Canadians a-Twitter over the Globe’s half-hearted Tory endorsement

The Globe and Mail newspaper’s editorial board endorsed the Conservative government for re-election — but not the party’s leader, Stephen Harper.

And then, the social media mocking began.

The national media outlet’s piece was just too much for some Twitter users, who offered up their own sarcastic takes with the hashtags #MoreGlobeEndorsements and #OtherGlobeEndorsements.

“We endorse winter but not cold,” offered novelist Stephen Marche, @StephenMarche, one of the first out of the gate with a jab.

“I endorse the Globe but not the Mail,” wrote Ben Barnes, @idiotsyncracy.

“Seinfeld without Jerry,” tweeted Caroline Dunton, @realdunton.

The Kardashians, sans Kim; a Huey Lewis-less News; the Jays, without Bautista; Mary-Kate, minus Ashley — hilarity ensued in the Twitterverse.

“We’re in favour of arson, but only if it doesn’t burn anything,“ came from Patrick, @PaddyGurks, and from Chris Turner, @theturner: “We endorse getting your motor running, but not heading out on highway.”

But who says the folks at the venerable newspaper can’t take a joke. Some Globe staffers had their own quips for the queue.

“I endorse the mason, but not the jar,” wrote columnist Tabatha Southey, while health columnist Andre Picard deemed it the “first fun” of the election campaign.

Globe and Mail editor-in-chief David Walmsley took to Facebook to face the music in a Q&A with readers. There were more than 600 comments, most of them unimpressed.

Walmsley explained that the “half-heartedness” of the newspaper’s backing is a reflection of the weakness of the political candidates.

“It would be great to find a clear obvious winner the country could unite behind, but we don’t have that at the moment. And the divisive techniques of the political class make it far from a sure thing anytime soon,” he wrote.

He defended recommendation as a key aspect of the newspaper’s role in society.

“The vitriol goes with the territory, but it would be a worse society if we decided to stop endorsing because of a negative reaction,” he wrote.

“David, is there a single commenter in this thread who thinks your endorsement was at all reasonable?” asked Simon Liem.

“I am looking, rather desperately, for a seconder,” Walmsley replied.