For Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, the biggest challenge of this election campaign may not be about driving home his election promises, discrediting his opponents or winning the battle of the polls.
Instead, Ignatieff's most significant challenge may be more basic than that: He needs to get the vote out.
By their own party estimates, roughly one million Liberal voters didn't bother casting a ballot last time around - a phenomenon largely blamed on apathy tied to Stephane Dion's leadership woes.
Liberal strategist Dan Brock said reversing that trend is a top priority this time around.
"I think the strategy for us is to appeal to those voters and give them a reason to come out to the polls," Brock told CTV.ca.
And that will require more than just tackling the key issues in key battlegrounds, Brock said. The way that Ignatieff delivers his message, and the personal charisma he exudes, or doesn't exude, will be vital to the success or failure of that task.
"As important as the policy announcements are as they come out, it's really going to be Mr. Ignatieff demonstrating the kind of passion he has, the kind of commitment he has to Canadians, to the country, to the future of the country. That's going to be the focus of the message," Brock said.
"And it's not just about what he says, it's about how he presents himself and I think Canadians are going to see that and Canadians are going to be very pleasantly surprised about just how capable and confident and compelling a person he can be."
While this is Ignatieff's first campaign, and it's anyone's guess how he will deal with the gruelling day-in, day-out campaign schedule while crisscrossing the country, he did go through some important pre-season training.
Ignatieff took advantage of the summer break from Parliament last year to embark on a six-week 'Liberal Express' bus tour, glad-handing local party members and organizers in dozens of ridings in every province and territory of Canada.
Liberal Sen. David Smith spent a number of days with Ignatieff during the much-publicized cross-Canada bus tour. Summer doldrums were in full effect, and a news void meant Ignatieff's publicity tour received plenty of coverage.
Smith told CTV.ca he was with Ignatieff for several days at the start of the campaign, and several at the end, and the Liberal leader quickly became accustomed to the grind.
"When you're on the campaign trail and living the life, it comes naturally," Smith said.
He said he believes Ignatieff's campaign skills have been greatly underestimated by his opponents and by the media, and he will exceed expectations and take many by surprise.
Brock agreed. He said Ignatieff's political career has been marked by challenges he has overcome, and last summer's bus tour was an effective training ground for the biggest challenge the fledgling leader has yet faced.
"He now has 30 days to reach out to Canadians, to introduce himself to Canadians as a leader ready to lead the country," Brock said.
"I think, as someone who has been with him through all of that, that he will do that, he will succeed in appealing to Canadians, but especially those million Liberal voters."
Like in any campaign, both Smith and Brock agreed, the Liberal leader will target key regions and ridings in hopes of shoring up support that is already there, but more importantly, gaining ground from the Conservatives.
That means the Greater Toronto Area -- where all three leaders have already made appearances -- B.C. and Quebec will be key battlegrounds as the election approaches.
"There's a huge opportunity in Quebec," Brock said.
"When you go back to when Mr. Ignatieff became leader he has at times been very popular in Quebec, more recently the polls indicate maybe he's not as popular. ...I think you're going to see him spending a lot of time in Quebec, speaking to Quebecers and trying to rebuild, and build on the momentum he had at various times as leader of the Liberal party."
Ignatieff has already been courting the vote in Toronto's suburbs, where the Conservatives and Liberals are fighting a ground war for votes in a number of competitive ridings.
Vancouver's suburbs represent a similar battlefield, and even ahead of the election call Ignatieff was courting the Chinese-Canadian vote in Conservative-held ridings in Richmond and West Vancouver.
Pollster Nik Nanos, president and CEO of Nanos Research, said there aren't enough seats to make Atlantic Canada a major priority for Ignatieff, Quebec is a Bloc stronghold where none of the other parties have much of a chance and the Prairies are dominated by the Conservatives.
As a result, Nanos predicted, Ignatieff is likely going to focus on Ontario and B.C.
Nanos said Ignatieff's message needs to be finely tuned wherever he goes.
"I think probably the best path for the Liberals is to persuade Canadians that the Liberals are really the only way to stop Stephen Harper," Nanos said.
While image is a key factor for the media and analysts, Nanos said most Liberal voters will care more about whether Ignatieff can stop Harper from getting the majority government he is seeking.
He suggested there are two reasons those million voters stayed home in 2008: they were disillusioned with the Liberal campaign and with Dion as a leader. And also, they felt confident Harper wouldn't get a majority.
This time around Harper has made it no secret he's out for a majority government, his poll numbers are strong, and a majority government is within reach.
"What's critical is that people don't necessarily have to like Mr. Ignatieff, they just have to see him as a vehicle to block Stephen Harper." Nanos said.
