Much written, but nothing posted.So here’s my (abbreviated) two cents.The story of the night – like the story of the campaign – will be the voting behavior of large swaths of soft nationalist Bloc voters in Quebec. If they have made the decision that the Bloc is no longer of much use (a tantalizing prospect for all of us since the 1993 election) then this election will, indeed, change the colour of a large portion of Canada’s electoral map.With a Conservative government too far to the right to capitalize on the Bloc’s demise, and a Liberal party still feeling lingering effects of the sponsorship scandal (plus the brand damage of the present provincial Liberal party) there was only one party that could possibly reap the benefit of such a collapse – the NDP.The only questions about these shifting Quebec voters are (a) whether they are motivated to vote and (b) whether they get sticker shock in the voting booth, or whether that comes later.Not only will the NDP capitalize on the Bloc’s collapse, but they’ll also reap the reward of a sensible strategy that’s worked in three consecutive elections – i.e. not attacking the Conservatives with any effort, but rather focusing their organizational efforts and their advertising dollars on chipping away at Liberal, Bloc and Green voters. Jack Layton will barely register a dent in Stephen Harper’s armour tonight, unless he catches fire in Saskatchewan and B.C.In Newfoundland, Kathy Dunderdale will be watching these results with more nervousness than Harper himself. Her government and her caucus have placed a hefty bet on the election of Conservative MPs. Their rebuke will be doubly hers. The two ridings everyone predicted would be close before this even began (Avalon and St. John’s South Mt. Pearl) will be the two closest races in the province.And now… off to York Centre.If you haven’t already – Go Vote!
