Whenever Harper tries to hobble the Liberals, it just gives us more resolve

Last autumn, the Tories tried to bankrupt the Liberals by getting rid of the $1.90-or so per vote campaign finance program. The attempt backfired, and the result nearly ousted Harper from power.

Now, with the attack ads threatening to define Ignatieff before we can define him ourselves, the Liberals are pushing forward huge fundraising reforms that will hopefully result in a $25 million per year warchest.

• The fundraising plan is extraordinarily ambitious. The Liberals would seek, within a year, to nearly quintuple the party’s revenues from private donations over the 2008 level. The new goal: an annual war chest of $25 million, built on a massively increased pool of donors who, in most cases, agree to give at least annually, and often several times per year. Three mechanisms will be used for this objective:Membership in the Laurier Club, which is for people who contribute the maximum of $1,100 a year to the party, would be more than tripled to 10,000 members. A Leaders’ Circle will be created, with at least one member in every community in Canada with more than 50,000 people, to sign up new Laurier Club members.
• The Victory Fund, a more broad-based group of Liberal supporters who authorize monthly donations of $10, would get a major push with the goal of an eight-fold increase to 25,000 members within a year.
• Finally, the party would “make use of direct mail, telemarketing and established online/social media techniques to reach out to the millions of actual and potential Liberal supporters and sympathizers across Canada,” with the goal of raising $10,000,000 a year in small, one-off donations.

Let's hope these efforts pay off.

Harper needs to learn that he can't push us around any more.

Change is coming.