David Herle, Liberal campaign co-chair

'Desperate' Liberals launch attack ads

CTV.ca News Staff
June 10, 2004 11:09 PM ET

The Liberal Party co-chair says his party is "in a spiral" and they're hoping to stop plummeting support by launching a new series of attack ads against the Conservatives.

"We are in a spiral right now that we have to arrest," David Herle reportedly told Liberal MPs and candidates during a conference call Wednesday.

"People are drifting to the Conservatives in an aimless fashion ... no one is paying attention," he said.

The ads are aimed at female voters and began airing Wednesday night. One ad features a woman's voice saying Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would have sent troops to Iraq, wants to limit a woman's right to choose, would align with the Bloc, and wants to increase military spending.

It ends with a quote from Harper about how Canadians won't recognize his Canada. "And he's right," says the Liberal tag line, as an image of a Canadian flag blurs.

The Liberal attack ads are the latest strategy to bulk up their support, which has been declining steadily.

A recent Ipsos-Reid poll, conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, shows the Conservatives (31 per cent support) and Liberals (32 per cent) are running neck and neck.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess," Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos-Reid, said about the ads on Canada AM.

Conservative candidate Belinda Stronach said the new ads show "a measure of desperation."

Even Herle used the word to describe the Liberals' situation. In the conference call, after candidates complained that the ads would make them look desperate, Herle apparently responded, "We are desperate."

Harper also weighed in with his opinion of the attack ads. "I think this is the tactic to use when you're very, very desperate and it often backfires," he said Thursday.

"I believe when Canadians see these ads coming out of Liberal advertising firms for Liberal election campaigns, what they'll remember is that 100 million of their dollars went to Liberal advertising firms," he said, referring to the sponsorship scandal.

"What I'm going to be really interested in is how brave, how long Martin is going to be willing to continue running these ads?" Harper wondered.

Prime Minister Paul Martin left the G-8 Summit one day early. He was supposed to be campaigning in Montreal Thursday, Instead, he is reportedly holed up in Ottawa preparing for next week's debates.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have also launched a new ad. It uses soft lighting and dramatic music to frame the Conservative leader. He says he'll be "accountable," and "held to a higher standard."

There are several photos of Harper with his wife and children, as Harper says in the voiceover, that he has an "unwavering commitment to my family, my friends and my country."

The NDP's new ad campaign targets Martin and Harper for trying to get too close to U.S. President George Bush. But the party was careful in how they described their ad campaign.

"They won't be attack ads," NDP campaign official Jamey Heath told The Canadian Press. "They will simply be comparative."