It's long been assumed that the 2010 Olympics would somehow automatically translate into good news for the B.C. Liberal government.

British Columbians would be excited and pumped up about the Games, so the theory went, and that would logically mean they cared less about government foibles.

But now I'm not so sure that scenario is necessarily a lock these days.

In fact, could the unpopularity of the government reflect negatively on the Games themselves? More to the point, could the personal unpopularity of the premier himself be a drag on public support for the Olympics?

Conversely, could apparent mounting public crankiness about many things Olympic rebound negatively on Campbell and his government?

Not a week goes by that doesn't see Premier Gordon Campbell at one high-profile Olympic event after another. This week, for example, had him appearing on NBC's Today Show, and attending the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece.

As the Games draw ever closer, Campbell's public schedule will be even more closely tied to Olympic-oriented events.

Given the fact he likes to control pretty much every single thing his government is involved in, his constant presence around the Olympics shouldn't be surprising. Already, a number of civil servants refer to the Olympics somewhat snidely as "Gordon Campbell's Games."

This tight connection between Campbell and the Games comes as the media is increasingly filled with negative stories about the Games and its organizers.

VANOC has been on the defensive over a number of issues in recent weeks.

It's been accused of essentially stealing the Cowichan Indian Band's famous Cowichan sweaters; it's had to defend paying its staff more than $30 million in bonuses; and now it has all kinds of businesses, residents and commuters crying foul over its traffic control plan for downtown Vancouver (and the plan hasn't even taken effect yet).

Oh, and don't forget the spectre of a genuine crackdown on someone's civil rights when it comes to saying anything negative about the 2010 Olympics. VANOC is fast becoming one of the more unpopular organizations in the province, and Campbell is looking more and more like he's part of that group.

Of course, there's every possibility that things could change radically once the Games actually begin. There is no doubt an air of real excitement will hover over the province in February.

I remember the impact the Commonwealth Games had on Victoria when it hosted them back in 1994. The event transformed the city almost overnight, and had a lasting positive effect on the capital region.

The Olympics are bigger of course, but so are the problems and complaints that come with them.

I'm getting the sense the government's whole Olympics strategy is based on a leap of faith, and not on actual planning.

In fact, other than having the premier attend every conceivable Olympic event, I'm not sure there is much else to it.

Where, for example, is the multi-million dollar marketing plan to woo overseas visitors? Is the oft-stated assumption that "10,000 media types" will descend upon B.C. during the Olympics now questionable, given the recession and the widespread cutbacks in the media industry?

Is it not fair to worry that over-zealous security officials may go overboard from time to time, thus robbing protestors of their civil rights and giving B.C. a black eye on the international stage?

One only has to remember the infamous footage of an RCMP officer pepper spraying protestors during APEC in 1996 to realize such a thing could happen again.

And what about Premier Campbell's promise to totally clean up the Downtown Eastside before the Games begin - a promise that now rings hollow given the cutbacks in mental health services that are about to occur.

There's no doubt a heck of a lot of effort has been put into staging a successful Olympic Games, and I hope by the end of them they will indeed have been judged a sparkling international success.

But the potential negatives are starting to rival the positives, and that can spell bad news for the B.C. Liberal government and the premier himself.

Hanging around with a bunch of athletes or the NBC studios can only take the premier so far. In fact, if protesters begin to dog his every step, those athletes and American network types might not want him around much anyway.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global TV.

KBaldrey@globaltv.com