Dion "goes negative" before the writ drops?

So much for his claims that he plans to run a clean and postive campaign...

Mr. Dion has continually promised that he will run a clean campaign in any upcoming election. Then, as soon as the cameras are rolling, off he goes on a tirade about "Mr. Harper and his neo-conservative vision for Canada".

Neo-Conservative. Hidden Agenda. George W. Bush. Right-wing ideology. Mean spirited policy. Get used to these words. These are the words that will be coming out of the mouths of Liberals from coast to coast over the course of the next election, whenever it may occur. These words are invoked for one reason, and one reason only... to provoke fear. To stoke the primal emotion of fear in the heart of the average Canadian. To provide nice neat little soundbytes for the media to broadcast, so that many average Canadians, many who will make their electoral decision based on the soundbytes the media provides them, will mark and X on their ballot not based on truth, but based on fear.

Fear is a difficult thing to combat. It's raw, primal, and oh so easy to enflame.

Fear is a weapon that a Party who has nothing of value to say will turn to when the cupboard of ideas is bear.

The Liberal Party of Canada is bereft of ideas, directionless in vision, and unwilling to do the deep soul searching that is necessary for them to find their way. In years past, the Liberal Party has provided great vision and ideas for Canada, but right now, they have nothing to offer. They're offering pie-in-the-sky ideals of a "Green and Prosperous Canada", with nothing to put on the table as to how we'll get there with them at the helm.

I'm sick of the continual tactics of fear that the Liberal Party chooses to employ. Therefore, I'd like to propose a challenge to the Liberal Party of Canada. I'm going to be sending a letter to the editor of all the local and major media outlets, and to the Liberal Party of Canada, and to the Ontario wing of the Party, with this challenge...

For the last few elections, the Liberal Party has continually played the "FEAR" card in regards to the Conservative Party of Canada. Rather than in a real and honest way discuss ideas and policy, they repeatedly resort to the tired old tactic of invoking fear in the hearts of Canadians, so that many people vote not for the vision offered by the Liberal Party, but against what the Conservatives "may" do if elected.

To a large degree, Canadians didn't believe them in 2006, when they allowed Mr. Harper to form a government. Now that we may be headed into another election, which the Liberals may trigger in an attempt to regain power, I'm curious to see if the temptation to resort to fear will be too much to resist.

Mr. Dion, the new Liberal leader, has continually said that he is a better kind of politician; he has said that he intends to run a clean and positive campaign, and will not resort to negative tactics.

In respect to that commitment, and in respect to past Liberal election tactics, I have a simple and straightforward question for Mr. Dion... will he commit to not using deceptive and fear invoking words like, "Neo-conservative", "far right-wing ideology", "George W. Bush", and "Scary Hidden Agenda"? By using words of this nature, he would be seeking to invoke the primal emotion of fear in the hearts of Canadians... perhaps the darkest, most sinister and negative kind of campaigning there is.

Mr. Dion, will you commit to Canadians that in any forthcoming election, you will spend your time discussing ideas and policy, and will not "go negative" by resorting to fear-mongering about Mr. Harper and his Conservatives?

There's my gauntlet... let's see if anyone will pick it up.