Bernard Gauthier

Given my previous posting asking “Where’s Stephen?” in response to the first new Conservative Party spot, I have to follow with a brief comment on the next three spots in the series. They are, in a word, strategic. I might add, brilliantly produced and performed. In a few seconds of air time, the ads go a long way towards leveraging one of the party’s key strengths and overcoming its critical weakness.

The strength the ads leverage is the increasing credibility of Stephen Harper as a Prime Minister. Poll after poll is showing he enjoys a clear lead (some polls showing numbers twice as high as Dion) over the other candidates on this one (albeit just one) metric. He has become his party’s greatest asset. The party website’s consistent use of “Harper 08 Leadership” supports this point well. By focusing the ads strictly on Harper and his thoughts, the campaign makes the most of its best resource. Very strategic.

The ads also aim (with some success, I think) to overcome one of the chief weaknesses that has held the party back in the polls: the perception that they and their leader are cold, distant and angry. Instead of screeching voices, contorted faces and thrusting fingers in the House of Commons, we are treated to a much softer-spoken Harper (could it be the same voice coach who trained Dalton McGuinty?), we are shown his relaxed hands and we get to see that same blue shirt and navy wool vest. All very calm, personal and approachable. And all very strategic.

They’re just ads, of course. There will more of them, more interviews, more town halls and even some debates in the weeks to come. Still, the skillful way they were produced and the solid performance by Harper (kudos in both cases to the director) make these a powerful way to kick-start a campaign that is light years ahead of the juvenile attacks on Stéphane Dion we were forced to sit through in months and years past. This is one trend I would like to see continue, though the continued attacks on Dion plastered all over the party’s web site make it clear the gloves are already off.

As for what the other leaders should attempt to do with their own ads, stay tuned.