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Question: What could break the logjam of this three-way race? Answer: Anything that makes it a two-way race.

That’s the challenge facing the Liberals and New Democrats as they vie to turn this electoral menage-a-trois into a couple, with the Conservatives playing the role of the bickering spouse. What’s fascinating about this dynamic is how the Liberals, the ‘establishment party’, have moved the furthest to position themselves as the ‘anti-Harpers’ — junking long-held policy positions in the process and moving the party to the left of the NDP.

First, Justin Trudeau pledged that his party would run “modest” deficits, unlike both the NDP and the Tories — a risky strategy which appears to have boosted the Liberals’ numbers at the end of last month. On the tax front, he promises to hike taxes on rich individuals (the much-loathed one per cent) while dropping taxes on the middle class — unlike the NDP, which would extract money from corporations to pay for social programs and a small business tax cut, and the Conservatives, whose policies of tax credits and income-splitting stand accused of disproportionately benefitting wealthier Canadians.

Even on the refugee issue, Trudeau is trying to out-do-good the NDP. After the heartwrenching photo of Alan Kurdi made front pages around the world, Thomas Mulcair promised to bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees by New Year’s Day. Trudeau, however, had already pledged this spring to welcome 25,000 refugees. This might explain why, even though Mulcair promised to admit a further 9,000 refugees in each of the following four years — for a total of 46,000 — some in his party accused him of not doing enough.

Now, Trudeau is going out on another policy limb and promising to cancel the planned purchase of F-35s and plow the money into shipbuilding instead, earning him the scorn of both Thomas Mulcair and Stephen Harper.

Every time the Liberals put out a policy that results in an NDP-Tory tag team attack, they win in the minds of voters seeking a change from the current government. Every time the Liberals put out a policy that results in an NDP-Tory tag team attack, they win in the minds of voters seeking a change from the current government.

“That was one of the more surprising things I’ve heard Mr. Trudeau say since this campaign began,” Mulcair remarked. “And when he says things like that, he’s just showing his total lack of experience.” Referring to the military procurement process, which he accuses Trudeau of “pre-judging”, Mulcair added, “That’s not the way these things work.” For his part, Harper suggested the Liberal leader was getting his talking points from outer space. “The Liberal party is living in in a dream world if they think we could pull out of the development project of the F-35 and not lose business … I mean, I don’t know what planet they’re living on.”

Actually, it’s becoming increasingly clear what planet the Liberals inhabit: the one that’s as far from the Conservatives’ orbit as possible. Every time they put out a policy that results in an NDP-Tory tag team attack, they win in the minds of voters seeking a change from the current government. Add to this the fact that their latest announcement could help Trudeau solidify his already-rosy fortunes in Atlantic Canada, where new military vessels would be built, and it’s not hard to see why his brain trust cooked it up.

Last year at this time, many analysts assumed Trudeau would have the easiest job in positioning himself as the alternative to the government because of his style: He is physically younger than both of his adversaries, and the only one who has not held elected office or worked in a political capacity for most of his adult life. This held true until last fall, when Mulcair began trotting out the NDP’s position on a variety of issues, from daycare to taxes to foreign policy. In the absence of substance, style wasn’t enough for voters seeking change. The NDP became the “anti-Harper” party, and its stock rose.

Meanwhile, the Liberals waited it out. Because they knew where both the Tories and the NDP stood, this allowed them to pick positions even further away from Harper’s policy ground — even if it meant running to the left of Mulcair. Coupled with Trudeau’s stylistic differences, the result is a Liberal party that now presents itself to voters as the most un-Harper party on the ballot — the one that incarnates the greatest change from the current regime.

‘Different’ doesn’t always mean better, of course. It remains to be seen whether voters will want to change planets or remain on Earth, maybe on a different continent. Or whether, in the face of the ideological free-for-all on the center-left, they opt for a four-year staycation with the devil they know.

Tasha Kheiriddin is a political writer and broadcaster who frequently comments in both English and French. After practising law and a stint in the government of Mike Harris, Tasha became the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and co-wrote the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. Tasha moved back to Montreal in 2006 and served as vice-president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and later director for Quebec of the Fraser Institute, while also lecturing on conservative politics at McGill University. Tasha now lives in Whitby, Ontario with her daughter Zara, born in 2009.

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