Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
What's the deal with Layton now saying he'll side with Harper in order to prevent an election? This sounds like one of two things:
1. "I'm still pissed at the Libs over leaving my attempted coup, so I'm going to screw them by siding with the PCs."
2. "Overtly, I'll make it look like siding with Harper will save us from an election... but covertly, I know that if Harper sides with me, Ignatief will demolish him in the election and that will be the end of the PCs."
Personally, I'm hoping that Harper sticks to his guns and kicks Layton to the curb. I don't want him anywhere near any kind of power in this country, I don't care who I'm voting for.
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I have quoted this post because I think that it is very illuminating to what is happening (at least this is how I see it).
Since last fall, the NDP and BQ leaders have been running as fast as they could to the press microphones to say they will vote against whatever the Conservatives have put forward, leaving the Liberals to prop up the government. This left the Liberals in an unenviable position where they had to opppose the initiatives to distinguish themselves from the Conservatives, yet had to support them in order to keep from triggering another election that nobody (including the NDP and BQ) wanted. The Conservatives have been using this to their advantage.
I don't think that the Liberals necessarily want an election, but they are no longer afraid of one. What Ignatieff did was to beat the NDP and BQ to the punch, therefore putting the onus on propping up the government on them, thus ending especially Layton's free ride. I fully expect Layton to make every effort to keep the Conservatives from losing power, as I don't think that the NDP have made any gains in popularity in the last year. The support of the BQ will depend on where they sit in the polls in Quebec.