Deep Blue Something

Last week this was my speculation on what would become of the Ontario PCs should they lose the election and should John Tory lose his seat:

"Right now I'm wondering if the mentality of the PCs will be that a moderate (Tory) didn't work nearly as well as a hardliner (Harris) and in light of that, they may go hunting for another deep blue type of leader."

Well, it appears that at least Stephen Taylor is thinking along those lines - and almost gleefully:

"If there's any hope that can come from the results of this election for conservatives, it is that PCs in Ontario will rebuild around offering Ontario clear and articulated conservative policies just in time for what may be a strong desire for change after four more years of McGuinty."

One can only wonder what those "clear and articulated conservative policies" might be - perhaps some sort of private healthcare (a Frank Klees favourite) or a more radical education platform, maybe a flat tax - but if the Liberals are starting to look a little shopworn in 2011, they may be coming to a Queen's Park near you.

CBC calls it for Dalton McGuinty

This comes as no surprise - at least not to me. What remains to be seen:
Will John Tory have a seat?
and
What of MMP?

This is still McGuinty's to lose

When you have both the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun agreeing that McGuinty at least survived, it seems to bode well for the Liberals. There would need to be a severe gaffe/crisis/surprise for Tory, let alone Hampton, to have a shot at this election.

Perhaps if the campaign is somewhat dull as it lurches to an increasingly foregone conclusion, more attention will shift to the referendum?

John Tory is in trouble

It appears as though the faith-based schools thing just isn't all that popular. One wonders what it is that prompted Tory to make this a centerpiece of his campaign. I mean I had thought that Tory was painting himself as a sort of Anti-Mike-Harris moderate. It's incongruous to that sort of image to announce a further outflow of funds from public education. Perhaps Tory was simply searching for a policy that would differentiate his brand identity of moderate, prudent government from that of Dalton McGuinty's.

My feeling going into this election was that there just isn't a great desire for change in the province, Tory (and Hampton for that matter) were up against that reality to start with. I think Tory was always going to have to run a stellar campaign with a really solid platform to unseat the Liberals. I suppose this is somewhat good news for the NDP as those cowed into voting Liberal in the last couple elections out of fear of the Common Sense Revolution may not now feel the need to do so.

Doing the Dalton or How Not to Steal from Your Opponent's Playbook

As Ontario heads for another election the principle critique of McGuinty's government is that he promised quite a bit and did not deliver as much as he said he would. The main areas of concern in this regard are probably the health tax (if you lean right) and/or the coal plants remaining open (if you lean left).

Well, I guess it's time for the opposition to roll out a more modest, achievable platform. Uhhh, not quite, at least if you listen to what John Tory is saying.

I'm starting to think that by the time October rolls around the bullshit will be piled quite high in this province.