I received this internal memo from a source close to the Hudak campaign,
MEMO TO: TIM HUDAK TEAM
FROM: CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
RE: MEMBERSHIP CUT-OFF
Tim Hudak today congratulated his team for signing up more new members than expected in the Ontario PC Party leadership race.
“We had our internal benchmarks, and you outperformed expectations,” Hudak told volunteers. “You signed up 14,000 new members, and made us the first and only campaign to build grassroots, on-the-ground organizations in each and every riding.”
Though final numbers are still being counted, a clear pattern is emerging: while other campaigns found support among a small group of corporations and high-rollers, donors to the Tim Hudak campaign are from a broader group of grassroots members and small, individual donors.
With over $200,000 now raised we’re on par or above all the other candidates.
We’re all going to continue to work hard and convince the entire party membership that Tim is the right person to be our leader, and the right person to be the Premier of Ontario.
and this internal memo from within the Christine Elliott campaign,
MEMO – CONFIDENTIAL
To: Campaign Team
From: Andrew Boddington
Date: May 16, 2009
RE: Membership SalesTeam,
With membership cut-off now behind us, I wanted to touch base and let you know how well we have done.
The Party is reporting the total membership now stands at 40,000 people, which is roughly 32,000 more members than when we started this race. This is great news for our Party as we look to defeat McGuinty in 2011.
Thanks to your hard work and tireless effort we have managed to turn this election into a very tight race. With all campaigns having now submitted their memberships, the Party’s Executive Director Christine Hogarth called it a “real horse race” in the news this weekend, and for good reason – we are literally neck-and-neck with the other campaigns.
We will gladly let the others talk about numbers, but remember the other campaigns will always exaggerate their support. We’re not playing that game. What I can tell you is that our final membership push – literally the last few days worth of work – really paid off. Our team submitted approximately 1/3 of the memberships that were dropped off on the evening of the deadline. This result points to two very important facts: 1) Christine has the momentum going into the persuasion phase; and 2) we have the hardest working campaign team in this race.
In the coming days you may hear membership figures cited by the other campaigns – I received a leaked memo from another campaign team, for instance, that told its volunteers they signed up “14,000 new members”. This is an example of how campaigns often cite inflated numbers out of desperation. Disregard these numbers for what they really are: exaggerated figures intended to boost the spirits of volunteers who expected a coronation, and now find themselves in a horse race.
We had a remarkable first phase of the campaign comprised of fantastic events, and great media coverage. Few people could have guessed we would be able to achieve this much, having only started this race in April. We have succeeded in erasing the lead of a supposed “front runner” and Party officials confirm this race is wide-open. This is amazing work, and I thank all of you for making it possible. You can proudly spread the word about Christine’s momentum to other party members.
Great work everyone.
Thanks again,
AndrewAndrew G. Boddington
Christine Elliott Campaign
Meanwhile, a source from the Frank Klees campaign boasts that their membership numbers have surpassed 10,000.