Back on May 3, 1994, Ontario Conservative leader Mike Harris unveiled an easy-to-read, 21-page document he called the “Common Sense Revolution.”

His message was simple: slash taxes, cut public service jobs, crack down on welfare recipients, beat up on labour unions, privatize government agencies, get tough on crime and create 725,000 new jobs.

“We need a revolution in this province — a Common Sense Revolution,” Harris said as he released what was in effect his campaign platform a full year ahead of the 1995 election, which he won handily.

Fast forward 19 years to today and Tim Hudak, the current Tory leader. While Ontario Liberals have been busy selecting a new leader, Hudak has spent the past months shifting his party to the far right by issuing a series of policy papers that will form the backbone of the Conservative platform in the next election.

His simple message: slash taxes, cut public service jobs, crack down on welfare recipients, beat up on labour unions, privatize government agencies, get tough on crime and create thousands of new jobs.

Hudak calls his proposals “bold, transformative ideas to fire up job creation and balance the books.”

Sound familiar? Indeed, Hudak is now fully embracing the controversial 1994 policies of Mike Harris, his old boss.

By doing so, though, he is gambling his entire political future on his belief that the Harris era is now just a faded memory for many Ontario voters and that the time is once again perfect to champion far-right policies.

If he's correct, Hudak will defeat new Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in the coming election, which likely will occur later in 2013.

If he's wrong, he will have led the Conservatives to a second straight defeat under his leadership. In that case, he will either resign graciously or be unceremoniously dumped by the party.

Hudak is swinging hard-right after his disappointing performance in the 2011 election in which many Conservatives claimed he was not right-wing enough. He is also now listening closer to advice from key players from the Harris glory days, including his wife Deb Hutton, who was chief of staff to the former premier.

In shifting right, Hudak is also playing to the angry, regressive voting crowd that was critical to Rob Ford becoming mayor of Toronto.

Reverting at this time to Harris-era policies and rhetoric, however, is a curious decision for Hudak.

If anything, his timing may be all wrong for a shift to the right. That's because, despite widespread unhappiness with the Liberals under outgoing premier Dalton McGuinty, there is no clear evidence that voters are ready to embrace a Harris-like clone after the long-term havoc caused by the Harris administration.

The best indication of that so far is Hudak's right-wing shuffle has had little impact in the polls that show the Tories stuck in the 33- to 35-per-cent range. Pollsters say his new policies have little appeal beyond his hard-core supporters. In fact, many voters who once favoured the Liberals are moving not to Hudak, but to the NDP, which is a close second behind the Conservatives in the polls.

That's a big difference from 1995 when Harris caught a wave of voter discontent that surfaced after a brutal economic recession and five years of NDP government under then-premier Bob Rae.

Voters were angry with taxes and deficits and wanted something completely different.

Political experts are divided on how the Liberals and NDP should respond to Hudak's rightward swing. Some say it is foolish to try to link Hudak with Harris because voters want to look forward and that “scaring” voters won't work. Others say political mileage can be gained by reminding voters of the divisive politics sparked by the Harris agenda.

Ultimately, to succeed Hudak will need a good understanding of how Ontario has changed in the 19 years since the unveiling of the Common Sense Revolution, especially on our views toward the role of government.

Simply replicating the Harris agenda, going back rather than forward, could prove disastrous for Hudak.

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After their loss in the U.S. presidential election in November, many Republicans conceded their party had tilted too far to the right and was out of sync with the views of most Americans.

It's a lesson Hudak should consider seriously before totally convincing himself that the right-wing course driven by Harris in 1994-95 will be once again the road to victory.