Scared straight

A desperate, scared Stephen Harper asks Liberals to support him.
And in other news:

La di dah

Royal wedding fanatics must check out Tom and Lorenzo for all their great photos and commentary about The Bride, The Guests, The Hats, The Maid of Honour, The Ceremony -- they loved every minute.
Here's Kate:

As Alexander McQueen goes, I didn't think it was an outstanding dress -- the lace made her bust look lumpy, though the bustle in the back was a nice effect.
When it comes to dresses, sister Pippa stole the show, wearing another McQueen with a more high-fashion look. Tom and Lorenzo felt this dress with its unique neckline and cap sleeves would likely have more influence on wedding gown style in the long run.

And the flower girls were cute.

Yes, I find it annoying too

I'm a more linear type of person myself, and I prefer to read in one direction rather than two. But I had to install a somewhat new format for the comments in order to enable some moderation options. And now my comments are displayed with the first ones at the end and the most recent ones at the top. I don't like it but there doesn't seem to be any way to flip this.
Sorry about that.

Why I still believe in the Liberals

The thing I've always liked about the Liberals is exactly what some other people seem to hate about them -- basically, they don't believe in anything. They have no ideology.
The way I see it, that's a good thing. And its been good for Canada.
It means the Liberals seldom do something just because they "believe" in it.
Instead, they do what we want them to do. And isn't that the essence of democracy, really?
They steal other parties' good ideas. Wanting nothing except to be popular, the Liberals figure out what people want, what people like, and what people need. Then that's what they do.
So if prairie farmers want the Canadian Wheat Board, we get it. If immigrants want to bring their families here, they can do it. If people across the country want medicare, they get it. If people want corporate donations eliminated from politics, then the Liberals give the parties a public subsidy instead. If people want everyone treated equally under the law, then that's what the institutions of society will be set up to do. If women want access to abortion, they'll get it. If Canadians want a national day care program, then the Liberals will give that to us too -- or would have, except for Jack Layton.
Best of all, the Liberals really do want everybody to get along. Nobody is allowed to get too greedy, they don't give the banks or the churches or the unions or the developers everything they want. No wedge issues, no attempts to gain political advantage by trash talk, trying to make one group of Canadians hate another group of Canadians. No backhanded slams against the arts, or the sciences, or civil servants, or the poor, or the rich, or immigrants, or judges, or corporations, or whatever. They don't do attack ads very well.
I'm oversimplifying, I know. But I think one reason the Liberals have run the country for much of the last 150 years, is that they have done mostly the right things for Canada.
Not because THEY believe in it, but because WE do.

Boogeyman Jack

The scary soshalust hordes are already inspiring the media to write some resoundingly stupid stories about bond trader vigilantes.
Here's Andrew Steele in the Globe and Mail: Will Layton raise your mortgage payments?
No.

Silver lining to the Orange Crush

Ekos calls it a JackQuake.

Evidence suggests that the NDP vote is actually firming up and they continue to hold a sizable advantage on second choice. They may not have reached the ceiling of this JackQuake which is shaking the country.

The silver lining to the Orange Crush is that the Conservatives are dropping almost as fast as the Liberals.
Maybe its a reflection of the kind of cynicism that Steve V was talking about the other day, "a plague on both their houses" kind of reaction to the Conservatives and the Liberals.
But maybe we're also seeing a change in the way politics is done in Canada, a change that says, Hey, I'm going to try something new.
I'm going to vote for the guy I like. A guy who says he won't stop until the job is done:


Well, maybe that's not really so new after all.

Sanity test

Anyone who takes Donald Trump seriously as a candidate for President of the United States is certifiably nuts.

Whose strategy now?

Well, seems like Canadians are actually listening to Ignatieff's message about voting strategically to get rid of Harper.
Of course, its not exactly working out the way we imagined it would. But still...

That popping sound

Boom goes the EKOS poll dynamite:

Graves said the figures could conceivably bring the NDP, led by Jack Layton, more than 100 seats in Parliament. The poll indicates that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives could win around 130 seats.
But that's not a majority in Parliament, raising the prospect that the NDP could form a coalition with the Liberals and Layton could become the party's first prime minister.

That popping sound you hear is a million Conservative wingnut heads exploding.

"Who do you trust to govern the country?"

Ignatieff asks "who do you trust to govern the country?" Its the basic question of any democracy.
Iggy has spent this campaign connecting with Canadians, but the polls are not giving him much encouragement. I'm hoping events like this will help turn that tide.


Halifax

" />
Montreal


Toronto

Voting strategically at Project Democracy

I just added the Project Democracy widget to the sidebar. They list some key contests for strategic voting:

• Beauport--Limoilou
  
Liberals and Greens should vote NDP
• Madawaska--Restigouche
NDP and Green should vote Liberal
• Ottawa--Orléans
NDP and Green should vote Liberal
• Sault Ste. Marie
Liberals and Greens should vote NDP
• Vancouver Island North
Liberals and Greens should vote NDP
• West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast--Sea to Sky Country
NDP and Green should vote Liberal
• Saskatoon--Rosetown--Biggar
Liberals and Greens should vote NDP

In Prairie Dog magazine, Paul Dechene uses Project Democracy charts to summarize some other key Regina ridings.

Can Ignatieff get out the vote?

With NDP support a mile wide but an inch deep, the question for Liberals this weekend at the advance polls and next Monday will be, can they get their vote out?
Liberals stayed home in droves in 2008 rather than vote for Dion, leading to one of the lowest turnout elections ever. Liberal campaign co-chair David Smith talks about Liberal campaign volunteers working to get the Liberal vote out:

"They know it's a battle, they know it's a challenge, and they know we are behind to the Tories, but they are pumped and we'll go all out right to the end"

How stupid do they think we are?

Saskatoon MP Brad Trost has let another cat out of the bag about the Conservative decision to pander to its pro-life base by cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood.
Now all the Conservative powers-that-be are perishing the thought.

William Stairs, chief of staff in Oda’s ministerial office said in an email to the Star late Wednesday that despite Trost’s claim, no decision has yet been made on Planned Parenthood’s application because CIDA is “still reviewing the file.” . . .
Conservative officials called an urgent news conference with reporters at 1:30 a.m. in Newfoundland to distance the party from Trost’s controversial comments. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, referred to Trost as a “backbencher” and said he was mistaken to say a decision had been made . . . “I honestly don’t know where he got his information,” Soudas said.

Oh, really? But we've heard from Trost before and he did seem to know what he was talking about then.
Fool me once....

Campaign photos

Yellowknife


Victoria


Vancouver


Edmonton


Regina


Sudbury

Rise up

Steve V is exactly right -- carting Martin and Chretien along on the Liberal campaign now is pointless and actually counterproductive to the message that Iggy is the new leader.
The Rise Up line was terrific.
What the Liberals need now is a new series of "my vision of Canada" ads, to build momentum.