Tories prepped for March campaign - by Brian Laghi for The Globe & Mail

[applegrove]

Tories prepped for March campaign
Party has airline, bus contracts in place, plan to play Harper's image as strong leader
BRIAN LAGHI

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party's chief election strategist has laid out a detailed campaign blueprint for Tory insiders warning that the government expects to be fighting an election battle by March.

The plan would see the Tories exploit polling numbers that they say show Stephen Harper possesses substantially better leadership qualities than Liberal counterpart Stéphane Dion.

As articulated on Tuesday by Doug Finley to about 75 Conservative candidates, organizers and nomination hopefuls, the Tories are ready to run a highly centralized, quick-response campaign that includes a 1,600-square-metre war room.

They have also arranged for bus and air transportation and want nominations wrapped up by March 25 or 26, sources quote Mr. Finley as saying.

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