That didn't take long.

Forty-eight hours after Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion suggested that the Liberal party would consider reversing the GST cut the Harper government announced this week, the Conservatives have turned his musings into an attack ad, which they intend to play on prime-time TV beginning this weekend.

The ad says that if the Liberals form the next government they will spend a tonne of money and that's why Dion is considering raising the GST.

Conservatives believe they've already won the battle to define Dion as "not a leader," with their attacks on him earlier this year, shortly after he won the Liberal leadership.

Now they're moving to a new theme that says Dion is "not worth the risk" because voters will end up paying for a change of government out of their own pockets.

This newest attack is going to cause a stir in a Liberal party that's already shaken.

Liberals will be forced to reflect not just on how damaging the substance of Dion's remarks may be, but also on the larger question of how he could open himself up to an attack like this in the first place.

They might also want to reflect on how quickly and efficiently their opponents have been able to exploit the opportunity Dion handed them. That's not something they have excelled at much of late.