Liberal Libels, Vol. 1

Over the past three weeks, Dalton's pusillanimous pawns have been uncharacteristically vigorous. Be it out of a sincere desire to protect their king, or to protect their position with whatever's left of the Liberal establishment after October, the Ontario Liberals are providing us with a preview of what's to come in the runup to and during the election. One thing's for certain: Any hope of Dalton just drying up and blowing away has been summarily expunged. These Liberals aren't going down without a fight, and they're going to say and do whatever it takes to hold on to the reigns of government. Twas ever thus.

For now, until we get our platform rolled out, the going is going to be tough. I'll be providing periodic updates on Liberal spin and exposing it for the fraud it is. Keep a smile on your faces and don't let them rattle your cages.

Those of you from out of province take note: A Dalton McGuinty Liberal is an especially devious breed, specializing in framing their arguments just so, and even the most ardent and prepared Conservative might be given pause. These Liberal strategies might turn up in your neighbourhood. Watch out! Beware! Things aren't always what they seem. And I'll show you what I mean.

• A house divided against itself cannot stand, and the Liberals are itching for a rift in our party to open up. Tim is a fresh face and wisely hasn't unveiled everything he's going to do, so the Liberals are trying to take advantage of this by saying "he has no plan". They're not doing this because they expect people to forget that we will announce a platform in a few months, but because they want us to get annoyed with the Leader's office. I've discussed the implications of this here. What you might not know is that the Liberals are trying to do the same with the NDP. Expect lots of focus by the Liberals on the breakaway group The Ginger Project if the NDP becomes a threat over the next couple of months. If we know the Liberals are deliberately trying to fuel the fires and create dissatisfaction in our ranks with Tim, why should we let them? And why should they play us the same way they play the NDP?

• You know how the federal Liberals are always being handicapped by "anonymous sources"? It's great fun to point and laugh when one of them pitches a fit about the problem. It's less funny when it happens to us:

"The best thing about Conservatives is that if you take them out for a drink they’ll tell you what they’re going to do, which is not that far-fetched,” said one top Liberal. “A lot of us find that in our own intelligence gathering.”

           Emulating the federal Liberals is a dumb idea. Being used by Liberals is even dumber.

• The Liberals know their leader is a weakness for them. So they focus on their so called team, their so called plan....anything but their leader. When's the last time you saw or heard a Liberal say, "I really love the job Dalton's doing as leader"? They say "You Conservatives are afraid to talk about the Harris record"? You say, "You Liberals are afraid to talk about your leader." Or: "You talk too much about the Harris record. Is that because you're mad that you never beat him?" Or: "Actually, the Harris record shows that we balanced the budget. Let's hear your party's record on that file." 

• They wouldn't be Liberals without some good old fashioned contempt for the voter's intelligence. You can find no shortage of Liberal comments to the effect that the other parties have no plan. But you can also find no shortage of Liberal comments to the effect that health care, education, and everything else will be "gutted" unless they win in 2011. So which is it? You can't have no plan and an evil plan at the same time. Only a Liberal would be so dishonest that they'd even lie to themselves!

• To that end, what is the Liberal plan for health care and education? We don't know because they haven't released their platform yet. They say they will "continue to invest"? We make it a discussion about the Liberal spending record. They say we won't invest? Well, yes we will! We might not invest as much, but we will invest! ;)

Keep watching this space for more installments of Liberal Libels. Share your stories and tactics if you feel so inclined!