The federal Conservatives are once again rolling out a series of attack ads against Michael Ignatieff, the new Liberal leader, as they did when he first ran for the party leadership almost three years ago.

The headline this time: "The free ride is over."

Two senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office, who insisted at a background briefing that they be identified today as "senior Conservatives," unveiled the new strategy.

Susan Lunn

They would not say who exactly has been giving Ignatieff the free ride, just that he's enjoyed an extended honeymoon that they now hope to puncture.

The party has been scouring old BBC footage of Ignatieff for this project and has also now done research with "real Canadians" for these ads.

But aside from putting up a picture of a Tim Hortons shop, the Conservatives won't say more about who was questioned for this research.

Over all, the ads portray Ignatieff as an elitist, a self-designated cosmopolitan who, by implication, is out of touch with ordinary Canadians.

Party staff have combed through Ignatieff's life and looked at virtually every interview he's given and every word he's written.

For example, the Conservatives are highlighting part of an interview Ignatieff, then a Harvard professor, did on C-SPAN, the public service channel in the U.S., in which he refers to America as his country.

There are ads running in Quebec, too, where the Liberals have suddenly vaulted well past the Tories into a virtual tie with the Bloc.

The Quebec ads carry the headline "Who is he?" In one, Ignatieff's face is pixeled out. As it slowly comes into focus, an announcer's voice asks portentously, "Do you know this man?"

The Conservative party has set up websites and a Facebook page to carry the ads. It says it intends to run them on TV as well.

In an earlier campaign, the Conservatives were successful in portraying the previous Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, as weak and indecisive. But, of course, it remains to be seen if these new, personalized attacks will work against Ignatieff.

Liberals say they have no plans at the moment to engage in a similar set of personal attacks against Stephen Harper.

The senior Conservatives won't say how much the party is spending on this campaign, except to say it will be a sizeable amount. They add, this is just the first step.

— Susan Lunn