One more front in the permanent campaign

It may get lost in Aaron Wherry's story on perpetual political campaigning. But the NDP's work to get constituents involved in letting the Cons know what they think looks like a rather significant break from the top-down messaging we're accustomed to seeing from most parties:

In addition to those billboards, the NDP has been making automated calls into Conservative-held ridings in the Greater Toronto Area. Listeners—presumably suburban and urban dwellers who are more likely to support the long-gun registry—are told their MP has voted to abolish the registry. They are then invited to press a button if they wish to express their opinion to that MP, at which point they are patched through to the constituency office. The NDP is then able to track how many people were engaged enough by the message to want to speak to the MP.

Of course, the effect of the call is also to let the Cons know about an unhappy constituent while setting up a conversation between a rival party and an interested voter. But the NDP's choice to treat a direct message to the Cons as a plus in terms of influence rather than a minus in terms of keeping one's cards close to the vest looks to offer an important signal that the new Official Opposition is working on changing the game rather than playing by Harper's rules of message control and secrecy.