Also, a below-the-line result from Angus Reid, one that should worry Harper AND Ignatieff (emphasis added):
Quote:
About three-in-ten Canadians (29%) say they definitely or probably would consider voting for a party they dislike to force the defeat of a specific candidate in their riding. Liberal voters (43%) and NDP voters (33%) are more likely to partake in this practice than Conservatives (21%).
Also, more than a third of Canadians (37%) are considering voting strategically in order to reduce the chances of a specific party forming the government, even if it means casting a ballot for a candidate they dislike. More than half of Liberals (53%) and more than two-in-five NDP supporters (43%) are thinking of this option on election day.
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I think it's safe to say that most Liberal voters who plan to vote "strategically" will be casting their ballots for the NDP. 43% are considering it: if even two thirds of those are thinking of switching to NDP (let's say 32%), and then a third of those end up actually doing it (so 10% of voters who currently intend to vote Liberal... we'd be looking at an election day bump for Jack Layton of perhaps 2 percentage points. Combined with a favourable NDP trend, that could make things really interesting.