Liberal Counter-Attacks: Day 22

The beginning game is apparently over for the Liberal Party. I sense that a drastic change in strategy is afoot.

First, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin are now welcome generals in the Liberal fight.

Second, healthcare has apparently emerged as a Liberal theme. That cudgel was used successfully by Martin and Chretien to repetitively assault former and current Conservative foes with telling success.

Third, the Liberals have suddenly decided that negative ads do in fact work (again!). The people who invented the Canadian Attack Ad have come full circle.

The Tories have responded swiftly and adequately to this line of attack. As they should.

Healthcare is the ultimate wedge issue for the Liberals. The Tories are not seen (rightly or wrongly) as staunch defenders of the healthcare status-quo. This puts them on perilously dangerous ground. The standard Tory approach has been to triangulate on the issue and nullify it as soon as they can.

In a telling moment during the debates, Layton lead a healthcare charge against Harper. If you look carefully you can notice that Harper's posture and facial expression changes. It was telling, because I believe he was very concerned.

What the Liberals did today was the equivalent of pulling out the heavy artillery most generals save for emergencies. Good 'ol bunker Tory is getting hammered today.

The Tories did well in response, but they need to turn up the heat on their own if they want to survive. That means changing the channel before this Liberal assault gains legs.

That means they need to stage a counter-assault on a wedge issue of their own.

Day 22 Winner: The Liberals