Bryan

Actually, it's Duceppe that is lying. From the press conference that produced that very letter in 2004: “In no way we are a coalition and we won’t be a coalition.” -Gilles Duccepe

Except for the fact that he didn't. Neither Harper, nor the other opposition parties ever claimed they had a coalition. Stephen Harper: “This is not a coalition.” Gilles Duccepe: “In no way we are a coalition and we won’t be a coalition.” Jack Layton: “It’s impossible to imagine that these three parties with their completely different platforms could form a coalition as we find in other countries.”

In re-reading the Ignatieff renouncement of a coalition, I'm noticing that he did not actually rule one out, even though it sounds like he did at first blush. http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/news-release/statement-liberal-leader-michael-ignatieff/ Bold emphasis is mine. He's ruling out a coalition IF HE WINS, not if he loses.

Why does the title to this thread keep changing?

Wow. Ignatieff's personal support is down to single digits in PQ. Even I didn't think things were THAT bad for the Liberals. They used to be able to count on enough support in Quebec to make up for their absence in the west.

As a Conservative, I want to encourage this ballot spoiling. Everyone who opposes Harper should do it, IMO.

Notice he's carefully saying "We will not enter a coalition with other federalist parties". Conveniently omits the fact that there already is a formal coalition agreement in place until June 2011. That's still a lot of wiggle room for him to say he meant he won't enter into another coalition after this one.

The difference is there was no coalition agreement in 2004. All three leaders made it abundantly clear at that press conference that they had no agreement of any kind. That isn't semantics, it's a fundamental difference in fact.

I think what he means by incredible is not credible.

http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/Global+News+statement+Mark+McAllister/4482722/story.html

Angus Reid's latest poll, March 25/2011: CPC - 39 LPC - 25 NDP - 19 BQ - 10 GRN - 7 http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/962129--tories-on-brink-of-majority-as-election-called?bn=1 Looks like the EKOS poll is the only one not showing the Conservatives in majority territory. What was it I said about that yesterday?

The most interesting part about that is that even the CBC and Toronto Star reporters were getting angry at Ignatieff. He's going have a very rough campaign if that's how he intends to address direct questions.

Do you ever make an argument that isn't a strawman?

What did the other leaders say about this supposed coalition in 2004?

Paul Martin sure appreciated it in 2005 when Milliken became the only speaker in Canadian history to save a government from a confidence vote. No bias. Riiiiigggghhht.

Another fake gotcha? Oh noes!

There is no defense and no story whatsoever other than political bias, because there's nothing to the accusation, let alone the finding.

EKOS' poll is late this week. It's usually out on thursday. They usually show something contradictory to the overall trend, it would be consistent on their part if they showed lower CPC numbers this week, followed by a poll that follows the overall trend next week.

The Speaker. You mean Liberal MP Peter Milliken? Are you suggesting that he's not biased?

There have been occasional spikes up and down, but almost all polls have shown a gradual upward trend overall for the CPC in recent months. They also clearly show the increases in support come when the opposition is attacking them most directly.

I hope you're right. All the more reason to vote Conservative.

You see that even within dedicated Conservative supporters. A lot of them don't like Harper either, but they REALLY don't like Ingnaieff and Layton, so they aren't even considering switching parties.

The trend over the last few months has been the more the opposition complains, the better the government's numbers are. Sure, Polls can change, but only a crazy person would roll the dice with numbers and a trend line like that.

I'm not so sure that is what we are seeing unfold here though. The Conservatives have the support (voters, volunteers, and financial donors) to keep doing this same dance as long as the opposition wants it. Can the NDP and the Liberals afford to go to the polls over and over again? If we get another Harper minority, the opposition might have no choice but to vote in support of the government no matter what gets put in front of them. If they were unable to go to another election, what other choice would they have?

Depends on which Rua we get. He's coming off of knee surgery. The last time he had to take time off for that, he lost to Forrest Griffin, and was given almost all he could handle by a Bruce Willis looking 50 year old Mark Coleman. If I had to put my money on the line, I'd go for Jones.