The non-confidence vote behind them, Prime Minister Paul Martin and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper have set the broad themes for their coming election campaigns.

Martin told his cheering Liberal caucus about what he saw as the stark choices in the upcoming election. The presumed voting day is on Jan. 23.

"The vote in the House of Commons did not go our way tonight -- surprise, surprise," he said Monday night, alluding to the 171-133 vote that defeated the Liberal minority government.

"The future of our government will be decided by Canadians, just as they will decide the futures of the neo-conservatives, the separatist Bloc and the NDP."

Martin didn't directly mention the NDP in his attacks, but zoomed in on the Tories and the Bloc.

Of the Conservatives, he said: "Canada imagined by Stephen Harper and the Conservatives is starkly different than the Canada we want to build."

The Bloc "wants only one thing ... to break up all our country," he said in French.

Martin also rolled off the accomplishments his party will likely highlight:

• The recent $30 billion-in-five-years tax cut plan
• Eight straight balanced budgets
• Low inflation, interest and unemployment rates

"And that is because of the good management of a Liberal government."

He also touted deals on early learning and childcare, the new deal for cities and communities and the plan to close the gap between aboriginal Canadians and the general population.

But he didn't hint at what future policies the Liberals might offer.

Harper

Harper told his boisterous troops: "This is not just the end of a tired, directionless, scandal-plagued government. It's the start of a bright new future for this great country."

After describing his caucus as a family, he said: "Canadians are counting on you to give them a clean, honest government."

Martin didn't mention the sponsorship scandal or other integrity issues in his address.

"This election will not only be about Judge Gomery and the scandal about sponsorship," Harper said in French.

He insisted the party would offer a "positive vision for the future," but didn't get into specifics.

On Quebec, he said in French: "We must offer more to the population, the end of polarization that allowed this situation ... We have to offer a Quebec stronger within a better Canada."

While privileged political insiders might be better off than they were 12 years ago, "we must ask Canadians if they are better off," he said.

Anticipating Liberal attacks, Harper said: "Canadians have seen this movie before. When they scream about us, it's just a diversion."

A pollster's view

"Harper is trying to set up the defences while Martin was trying to lay the trap," Allan Gregg of The Strategic Counsel told CTV Newsnet about the two leaders' speeches.

Something the Liberals might consider is that since the June 28, 2004 federal election is that voters see Harper as less scary, he said.

"The number of people who believe the Conservatives have a hidden agenda has dropped 10 points (in five months)," he said.

Ontario is a crucial battleground, with 106 seats.

"There's as many people in Ontario who believe the Liberals have a hidden agenda as the Conservatives," Gregg said.

However, Harper still has difficulties, Gregg said. "He's running third among first-time voters, he's running third among new Canadians ... he's running third in major metropolitan centres. They've got a big gender gap."

Besides these factors, Gregg said the Harper Conservatives face another big hurdle.

They haven't done enough to differentiate themselves from the scandal-plagued Liberals, he said.

"When you have this cynical kind of environment that says all politicians are crooks, what's the motivation for throwing the rascals out?"