New Democratic Party Leader Lorraine Michael took her campaign to central Newfoundland for the first time Thursday, as the NDP campaign struggles to raise its profile on a shoestring budget.

Michael, who held the NDP's only seat in the house of assembly when it was dissolved in September, will campaign in Lewisporte and Grand Falls-Windsor, and will emphasize forestry and rural development issues.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael has not been able to travel far beyond the St. John's area.
(CBC)

Since the writ was dropped, Michael's campaign trail has not extended much beyond the St. John's metropolitan area, largely because the NDP has far fewer resources — and cash — compared to the governing PCs and the Liberals.

"It would be great to have a helicopter to take Lorraine back into Marystown, or a chartered plane to Labrador West, so she would not have to spend two days coming and going," said Nancy Riche, the NDP campaign co-ordinator.

"That would be good."

What little money the NDP has available is being targeted for districts where the party sees genuine opportunities.

Last week, Michael — who uses a minivan for campaigning, compared to the large buses of the other camps, not to mention PC Leader Danny Williams's habit of using chartered aircraft and helicopters — drove to Marystown to aid candidate Julie Mitchell in Burin-Placentia West.

This weekend, Michael is scheduled to head to Labrador West district, where candidate Darrel Brenton has a solid chance of unseating incumbent Tory Jim Baker in the Oct. 9 election.

The NDP strategy over the last two weeks has been to sell Michael as a sensible voice of ordinary people and as capable of holding the government accountable. Many pundits applauded Michael's performance in last week's televised leaders' debate.

The campaign has used a format familiar to provincial NDP campaigns in past years: a daily policy announcement, with an appropriate backdrop, to highlight the party's concern on issues like home heating costs, housing and pollution.

The party, which spent just $150,000 in the entire 2003 campaign, a fraction of the larger parties, is again working with limited means to spread its message. For instance, Riche said, the NDP cannot afford TV ads to promote the party's platform.