OTTAWA — A campaign slogan can encapsulate the essence of a party's direction: No Truck or Trade with the Yankees, the 1911 anti-free trade Tory slogan; or 1972's Liberal rallying cry of The Land is Strong.

But what of the slogans that never make it to the posters and buttons?

Party insiders were given the chance to come up with some zingers for the Hill Times newspaper but they aren't likely to be seen in wide circulation.

Liberal Leslie Swartman, communications director for Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, says she passed some along that didn't quite make it past the Liberal focus groups. Give the Poor Bugger Another Chance, was one she suggested for her Paul Martin team.

"If you can't have fun with it, what the hell,'' Swartman said of her tongue-in-cheek suggestions for her own party. Another Swartman creation: It's Liberals With An L, the Fiberals are McGuinty's Crew in Ontario.

Or: We Don't Stink as Much as You Think!

But Swartman has proven she hasn't lost her partisan abilities by writing a few slogans for the other guys, at the request of The Canadian Press:

• More Guns, More Prayer, Fewer Gays: The new and improved CPC.
• Even the Cardinals like a Conservative.
• Please vote for me or Stock Day will come back.
• Don't you miss the good old days - 15% unemployment, $42 billion deficit, 12% mortgage rates, a Conservative scandal every month? Elect us and we can bring them back!

Over at Conservative HQ, strategist Mike Storeshaw had his own ammunition ready to lob back at the Liberals. Liberals: They Have What it Takes to Take What You Have.

Because Martin has been referred to by his staff as a wire brush who'll clean up politics, Storeshaw also likes Wire, Wire Pants on Fire.

The NDP's Jamey Heath may be revealing the tone of the coming campaign by suggesting his party work with the slogan Jack Layton: Not a Thief, Not a Right Wing Loon.

A sign of a rough-and-tumble campaign?

As Prime Minister Paul Martin prepared to address the nation Thursday, Tories were e-mailing around a picture of the former Iraqi information minister -- nicknamed Comical Ali for his misinformation -- with Paul Martin's head superimposed over his face.

The caption read: Everything is normal, there is no corruption in the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party is nowhere near Ottawa. The polls you are reading about all American lies!

When Prime Minister Paul Martin arrived at his office Thursday to tape his TV address to the nation, he found the furniture back to front, rearranged for the broadcast.

"They moved my office," he said, appearing surprised.

His desk had been turned around, leaving him to look out over the Parliament Hill lawn.

Closed shutters shrouded the room in twilight, while bright television lights made it unusually warm.

The surface of his desk was cleared, except for a water tumbler. Behind him were a simple lamp, an Inuit sculpture and a photo of him and wife Sheila.

Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared on both the CTV and CBC morning TV shows Friday, moving from one side of the Commons foyer to the other for the separate broadcasts.

As he settled in his seat for the interview on the publicly-owned CBC, he gestured to Bob Fife, bureau chief for CTV.

"Bob, this stool is a lot more comfortable,'' he grinned.

"Ah, but we're in the private sector,'' Fife replied.