Federal Election Rising...Is The Outcome Inevitable?

TheMinority
ReportVille


Is the outcome inevitable?

Bill Tieleman, writing for whomever owns 24 Hours this hour, thinks it just may be:

...With the Conservatives at 32%, the Liberals at 28% and the NDP at 23% in a national Ekos poll in late March, none are close to the magic 40% needed for a majority government.

So a minority government is most likely — but is a coalition possible?

The more a coalition is talked about before an election, the more voters will wonder exactly what they’re getting afterwards.

A Conservative-Liberal coalition government? A Liberal-NDP government? An NDP-Liberal government?

All are theoretically possible. Even the Bloc Quebecois and Green parties could be involved if they have enough seats.

And a coalition government with what policies and priorities? Which prime minister?

But for the Conservatives, the coalition word has an irresistible charm. It’s how they defeated the ill-fated Liberal-NDP attempt to push them out of office in 2008 without an election — and how fear of another possible coalition gave Harper his majority win in 2011...


Now, regardless where the splits are in three months, or even six, I agree with Mr. T. that the evils of a coalition will be a bell ringer for Mr. Harper's base mobilization efforts.

But geez....

Do these splits mean that I'm going to have to cue up the strategic voting thingy all over again?

Oh boy.


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