Cane and able — Layton's humanity hits right note: observers
OTTAWA — He likely didn't think so at the time, but the political gods must have been smiling on Jack Layton when he underwent hip surgery in early March.
What emerged from Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital was a hobbled political leader on the verge of a gruelling national election campaign.
Gossip among Parliament Hill's chattering class suggested that Jack wasn't up to it. How could he be?
Prostate cancer surgery and a hip operation in rapid succession — personally debilitating and hardly dream ingredients for the NDP's political image makers, either.
But the pundits all underestimated the Tao of Jack and his Walking Stick — the crutch that has become a Churchillian-like symbol brandished with increased frequency in Layton's public battles against his political enemies.
"It looked like the beginning of the end of his political career," said Ottawa communications specialist Barry McLoughlin. "We saw two things happen to him back to back, that showed his humanity. We saw him on our screens looking gaunt, older, frail and very vulnerable."
Then, adds McLoughlin, Layton suddenly connected with Canadians in a deeper way.
"He struck an emotional chord just by the way he faced up to his setbacks and went about his work. He appeared in the House of Commons after his hip surgery and showed he was a fighter. People developed
an emotional relationship with him that wasn't there before."
Something similar happened between Quebecers and Lucien Bouchard when the former Bloc Quebecois leader contracted flesh-eating disease in 1994, added McLoughlin. "It's not about the cane," he said, "but about the humanity it shows."
Bernard Gauthier, a communications and audience research specialist at Delta Media in Ottawa says the walking stick has become a defining element for Layton.
"It's become part of the Jack Layton brand, along with his white moustache," said Gauthier. "I said at the beginning of the campaign that the walking stick will go one of two ways for Jack Layton: it will hinder him because it could suggest to people that he is not at the peak of health or it will engage people.
"It's made him more endearing and empathetic."
Gauthier figures that the walking stick has become an increasingly prominent element in Layton's public appearances because voters in NDP focus groups are telling them Canadians are relating to someone who has suffered hardship but is getting the job done anyway.
"But imagine the risk of attempting to conceal the fact he was using a walking stick I think the impact on his campaign would have been completely negative."
Crucially, added Gauthier, the walking stick has helped Layton differentiate himself from other leaders, especially Stephen Harper. "In many ways, he has become the foil to Harper," he said. "His body language is different, his appearance is different, and his voice and language is different.
"You have one leader (Layton) reaching into crowds and talking to people versus another whose handlers have barricaded him. The contrast in image between the two is quite remarkable."
Physically, Layton appears to have grown stronger as the campaign has progressed, said McLoughlin. "He has gone from frail to dynamic and he seems to look younger," he said. "He filled out more and even with the cane, has hit his stride."
Ultimately, the cane is a metaphor, he added. "It's a metaphor for a fighter and for Layton's human vulnerability and his triumph over it."
Cane and able ? Layton's humanity hits right note: observers
