OPINION: Let's get ready to rumble, B.C.-style

Avert your eyes and cover the kids' ears.

Things are about to become loud, nasty and angry in the often tense world of B.C. politics.

We are entering an extended warm-up campaign before the official battle begins in the run-up to the May, 2017 provincial election. Expect plenty of name-calling, finger-pointing and the hurling of insults from pretty well all those involved.

While B.C. politics has long been known as a blood sport when things got serious, the fact is the tone between the B.C. Liberals and the NDP was rather muted when former leaders like Gordon Campbell, Carole James and Adrian Dix were the generals leading their troops into combat.

There was little rancour between the two sides and not many over-the-top personal attacks. Any comparisons to the mean-and-nasty days that pitted the Social Credit party against the NDP seemed rather thin.

Those days are over.

The simmering anger from within the NDP's ranks over its unexpected and bitter 2013 election loss is about to be turned to high boil. Likewise, the B.C. Liberals have to be wary of an opponent who is about to display a fanged ferocity that has been building.

The approach favored by Dix - to be positive whenever possible, and to express "respect" for his opponent - has been scrapped, which is hardly a surprise given it was a failed approach two years ago.

A more aggressive and hard-edged one has been adopted (check out on NDP MLA comments on social media to get a sense where this is headed).

The NDP has already launched one attack ad, albeit an on-line one. It foreshadows some of the "messaging" the New Democrats will be using between now and the next voting day.

Expect the NDP to constantly use the words "Christy Clark" whenever possible, and to de-emphasize the actual name of their party opponents, the B.C. Liberals. They will try to make this a contest about Clark's leadership and to lay any negativity at her feet, and nowhere else.

The New Democrats will also attempt to diminish her abilities. They have dubbed her "Premier photo-op", and belittle her intellectual capabilities whenever possible.

Clark seems to elicit a particularly visceral reaction among New Democrats, who view her as the weak link in the B.C. Liberal chain.

There is no question Clark is a polarizing figure. People seem to either love her, or detest her, with few taking a middle view. So focusing on her personality is likely a good way for the NDP to fire up their own supporters, raise money, and bring a pretty good campaign into the election.

But the approach can also backfire.  Repeated, aggressive attacks by a male politician on a female one may not work, and given the last election result, the B.C. Liberals are likely not displeased at the idea that the next vote may centre on Clark's leadership.

But the governing party is sure to get fairly personal itself when it comes to attacking the NDP's own leader, who it views as less electable than the current premier.

Already, the B.C. Liberals have dubbed NDP leader John Horgan as "Dr. No," a leader who cannot bring himself to support any significant proposed industrial development. Add to that another moniker the B.C. Liberals may try out: "Angry John," a personification that it thinks highlights a potential vulnerability of the NDP leader.

It's common wisdom that going negative is effective in politics, and we are about to witness our two main political parties going all-in on that approach over the next 16 months. Voters may tire of this vitriol eventually, but I don't see either party shying away from what is sure to be a bruising battle.

Election campaigns turn on a leader's performance. Clark and Horgan will elevate their profile and game even higher this year, knowing their party's electoral success not only rides on their shoulders, but also on  their respective ability to knock the other one off their feet.

This highly charged political circus begins in earnest next week, when the legislature resumes sitting. It's going to be fun, but it's also going to be dirty.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.