Careful what you wish for...you might be an idiot

At first glance, the Grits campaign strategy in Quebec and Ontario makes perfect sense for them. Make this election a referendum on a referendum and ask central Canada who do you trust to lose. I mean, what else could they do. The Atlantic region doesn't offer enough room for substantial gains in the House. In Ontario, the right-of-center vote has increased in each election since 1997 (the 'time for a change' impulse getting more and more traction with each ballot). And in the West, particularily in BC, the NDP is a bigger threat to the Conservative stronghold in most ridings.

So, the Libs look to la Belle Provence to improve their electoral fortunes. And they campaign the way they know best: we're the only federalist party that can save Canada from Parizeau/Bouchard/Landry/Boisclaire/Mistou. You know the drill.

You probably also know the counterpoint--that the Grits created this problem. Whatever the merits of the respective arguments, the problem that I see is the political reality on the other side of January 23.

Duceppe and co. aren't actively campaigning for sovereignty with this election, merely trying to drive up a seperatist presence that Quebecers will be reminded of over the next couple of years before the next provincial election. Whereas the Bloc and the PQ are most definately seperatist, not all of their supporters are. And a lot of the federalist supporters of the Bloc feel perfectly happy voting for Duceppe's team simply to punish the Liberal Party of Canada.

And why shouldn't they. The other mainstream parties have little or no presence in this part of the country and maybe a whole bunch of Quebecers think that the Paul Martin's Liberals deserve some time in the penalty box.

So the Bloc does remarkably well on January 23, 2006. If the theme of this election is a fight for unity, and the federalists get clobbered, what do you think the reaction of Duceppe/Boisclaire will be. My guess, they'll say it was a victory for the cause of separation, and the Liberals will have to back down from their rhetoric, in that awkward fashion that only they can muster.

But the damage may be severe. I think this is a case of the Grits putting their interests ahead of the nation's, purely for partisan reasons, and it could be very damaging to the cause they rightly defend.

Anyway, I don't have a clock in my apartment. But, if each empty bottle of Kokanee represents about 20 minutes, and I've been drinking since the start of the Sens game, then the Daily Show is about to start, so I must away.