Conservative Party, Jason Kenney amplify Justin Trudeau's terrible week

The Tory social media campaign against Justin Trudeau this week is a harbinger of things to come as we head towards the next federal election.

Trudeau has had a lousy week — a lousy month even — and the Conservative Party is doing its best to make sure you know that.

As has been widely reported, Trudeau has fumbled and mumbled his way through the debate over Canada’s combat mission in Iraq.

It started a couple of weeks ago with his party’s flip-flopping on the issue.

The Liberals had hoped, Trudeau’s troubles had climaxed last Thursday when, during a Q & A, Trudeau inappropriately said that Canada can do better than “trying to whip out our CF-18’s” and show the international community “how big they are.”

Things, however, got worse this week with some intense media criticism and a cadre of senior Liberals — including current MP Irwin Cotler and former cabinet ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Ujjal Dosanjh — publicly disagreeing with the party’s stance not to support the airstrikes.

And along the way, the Tories provided some creative commentary via social media.

It’s not the just the Conservative Party machine.

At least one cabinet minister, Jason Kenney, has been prolific with the so-called info-graphics as well.

As for the Liberals, they’re on the defensive.

According to the Huffington Post, they’re complaining that Kenney spent 20 per cent of his time on this week on tweeting and re-tweeting comments about Trudeau.

[ Related: House of Commons division over ISIS mission a rarity in Canadian politics ]

At this point, the Liberal complaint sounds like sour grapes. What they should be more concerned about is how — in light of this week’s events — a Trudeau gaffe or ambiguity during an election campaign might manifest itself.

Instead of one or two communications staff to create and push these graphics, the Tories will undoubtedly have a full stable of them. Instead of one MP, there will be 300 plus Tory candidates amplifying Trudeau’s mistakes on social media.

This week’s Tory social media campaign will blow over.

But Liberal strategists still have a lot to worry about.

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