As a result of this exposure, Eves enjoyed a moderate uptick in the polls. A highlight of his premiership was Eves' meeting with Ukrainian opposition leader Victor Yushchenko in May 2003. During Yushchenko's visit to Toronto was a banquet organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress which attended by over 1,000 people. Yushchenko was welcomed by "the members of the Canadian political elite in Toronto, headed by Premier of Ontario Ernie Eves", who was presented as a leading Canadian of Ukrainian heritage, as well as federal cabinet minister Sheila Copps and Bishop Augustine Eugene Hornyak, Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk, and City Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby. In September 2003, Eves called an election for October 2, 2003. While exposure from the blackout had boosted the PCs into a short-lived tie with Dalton McGuinty's Liberals in the polls, and despite the reputation of the Ontario Tories for increasing their support base in mid-campaign, Eves had trouble convincing voters that his party deserved to stay in office. The Tories had released their platform, "The Road Ahead", in May. Eves had hired many of Harris' advisers for the campaign, and they drafted a platform that was closer to Flaherty's (and Harris') views than those of Eves. Eves was visibly uncomfortable defending policy proposals that he had opposed a year earlier. When a Tory campaign staffer distributed a press release referring to McGuinty as an "evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet", many voters were turned off by the attack. In contrast, the Liberals ran a highly focused, disciplined campaign on the simple theme of "Choose Change". They had spent the last four years positioning themselves as the government in waiting. McGuinty appeared ready for the office of Premier and tapped into voter frustration over deteriorating public services and the needless conflict of the Harris/Eves governments. Eves was unable to make any headway in the leadership debate, appearing uncharacteristically restrained in the face of criticism from McGuinty, and was unable to revive support for his party in the final days of the campaign. On October 2, 2003, the Liberals won 72 of the 103 seats in the Legislature, and Eves' Tories won just 24. However, as a sign of his personal strength, Eves won his own seat by the largest margin of any PC candidate. Eves' time as Opposition leader was more fruitful, when he led attacks against the McGuinty government's first budget, particularly the Ontario Health Premium —which broke the Liberals' campaign pledge not to raise taxes and the elimination of health services such as eye examinations and physical therapy.