Next? Next? Anybody?

Despite the optimism the Conservatives show by their eagerness to go to the polls, it is hard to see how they can get enough seats to form the next government. Most Canadians may not like the Liberals that much but it is hard to see many of the liberal voters changing their votes to the Conservatives. The Conservatives are not going to get anything from Quebec. It is hard to see them getting anything more in the Maritimes. And in Ontario, they have done nothing to make people think that they are not the “anti-Ontario party.” That leaves the west where there are few seats left for them to get. Consequently, the Liberal Party may lost some here, some there, but the lost will probably too spread out to benefit any one party. I have the suspicion that the parliamentary make up after the next election will not be so different from the present one. If there is a party ready to take over government, the Liberals will likely go the way of the Progressive Conservatives after Kim Campbell. As things stand now, the Liberals remain the only ready-to-govern party. And that is not really a good thing.