The full court press

I've mentioned before my concern that the Libs' decision to back the Harper government on the HST might result in a free pass for the Cons. But between the website and radio ad unveiled last week and Jack Layton's media blitz today, there's reason for optimism that the issue will be kept alive at the federal level.

Now that the NDP is running with the issue, it's worth pointing out the apparent reasons why it is that the NDP's strongest push against the HST has started only after the Libs decided to take a stand with the Cons against the citizens of B.C. and Ontario. And the timing makes sense on two fronts.

Obviously, the first point is one related to relative political advantage. Before the Libs took their position on the issue, any NDP efforts might only have served to reinforce a Lib decision to oppose the HST. So it helps matters that the NDP can now be fairly well assured that it'll be the beneficiary to the extent any public outrage sticks to the Cons.

But the flip side is that to the extent the HST can serve as an issue which can turn popular opinion against the Cons, the NDP now knows that it'll be the lone party making that happen: either the NDP has to use the tools at its disposal to make the issue to stick to Stephen Harper, or the Cons will skate by completely unscathed for initiating an unpopular policy. Which makes the issue as much a responsibility as it is an opportunity for the NDP - and means that the party should be able to test its ability to sway the public on an issue which could hardly have been designed any better for its purposes.