Why the “In and out” scandal won’t stick

Lots of buzz about the so-called "In and out" scandal.

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Elections Canada has charged the Conservative Party with some sort of convoluted accounting shenanigans. Seems like a big issue. But is it? Will it hurt the Tories in the next election? Nope and here's why. To really work politically, a scandal must have two characteristics: a) It must be something that somehow harms average voters and b) it must be easy to understand and explain. The "In and out" business fails on both counts. First off, who cares if the Conservatives were monkeying around with the books and breaking some obscure Elections Canada regulation? The way the average casual voter sees it most politicians are crooks anyway. So the "in and out" stuff won't really shock or anger. Just the usual "politicians being politicians" nonsense. More...