Vancouver King

You don't have a clue about what is coming, do you? Now you expect me to believe you can time this market. What a joke. Why don't you borrow against your bungalow and see if you can grab the gold train before it leaves the station?

A minority is absolutely in the bag and the jury is out on having another one man show.

You are a credit to the Conservative party and your grasp of the issues makes me breathless. By chance, would you have a few days to work on their Quebec campaign?

And any PM that would advise voters to wade into a historically volatile market does not deserve reelection.

Everyone agrees with you and The Harpy except those investors voting with their dollars and their feet. Sounds like you are just another stock promoter trolling for tomorrow's newest suckers.

Yesterday, The Harpy counseled Canadians to buy bargains on the TSX. Today a represenative basket of equities is down another 5%. In fact, within minutes of Finance minister Flaherty extolling the virtue of Canada's banks, share prices of the Big 5 tanked. There's a message in there somewhere.

Apparently among NDP and Green voters, fully 30% will consider a strategic vote in the booth. You do the math - this race is neck and neck.

Then why did they pass only half of yesterday's central bank reduction? When Flaherty talked up your very point today Canadian banks simultaneously tanked on the TSX. Having relatively well run banks only means we earn a few months delay before joining the race to the bottom. Canadians are running for the exits because no one any longer believes the govt.

Yes, those geniuses running the Tory's Quebec campaign will do just fine.

Where was Dion when this crisis began? Certainly not in Washington with his nose up George Bush's butt.

Dion should shake this race up again. My suggestion: Next campaign stop he should ask whether Harper will follow suit if the next American president declares martial law in 2009.

It's hard to argue with success so here are the newest Nanos numbers: CPC - 33% Libs - 29 NDP - 20 Bloc - 10 GRN - 7 Taken with yesterday's results it appears the Tory slide has stabilized at levels which at best will yield them another minority with reduced seats.

When Harper promised us stable govt he never said the stable would smell this bad.

You simply don't get it. This country is 6 months away from a depression-type downturn and you not only want to muzzle that type of talk, you seriously believe that Harper has the character, temperament and record to deal with the victims of the coming downturn. Harper's Republican pals have now destroyed a generation's worth of wealth production while triggering a global recession/depression - did you really think Canada would be exempt?

Changing the subject is now the latest strategy of neo cons. Just as McCain desperately needs to move discussion off the imploding American economy to save his failing presidential bid, Harper apologists now accuse Liberals of creating the unfolding financial chaos here. They should be treated for what they are: the vocal death throes of dinosaurs.

You must remember this - Dion's awkwardness and painful English is fair play, Harper's smarmy smirk is off limits.

On the surface this is about the same report as yesterday. Dig into the regional numbers and Tory support in Ontario is now at levels significantly below their 2006 showing. Quebec remains a CPC disaster. Conservative support actually increased in Western Canada, however winning Alberta and/or rural ridings with increased margins does nothing to improve the party's reelection chances. Take out this "overkill" factor and the race nationally is virtually tied.

Several things will happen in about an hour: - Overnight Nanos figures will confirm the Tory slide. - the fat lady will bellow her melody. - paper shredders will be tested on parliament hill.

this chicken is plucked and counted. Tory popularity is in free fall and Dion is up to the task of bringing this puppy home.

The fat lady has cued the orchestra. This election is all but over. All hail Prime Minister Dion. Today's Harris-Decima: CPC 31% Libs 27 NDP 20 Grn 12 Bloc 8

Actually, it was 64.7%. http://www.nodice.ca/elections/canada/voterturnout.php

The PM's popularity seems to be diving in tandem with the TSX. Talking up bargains in the market might be his new strategy to pull his party out of it's current spiral.

Jeez Slim, can't you accept what is coming with a modicum of class?

35% by Oct 14th might be a bit generous for a final Tory total but I agree that a hard core one third of voters are going to support Tories. However, we have had 5 days of polls showing steady increases in Liberal support, now over 30% and rising. This has been confirmed by several pollsters so it now constitutes a trend. This is Harper's first problem - opposition momentum. A completely different additional factor and one that is ominous for CPC fortunes is this: NDP and Green support levels, always suspected as soft at the best of times, now begin to melt through strategic voting overwhelmingly into the Liberal column. It is tough to sometimes phrase it this way but in many respects these minor parties run parking lots - with the Liberals taking the lion share of those that drive away. This will probably be a very close election, but remember it was not supposed to be close, this vote was the first step in Harper's strategy of literally eliminating the Liberal party from federal politics.

Yes, they are useful tools to political parties who use them to gauge effects of policies and strategies, useful to media outlets to turn them into news, and also to voters who should also be making the effort to educate themselves on the issues, the party platforms and leaders. A developing, mainstream belief in this country is that minority govts work - just look at the volume of legislation passed by this last one - while also allowing an early plug to be pulled if a govt proposes too extreme policy. The only way voters can tell if a minority govt is at hand is to consider polls.