[IntenseFan]

Does the WRA campaign in this election remind anyone of the Federal Conservative campaign in the 2006 Federal election?

Not necessarily the policies, mind you, but the style and overall strategy?

The Fed-Cons early campaign focussed on the sort of policy every second day in the very early running. These included popular policies like the reduction in the GST and also head-stratcher policies like the $1200 child care tax credit (which is very reminiscent to me, strategically speaking, of the energy dividends the WRA has added to their promises). They got the drop of the Fed-Libs early in the campaign, took the lead and never relinquished it. The Fed-Cons were able to pander to several areas of soft support for the Fed-Libs and also the early lead allowed them to insulate much of their campaign agaisnt media and opposition attacks. The Fed-Libs were only able to cut into that lead a little bit late in the campaign with some truly nasty negative adds (along with what was likely voter sober second thought when a Fed-Con majority was predicted by a couple of pollsters).

Of course I recognize it is early days and things might change in the next three weeks, but it seems to me that the WRA are following some of the same strategies to possibly a similar result (i.e. a minority government, defeating a long-standing and previously very popular majority government).

I also wonder if, like the 2006 Federal election, we might see some similar tactics from the governing party (i.e. negative ads and a smear campaign). Although they seem distasteful to many, they often work.