I honestly do not know how I am going to vote in next Monday's Canadian national election. I keep flopping around in my mind. Seems I am not the only one as can be seen in the tracking of the SES daily polls I have been recording in this thread as well as from the poll published in today's Globe and Mail, which reports:
The Liberals have risen five percentage points from their position in a similar poll published in The Globe last Saturday, while the Conservatives have declined by four points. NDP support stands steady at 16 per cent. The change in Liberal and Conservative fortunes appears to be due largely to volatile voters in Ontario, which has 106 of the 308 seats in the next Parliament.It is all so weird. I am starting to think NDP over Green as I do want them to have a strong say in a minority. Ideally both the Bloc and the NDP would have the ability to support either the Liberals or Tories - I don't even know if that is possible.The Liberals are once again well out in front in the province, rebounding to the 42-per-cent support that they had on the eve of the election. The Conservatives have dropped by eight points, equal to the Liberal gain, and now stand at 30 per cent, two points more than they had when the election was called on May 23. The NDP is at 20 per cent in Ontario. In fact, the latest poll largely mimics the state of play nationwide at the beginning of the campaign. The Bloc Québécois maintains a big lead in Quebec over the Liberals, by a margin now of 30 points. The Conservatives lead the Liberals narrowly on the Prairies and in British Columbia, and are strongly ahead in Alberta. In Atlantic Canada, however, this latest poll shows the Liberals may have stumbled, as they appear to be now tied with the Conservatives.
Interesting to note that over 70% of the Canadian votes are to the left of the Tories who were bragging of a Conservative majority scant days ago.
Comments
Alan - June 22, 2004 2:01 PM
By the way, there are eight candidates in my riding:<blockquote class="smalltext">
Elston, Rosie The Clown (Independent)<br>Fisher Balfour, Janina (Green Party of Canada)<br>Hutchison, Rob (New Democratic Party)<br>MacLean, Blair (Conservative Party of Canada)<br>Marshall, Terry (Christian Heritage Party)<br>
Milliken, Peter (Liberal Party of Canada)<br>Rogers, Don (Canadian Action Party)<br>Walker, Karl Eric (Independent)</blockquote>Will my hand hover over Rosie the Clown? Given a choice between her and the Christian Heritage Party, I would have no doubt.
Wayne - June 22, 2004 2:22 PM
The personal attacks by Harper against the PM, insuinating he is in fafour of child porn have bounced back, it seems.
Unrelated...a question. Could the Bloc run a candidate outside PQ? Could someone uncomfortable with the Canada that includes Quebec seek a nomination?
Alan - June 22, 2004 3:01 PM
They should run outside Quebec as anti-federalist pro-socialist party. They might get a few seats.
Arthur - June 22, 2004 9:41 PM
Elston, Rosie The Clown (Independent)
'Democracy... It's a wonderful thing ™'
Alan - June 23, 2004 8:17 AM
The Whig gave Rosie some space today:<blockquote class="smalltext"><b>Rosie's revelation; She was once conservative</b><p>
By Annette Phillips, Wednesday, June 23, 2004 @ 07:00 <p>
The masquerade is over for Rosie the Clown. The fun-loving gagster, who joined the Kingston and the Islands election race dressed in fuzzy wig and floppy shoes, promising no promises, just fun – has a serious political background. Rosie, whose alter ego is Laura Elston of Tamworth, was once an aide to Flora MacDonald, longtime Conservative member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands. MacDonald was defeated in 1988 by Peter Milliken, the Liberal who still holds the riding and is running against Rosie. “I was a member’s assistant,” Elston told The Whig-Standard. “I worked in the west block [of Parliament] and I had a marble bathroom in my office.” Elston, 46, didn’t hesitate to fess up about her political past when confronted by The Whig. “Laura is not running,” she said. “Rosie is running.”
Elston registered for the federal election race on June 7 under the name Rosie the Clown Elston. Decked out in her trademark red wig, blue nose and rainbow shoes, Elston promised to have fun, change nothing and, hopefully, stimulate voter interest. In an interview, Elston insisted she had been candid at the time she announced her intention to run. At the time she said she had she never held political office. She worked as an assistant to MacDonald for two years and three months in the mid-1980s, writing letters, acting as appointment secretary, managing the MP’s schedule and once, rewriting a speech just minutes before Macdonald rose in the House of Commons to deliver it. Elston said she had done some volunteer work in MacDonald’s Kingston office, but ultimately got the job on the Hill through a temp agency. The last-minute speech revision remains one of Elston’s clearest memories of her time on Parliament Hill. After revising a 10-page document, she tore off her high heels and ran through the tunnel linking the MP’s office with the House of Commons in order to get the speech to MacDonald on time. <p>Some, but not all, of Rosie’s opponents have been amused by her lighthearted approach to federal politics. Those who weren’t included the Green Party’s Janina Fisher Balfour, who said there was enough clowning around being done in politics already and the election was a chance to take the issues seriously. Fisher Balfour wasn’t impressed by Rosie’s revelation. “I think it’s a little bit disingenuous for her to present herself as someone who hasn’t been involved in politics before,” Fisher Balfour said. “Having been assistant to a former MP – that’s pretty significant involvement.” The NDP’s Rob Hutchison said the admission only demonstrates that the clown has experience. He doesn’t perceive Elston as a political threat. “I did wonder why she was so at ease in the political realm,” Hutchison said. “I think Flora MacDonald is supporting Ed Broadbent, so I’m not going to worry about [votes].” </blockquote>Nice touch with the Green candidate. Think I'll vote NDP. Good of the Whig to cover the independent wacky one and not just make her the butt of a joke. A Rhino party of one.
Alan - June 23, 2004 12:14 PM
Just to note the link more than anything, you know when Tories have blown an election when even Andrew Coyne says it.