Election 2008: Day Three

Day Three of the campaign was a bad one for Harper's Conservatives. The day started with a communications disaster as the Conservatives webmasters got a little too cute for their own good. A Conservative website http://notaleader.ca showed an animated puffin flying across the screen and pooping (plopping a white blob) on the shoulder of Liberal leader Stephane Dion. Dion responded forcefully and Harper was forced to apologize. But the incident has helped to characterize the Conservative leader and the Conservative campaign as mean-spirited.

The incident drowned out the Conservatives' first major policy announcement of the campaign, a promise to cut the excise tax on diesel.

Harper's decision to block Elizabeth May's participation in the leaders debates also came back to haunt him today. Talk shows across the country resonated with callers from all parties upset at this decision and the strong-arm tactics by the PM. And blogs buzzed with indignation. In effect this has become the first real issue to capture voters' attention. The response is not encouraging for the Harper campaign. In his media ads Harper is attempting to show a softer, gentler image but his actions suggest otherwise and recall for voters the way he has governed/ one-man, iron-fisted governance.