all. “There's so many parallels with circa 2014/2015 Justin Trudeau … it's uncanny, frankly,” Marland said. “And Trudeau has now taken on the persona of Harper.” — Swerved hard: Poilievre has also been successful at keeping third-rail issues at bay in a way no previous leader has. See:transgender and pronoun policies. — A quiet bag of cats: Conservative strategist FRED DELOREY tells Playbook keeping the party united, disciplined and focused is “no easy task.” “Under STEPHEN HARPER's leadership, there may have been four or five different types of conservatives — now there's 20 different types, but [Poilievre’s] done a solid job of keeping them all united and all focused on the same goal.” — Compare, contrast: The resounding win preempted the various factions from sharpening their knives and plotting for the next go-round. There’s no heir apparent. Just like JUSTIN TRUDEAU and STEPHEN HARPER, he won the party in a landslide. “With ERIN O’TOOLE as leader, given the different factions that were at play, people disagreed with certain positions or whatever, and were moonlighting on their own,” one Conservative source granted anonymity to speak more freely tells Playbook. “But it's hard to compare both eras from that point of view because the pandemic was just a shitshow for everybody.” Big internal conflicts have been limited to those lining up to vie for nominations, and party comms is staying on target. — Heck of a time for media: Tough times trying to get a party backbencher or critic point-person on the phone, if it’s not about the message of the day/week/moment. Then, of course, there’s Poilievre eagerness to scrap with journalists for clips and fundraising appeals. Back to the Harper-era war on media. — Heck of a time for Parliament: His team has played hardball in Parliament with extreme rhetoric and aggressive QP lines, and procedural tactics to game out more attention through social media channels, sometimes known in practitioner speak as “owned media.” — Key figures: Regular Playbook readers won’t be surprised that rank-and-file Conservatives will point to JENNI BYRNE as a key ingredient to Poilievre’s success in fine tuning the Big Blue Machine. She’s not alone. MIKE CRASE moved to the federal party this time last year, fresh off the heels of rebuilding the Ontario PCs from the PATRICK BROWN era. Poilievre also shook up the Conservative Fund, tapping ROBERT STALEY to lead it. — Fine tuning: Playbook is told the team speaks to caucus with one voice, helping the credibility of the leader’s office. Party headquarters is larger and has returned to having desk officers, with every region represented by a point person. It’s also hired more organizers across the country. They’re working on a new app for door-to-door canvassers. Operations manager JEREMY LIEDTKE watches the moving pieces and STACEY SHERWOOD is focused on fundraising and logistics from HQ. — Fundraising King: There’s not a lot of money in Canadian politics if you look at what’s taking place in the U.S. presidential race. But the money going around is mostly ending up in Conservative pockets, with Poilievre raising record amounts in his first full calendar year. He consistently hauls in more than all the other parties combined. — Crunch the numbers: “Pierre is big on data,” the party source said. “More money in the coffers allows for more money to be spent. … You can have extra people at headquarters.” — Sights on replacements: Poilievre has made PMJT out to be the source of all Canadians’ problems, as he channels national grievances into his push for political change. That, of course, rests on a key foil. With MARK CARNEY’s name back in the news, some post-Trudeau party messaging has already started to emerge. Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer got up in front of the cameras in B.C. on Monday to tell reporters the Liberals are all from the same crop of “out of touch elites.”
| 
