With
7 days remaining in the campaign NDP Leader Jack Layton
is taking a page from the Liberal playbook. In past campaigns
you could set your watch for the time when the Liberal leader
would appeal to New Democrats to vote Liberal in order to
stop the Conservatives. At the beginning of the last week
of the campaign, it is widely accepted that the Liberals
don't stand a chance of forming even a minority government.
The fingertips of some Liberals must be bloody from their
last ditch effort to cling to power but realists know that
the game is over and a vote for the NDP may be their best
chance.
It is
possible, but not likely, that Prime Minister Paul Martin
could lose his own seat in LaSalle-Émard where he
took 56.6% of the vote in 2004 compared to the Block's 30.7%
and the Conservative's 5.0%. That might be a small blessing
since Martin will likely be uncomfortable as opposition
leader while his party focuses on an overdue effort to clean
itself up. Talk of the Block forming the official opposition
or of the Conservatives forming a majority government should
be heard as little more than the old style Liberal scare
tactics. There is no science behind seat projections; it's
like placing a bet in a football pool. It may be difficult
to guess the exact point spread for each team in each region,
but overall it's safe to bet on a Conservative minority
government. The only ones who seem to fear that are those
who will lose their patronage appointments as part of the
overdue cleanup.
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