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Stephen Harper regularly travels across the country to make even the smallest of government announcements because, according to his handlers, leaving it to the ministers responsible won't draw television cameras to the show.

But as the controversy grows surrounding reports that Afghan detainees have been tortured, some Tories were left wondering Thursday whether Mr. Harper shouldn't start fading a little more into the background. A prime minister who wants to be known for competence shouldn't be the point man, they say, for a story that changes every day.

“When you take everything on on your own, how can you possibly – no matter how brilliant you may be – know the sensitivities of a file?” a senior Tory asked. “You're bound to make mistakes when you don't have the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, second-to-second knowledge.”

The government found itself changing its approach yesterday on the issue for the second time in as many days. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced that his government had a new deal with the Afghans that would allow Canadian officials full access to prisoners that Canadian troops hand over in the war. That announcement came with the full knowledge of the PMO, whose spokespersons told reporters it was coming.

Then, yesterday, the Prime Minister appeared to contradict that earlier announcement, saying that Canadians had access to the jails all along. It left reporters scratching their heads over what the truth was.

One senior government official said that the PMO probably got bad information from one of the many departments — Defence, Public Security or Foreign Affairs — involved in the issue. The official said it seemed inconceivable that a PMO that ticks over with such discipline could possibly deliver such a convoluted message.

But another Conservative told The Globe and Mail that it matters little where the information comes from. The message was still botched and it might have been wiser for Mr. Harper to let others deliver information that had every possibility of being badly conveyed. For while he gets the credit for every positive announcement, he gets the heat for every bungle.

“There's a management problem there and it's not just Gordon O'Connor,” said the Tory. “The central agency in the government, the PMO communications people, either haven't gotten the information or, two, don't understand the issue as well.”

And as the story changes, the story-teller's credibility can suffer. Pollster Allan Gregg argued that the credibility gap is particularly harmful for a Prime Minister whose calling card is supposed to be his integrity and competence. Recent polls show that when it comes to perceived leadership qualities, the Prime Minister has it all over Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. Mr. Gregg said that the PM risks some of this hard-won credibility if he doesn't choose his issues a little better.

“It the old smartest guy in the room syndrome,” said Mr. Gregg, chair of The Strategic Counsel. “He handles all the issues because he believes he's better at it and he may be right 90 per cent of the time — but the 10 per cent when he isn't, he ends up wearing it.”