Or at least, I think they are. On the other hand, maybe I'm the rubber bat they're using to hit Wells or O'Malley with ...

Over at Small Dead Animals, a favourite hangout of the most rabid of right-wingers, there are howls for the heads of those in the Conservative War room responsible for the pooping puffin. Kate McMillan, SDA's headmistress, gets it started with this post: Conservative Web Presence Still Riddled With Childish Shots The media are falling all over themselves in faux outrage over a cartoon puffin shown crapping on Stephane Dion's shoulder at the Conservative party website notaleader.ca.... The Conservative official said the type of voter targeted by notaleader.ca at tends to be someone between 18 and 30, who has not yet developed a loyalty to one political brand or another.

The attack ads were unveiled by Heritage Minister Josee Verner and Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt, who is running against Liberal Garth Turner in the southern Ontario riding of Halton. The new ads -- which the Conservatives describe as "a public information campaign" say that Dion will eliminate the $100-a-month subsidy paid to the parents of young children.... But the Tories say the Liberal protests are not credible, that Dion has a hidden agenda when it comes to the subsidy program, known as the Universal Child Care Benefit.

With no small amount of glee, Conservative party operatives - usually young and mostly male - have spent months assembling video footage of just about every dumb thing ever said by Stephane Dion and other Liberals.... They're also a good example of how all parties are using the latest online services and technologies to reach past traditional methods of communications to find new pools of voters.