Tories wondering if the Libs have gone soft

In today's Globe & Mail, Tory strategist and U of C professor Tom Flanagan, thinks that the Liberals have gone a bit soft and "sound like whiny schoolgirls, complaining about Conservative negative ads."

Not that I'd expect anything less from a hardcore Conservative campaigner, but he really does have some fair points -- best among them, this quote from Quintus Tullius Cicero in 63 BC.

"See that your whole campaign is full of show, glorious and colourful; and see that your competitors are smeared with an evil reputation for crime, vice, or bribery."

These words come from the world's first campaign manual, reportedly written by the brother of the Roman statesman Cicero. Not much has changed since then. Election campaigns have always been, and always will be, both positive and negative.

Elections are an exercise in comparative judgment. Campaign professionals understand the need to give voters reasons to support their candidate and reject the others. It's pretty simple, really - about as obvious as the need for both running and tackling in a football game.

So, the article asks, why are the Liberals so put out by negative campaigning today when they were the absolute masters of it during their days in government?