"The issue is Stephen Harper and there is a wealth of material to take him down," one of the endless supply of disgruntled anonymous Liberals tells the Globe. "Instead, we pass that up to launch a summer of Dion. No wonder Liberal morale is so low."

Not much of an argument, that. Unless the incumbent is completely toxic - much more toxic than the current one - you can't just repeat ad nauseum what a bad, bad man he is; you have to have your own identity as well. And rather than letting the Tories define him, as they've done almost since the moment he became leader, Stephane Dion needs to find a way to define himself. Since that's not exactly working out in Ottawa, spending his summer touring the country and raising his profile - something he should be doing right now, actually - makes perfect sense.

As for the message that will be delivered during the Summer of Dion, though - that's a different matter. It's little secret that there's a legitimate rift in the party, even in Dion's office, over the merits of making a carbon tax the centrepiece of the Liberal platform. And on this one, unlike the ludicrous notion that they can win the next election by keeping their leader out of the public eye, his critics have a point.

Setting aside the public policy merits, which are difficult to judge until further details are forthcoming, a carbon tax does have serious strategic suicide potential. Following the B.C. model by making it revenue-neutral, and using the additional revenues to cut income taxes, may be enough to offset anger from drivers. But with economic concerns increasingly marginalizing environmental ones, giving your opponents the opportunity to charge you with jeopardizing industry (not least manufacturing) in the name of fighting climate change doesn't immediately leap out as a way to reverse your political fortunes.

If the Liberals are looking for a consistent message, and they really should be, the aforementioned economic concerns give them plenty of opportunity.

With fears of a recession mounting, the Tories have given very little indication that they have any idea what to do about them. This is not entirely their own fault; while last fall's ill-advised GST cut tied their hands in this year's budget, their room for maneuvering is obviously limited by a minority Parliament. But virtually the only news coming out of the capital over the past few months has been negative - either the Tories defending themselves against allegations of ethical improprieties, or picking fights with officers of parliament and provincial premiers. When this government isn't distracted by its own scandals, the Liberals could argue, it's going to war with the people it should be working with to find economic solutions.

This, of course, would require the Liberals to have a semi-coherent economic plan of their own, of which there's very little evidence. (Or, less kindly, no evidence at all.) But if they had one, Dion could spend his summer accusing the Tories of fiddling while the economy burned - a more helpful message than offering to make it burn faster, which is exactly what his opponents will accuse him of.