Last thoughts before e-day

The election is almost upon us, and the “polling” numbers strongly suggest a Conservative win in North Island-Powell River.

I have no trust in the numbers cited, but still... John Duncan won 6 times in our predecessor riding by splitting the opposition.

The only antidote appears to be potential Liberal and NDP voters pooling their votes to defeat the Cons.

Like everyone else, I’m guessing here, but...:

1) We’re not changing the minds of people who are determined to vote Con.

2) People who traditionally vote Liberal are going to vote Liberal. They’re very used to losing so that’s not a disincentive. I’ve never been a Liberal, so cannot explain their unaccountable optimism or fear of “socialism”, but there are people who, for whatever reason, could never bring themselves to vote NDP, so they won’t.

3) That leaves potential NDP voters. We have our core of dyed-in-the-wool socialists, who pine for the days of Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, and Ed Broadbent, but they’re a distinct minority. Most of us have come to terms with the fact that we’re living in the 21^st century, and that the political landscape has changed. We tend towards flexibility.

We could vote Liberal without becoming Liberals if that denied the Cons.

And, in this election, in North Island where the Con candidate is particularly Con and the issues could not be more important, I think that’s worth a shot, even though we all like and admire the NDP candidate and Liberals haven’t won for decades.