Kudos

If this report is right, then the Liberals are doing everything I think they should be doing to respond to the latest salvo of the much hyped attack ads; that is, they are using them as an opportunity.

Much was made out of the Conservatives strategy to reach out to new Canadians and try and break the traditionally strong support the Liberal Party enjoys among them. The video response seems to me to be targetted directly at new Canadians, quite rightly calling out the Conservatives for basically attacking the political qualifications of anyone who has spent time outside of Canada.

At the same time, the report by Paul Wells on the Liberal response plan details changes to the internal party of the structure which have been rushed to facilitate a more coordinated reply to the Conservative attack ads. Much has been written about whether the Conservative attack ads will backfire on the Conservatives amongst voters. But the real danger, I think, is that the ads will spur Liberals to open their pockets and give to the party. The party has already accelerated its renewal plans, and aims to raise $25 million this year alone.

The real danger these ads present to the Conservatives is not that they will trigger a backlash amongst voters. I think they're distasteful, but they're not bad enough that voters will reject the conservatives based on these 30 second spots. The real danger is that they will end up financing the Liberal Party for a strong pre-election push over the summer and into the fall.