The political backroom types call it “Brand Brown.”

In the latest bid to build Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown’s profile before next year’s election, in the wake of his damaging flip-flop on sex education last summer, the party has released three YouTube ads.

One touts the party as a big tent for people of all races and sexual orientations — it even mentions union members — with lines such as “it doesn’t matter who you love.”

The other two, which draw on clips from a major Brown speech at a party convention in Ottawa last March, feature the leader describing himself as a “pragmatic conservative,” who cares as much about the disadvantaged as he does taxes, hydro rates and jobs.

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“It’s in stark contrast to how some conservative movements have positioned themselves around the world,” says Walied Soliman, a Bay Street lawyer and campaign chair for Brown.

“It’s a signal; pragmatic conservatives take a look at the entire portfolio of issues.”

At around 20 seconds each, the ads mark the second time this year the Conservatives have posted YouTube videos of Brown, who leads Premier Kathleen Wynne in opinion polls, but remains relatively unknown to most voters.

It’s a perennial problem for new opposition leaders, and Brown, who will mark two years in the job come May, is no exception.

As he endures broadsides from the governing Liberals and rival New Democrats for previous social conservative leanings, PC party officials are hoping to relay a more personal sense of Brown as he talks about moving the party closer to the political centre.

“These ads are not meant to enunciate a policy position,” adds Soliman, who has known Brown since they were 14.

“We’re taking it one step at a time.”

Sources said the January ads reached 10 million people and are targeted at lifestyle websites in search of undecided voters and select demographic groups.

They are not aimed at news sites because people visiting these tend to have a party preference.

The party holds a convention in Toronto next fall to nail down a electoral platform for the June 2018 election.

Brown’s opponents keep pushing for his policy positions. This was particularly true after the Liberal government revealed its plan to cut hydro rates by 25 per cent and the NDP proposed rate reductions of up to 30 per cent.

“He has criticized and criticized on a number of issues including high hydro rates, but he still hasn’t come out with a plan,” says Deputy Premier Deb Matthews.

“Don’t just oppose! Bring forward constructive ideas! These ads just don’t cut it.”

Upping the ante on Brown, the Liberals have just launched a web site, challenging what they call “misinformation” and false statements they say the PC leader is making about the government.

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The site lists 121 such errors this year.

Along with the NDP, the Liberals appear keen on re-creating the atmosphere of the old TV show To Tell the Truth, in which panelists tried to guess the identity of a mystery guest with the question: “Will the real ______ please stand up.”

“Patrick Brown needs to be clear about who he is and where he stands on issues,” says New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath.

“All we know about the guy is that he’s a Conservative politician who’s been elected for 17 years, nine of those with the Harper government. And let’s face it, everybody knows what Conservatives do: they privatize; they cut. That’s who they are. That’s who Harper was. That’s who (Mike) Harris was . . . . That’s what (Tim) Hudak’s plan was.”

Matthews says voters will not forget Brown’s summer flirtation with social conservatives opposed to the new sex education curriculum, controversial remarks by MPPs such as Rick Nicholls and his own record as the backbench MP for Barrie.

Nicholls said, in December, that the Conservatives have a secret plan to launch a social conservative agenda if elected, and told supporters: “Watch us go!”

He later recanted after a dressing down by Brown, who appealed to anti-sex education, anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage elements in the party during his campaign to replace former leader Tim Hudak.

That leaves Brown in a “conundrum,” Matthews says.

“This is the essential Patrick Brown problem . . . . Is he who he was in Ottawa, when he voted to reopen the abortion debate and to oppose same-sex marriage, or is he the person he says he is now?

“And who will he be if he’s elected?”

Soliman maintains voters are now seeing the real Patrick Brown, the one he grew up with.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to show the character, decency and core beliefs of Patrick Brown . . . to Ontarians.

“We’re trying to help Ontarians understand just what motivates him.”

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