Political “optics” is a contemporary buzzword describing how visual symbols, stereotypes or high-profile events in politics shape the public’s perception and trump reality.

Those interested in knowing how to use political optics should look no further than Parliament Hill, where the Harper government’s use of it is fascinating.

A major reason Stephen Harper’s Conservatives triumphed over a 12-year Liberal dynasty on Jan. 23 was because their campaign focused on concrete ideas, such as a 1% GST cut or the war on crime, over the abstract, esoteric language of policy. Paul Martin and his Liberal election team were no match.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that Canadian voters sent Mr. Dithers and his asymmetrical federalism packing and opted for a lower GST, an end to coddling criminals, scandal-free government, shorter medical wait times and war on terrorists.

It doesn’t matter that cutting consumption taxes instead of income taxes does little for the economy, that the Martin government was no dirtier than any other government, that Canada’s crime rate has been falling for several years or that medical wait times are a provincial responsibility. The optics presented to voters indicated otherwise.

The results of the next election may be predetermined because Canadians decided to use a Conservative minority government as an audition — provided it doesn’t screw up too much — that will lead to a majority.

This may be why there’s been little reaction beyond the Ottawa Queensway to the Harper government breaking promises of transparency and accountability by shelving reforms to the Access to Information Act or centralizing power in the Prime Minister’s Office.

It may also be why hardly a ripple has been created by the news that Harper has disbarred Ottawa lawyer Bruce Carson — who served 18 months for misappropriating clients’ funds in the early 1980s — handling the crime bill and other legislation.

The new government’s focal points thus far have been the Accountability Act and the May 2 federal budget. The optics are that the Accountability Act will prevent scores of overfed Ottawa lobbyists from feeding at the public trough and flouting the Lobbyists Registration Act by drawing huge illegal contingency fees or bonuses from corporate clients.

The reality is the Accountability Act will probably help the city’s 5,000 lobbyists because the legislation would ban public office holders and ministerial aides from entering the field for five years, granting those already there an oligopoly.

Certainly, a lot of Liberals who are lobbyists won’t have to worry about being displaced by Tories after the next election.

And the act’s ban on contingency fees isn’t causing much of a stir. Most lobbyists hate contingency fees because they prefer to be paid whether they get results or not.

Turning to the “something for everybody” budget, the perception is this is a document for the little people with everything from the GST cut to tax credits for kids’ sports equipment, all the while fostering healthy commerce.

But the reality is the people’s budget was a buffet for the lobbying industry with some choice goodies for vested interests. A case in point is the removal of the excise tax from Canadian wine. The wine industry had been seeking this from the Liberals but got nowhere even though it had a strong case.

Competing wines from Australia, the U.S. or Europe face little or no excise taxes. A thriving wine industry in Canada means an extra cash crop for farmers. And, without the wine industry, prime agricultural land in places such as the Niagara escarpment would be torn up for strip malls.

The Ontario Wine Council met with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty a few weeks before Budget Day and, in just one meeting, won what had eluded them with the previous government.

Another case involves Canada’s long-neglected roads, highways and public infrastructure. For years, a mixed bag of lobby groups such as the Canadian Automobile Association, the Canadian Construction Association and the Canadian Trucking Alliance have been pushing for a major commitment of federal funds with few results.

This budget contains spending commitments of $16.5 billion over five years for infrastructure. But nobody has noticed. So, all and all, May 2 was a good day for lobbyists.

In the 1920s, U.S. journalist Walter Lippman, an advisor to former U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, wrote in his book, Public Opinion, that stereotypes — what we’d call optics today — are really all that ordinary people have to comprehend political events. And, even though political optics don’t necessarily reflect reality, they are a necessary evil in a democracy. The Conservative government understands this.

@page_break@But, as the Liberals discovered, good policy and performance will be needed to stay in office. IE