Expect Conservative and Liberal 'knife fight' in final 2 weeks of campaign

TheConservatives and Liberals may very wellfocusmost oftheir firepower on each other withtwo weeks left in the campaign, all but ignoring the NDP, which continues to see its support dwindling.

"What [Justin] Trudeau'steam istrying to do, what Trudeau is trying to do, is look at who theywould deem is their prime competition, which is the prime minister," said Conservative strategist Jason Lietaer."Likewise, you won't see the prime minister mentioning [Tom] Mulcair very much from now on until the end."

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The Conservativeand Liberal battleground iswell knownthe Greater Toronto Area and Lower Mainland of B.C., Lietaer said, and both parties"will be throwing everything they've got" into those two areas,trying todrivehome their message to Canadians.

"I expect there to be a very clear choice presentedby both the Liberalsand the Conservatives over the nexttwo weeks about what the variousoptions are. At the very end ofthis,there's very likely to be either Prime Minister Stephen Harper or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.And Ithink both of them won'tshyawayfrom, in their own way, presentingthat choice."

The Liberals have already launchedfive new ads, which they say "contrast Stephen Harper's failed leadership with Justin Trudeau's positive vision for an economy that works for everyone."

This means we should expect asecond life for the "just notready" ads the Tories have used against Trudeau.

"If the conversation begins to shift towards, 'Might the Liberals form a government?'it will give a new credibility to those who say, 'Do you want to make Justin Trudeau your prime minister?'said Scott Reid,political strategist and former senior adviser to Paul Martin. "It may be that voters will say yes. He's going to have to pass that test in the sharpestpossible way."

With Ontario, again, the focal point of the election, expect to see"a real knife fight between the Liberalsand theConservatives"in the905 [area],Kitchener-Waterloo, urban and suburban areas of the province over the next 14 days, Reid said.

'Some momentum' for the Liberals

"Don't think the Tories aren't very potent, and look very potent, in Ontario," Reid said.

While the Liberals have momentum, it's only "some momentum," Reid said, and Trudeau will be thefocus of attacks from all sides.

"They need to keep the focus on change,change, change and their economic message."

On the economy, the Conservatives will be more than happy to let that issue become the narrative in the remainder of thecampaign, especiallyafter securingaTrans-Pacific Partnership agreement.The economy is alsoan issue in which they believe Harper has a distinctive advantage over Trudeau, and it's expected to be the focus of their ads in the final stretch.

But the Liberalsbelieve they have built a good case for themselves as the best stewards for the economy.Trudeau will continue to pound away on his central message tax cuts for the middle class, tax hikes for the wealthiest andthe need to run three consecutive deficits in order to invest in badly needed infrastructure.

Lietaer said the Tories will continue to emphasize security, which includes issues like the mission against ISIS, the Barbaric Cultural PracticesAct tip line, revocation of citizenship for convicted terrorists and the niqab ban.

NDP under pressure

And where doesthis leavethe NDP? Slightly squeezed out, it would seem.

CBC News has already reportedthat the partywill be buyingmore broadcast ads inan attemptto reverse itsrecent sag in the polls. The partyhasalready launched a new series of negativeads against Trudeau, inanattempttodemonstrate Mulcair would be the stronger leader.

But the NDP hasalso positioned itself as the party opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnershipand istrying to use the dealas a springboard to consolidate left-wing support and fight back, saidLietaer,

NDP strategist Shay Purdy said the party, whichcame second with102 seats in the last election, will also be using ad buys to target seats in places like downtown Toronto, southwestern Ontario, Edmonton, Vancouver and the B.C Interior.

But over the next two weeks, all the leaders' tours are going to be into overdrive, with more targeted advertising buys, Purdy said.

"It's been a long campaign and an expensive one. So youcan be a lot more efficientwithadvertisingby focusing on your target regions and target growth seats."

"All three parties have saved up and kept their powder dry for the lastfinal two-weekblitz," added Toronto-based political strategist Marcel Wieder. "And they're goingto saturate the air waves, on TV, on radio, online and whatever forms they can to get theirmessage out."