Conservative Attack Ads and War Rooms

The Conservatives already have their war room set up and are spending much of their donations preparing for an election, which leads me to one conclusion, the party obviously wants one. As much as I would like to see Harper turfed, we've had two elections in three years, so many of us are electioned out for now. While the party certainly has every right to spend their donations on whatever they would like, I do hope the party focuses more on governing than electioneering. I agree with the Liberals plan to support the senate bill creating fixed election dates as we have in BC and Ontario. This would not mean we couldn't have a sooner election if the government fell on a non-confidence motion, it simply means the PM cannot call one for opportunistic reasons.

The second ad was in Newfoundland & Labrador against Danny Williams' claims the Tories broke their promise. While I tend to side with Williams, I think every party has the right to explain their policies so I have no problem with these although they should focus on stating the facts rather than personal smears. My only concern here is this might just escalate the confrontation. While it is true Williams is certainly more than willing to pick a fight with the federal government, trying to egg him on is not a good idea. More than anything a PM should be about uniting Canadians from all province, not pitting one against another, which I fear this could do. I understand Williams anger at the federal Tories, but maybe he should tone it down a bit. Otherwise be forceful like Rodney Macdonald is and make clear their dissatisfaction, but don't go so far that that the relation is so poisoned a deal is not possible. In addition Williams does not have the power to defeat Stephen Harper, so while I hope Harper is defeated in the next election, it would be foolish for any premier to base their policy on a certain party being in power since elections are unpredictable and we have no way of knowing who will win or what type of government they will form. There is also some merit to keeping your fights behind closed doors as Gordon Campbell does. Looking at his positions and those taken by the current and previous governments, I am sure he has had his disagreements with them, but he always does is quietly and it seems to have paid off. In fact all the attention BC has gotten can largely be attributed to Gordon Campbell's ability to work well with leaders from both parties.