Tory scraping the bottom for staff, for anything to help his dying campaign

So who the hell is Mike Van Soelen? This is the name to call if you want to get more information on just about the most desperate press release we've seen yet out of the Tory Tories.

Van Soelen issued a press release today claiming Kathleen Wynne has "shunned Dalton McGuinty" by "erasing any trace of Dalton McGuinty from her campaign literature."

You can't make this up folks - it's so stupid no one in their right mind would believe that anyone would put out such a dumb press rlease unless you could prove that it really happened. Well, it did. Check here.

The desperation is understandable. Tory has been hammered from one end of the province to the other for his proposal to fund private religious schools. On that issue alone he has lost probably the entire election and he may even lose his battle with Kathleen Wynne. So the desperation is understandable.

But when you let the grunts write press releases, you're being both reckless and stupid. How can you look people in the eye with drivel like that press release being sent out?

But maybe it was prompted by the debate Sunday afternoon at Leaside High School. Tory apparently couldn't get Don Valley West voters to come out so they bussed in several dozen people from other ridings. Included in this were about 15 kids who all looked to be about 5 or 6 years old, all drowning in these deep blue T shirts for Tory, all looking bewildered by what was going on as they were being pushed from one side of the room to another by two odious young people who were trying to find a spot to put them so the cameras would catch them. On a beautiful day like Sunday afternoon, these young kids were indoors being used as political billboards for John Tory. The kids themselves were cute and well behaved, although they looked confused by the noise and clearly didn't know what they were expected to do. It was reminiscent of David Letterman's stupid pet tricks, except these kids deserved so much better, starting with parents who ought to put in stocks for letting their children be so exploited.

It didn't work, which is kind of the way the whole afternoon went. Tory, who is the leader of his Party, should have won the debate in a walk. Instead, it was a draw, not nearly good enough for a guy who hoped to be premier.

So enter the dubious, the dumb, the dumber Van Soelen with his press release that breathlessly claims Wynne has erased McGuinty from her literature.

Actually, Wynne mentions McGuinty many times in her literature. But give Van Soelen this - the worst criticism the Tories can come up with about Wynne is she doesn't mention McGuinty 100 or more times in every piece of campaign literature. Kind of tells you everything you need to know right there. Wynne is looking better and better by the minute, and she started out looking very good so this is all just a disaster for John Tory.

Unable to find anything real to criticize Wynne for, they are recognizing, too late, that they have misjudged her as they have misjudged every step of their sorry Tory campaign. Even David Turnbull put up a better show four years ago and when David Turnbull shows you up, you know how deep is the pit you find yourself in.