With a little less than a month to go, the race is really beginning to heat up.
It would be great if I was talking about the pennant race and the Toronto Blue Jays but, no, it is the federal election I am referring to. We go to the polls on Oct. 19 - in exactly four weeks.
With all due deference to the Greens and the Bloc, the race right now would appear to be a three way tie. It is much too close to call. The polls tell us the Conservatives, NDP, and Liberals are neck-and-neck. It is not clear any of the parties are going to be capable of forming a majority government.
The collapse of the Conservative brand could be the reason the party now seems to be distancing itself from Conservative leader Stephen Harper. Their latest commercials say things like "Harper is not perfect, but I trust him with the economy."
Talk about a back-handed compliment.
Should a political party fighting for election concede their leader is less than perfect? If I was Harper, I would be tempted to walk away right now.
In contrast, the Liberal brand is on the ascendance. It would appear the Conservative's tactic of calling Justin Trudeau "Justin" and branding him "Just not ready" has backfired. Trudeau looks and acts like a prime minister in waiting.
Which he may well be. There are an awful lot of Canadians nervous about the prospect of a Federal NDP win. There really is no reason other than the fact that they are the NDP. NDP leader Tom Mulcair certainly comes across as the sort of leader we need. He is confident, charming and fluently bilingual.
Yet, could Canada vote in an NDP government? What would happen next?
That fear of an NDP win will likely drive people to vote for the Liberals. After all, the Conservatives have had their 10 years in power and not done anything particularly spectacular. Or at least not done anything particularly spectacular in a positive manner.
They have made a spectacular mess out of their Senate appointments. They have incurred some of the most spectacular deficits in Canadian history. And they have shown a spectacular insensitivity to the lives of refugees around the world.
But if the public is not going to support the Conservatives, is it willing to go so far as to support the NDP? Probably not, which is why the Liberals might just come squeaking up the middle.
Or maybe the critical ridings will all fall to the Conservatives because of vote splitting between the Liberals and the NDP.
Or maybe it really is a time for change and the past four years in opposition have shown the NDP to truly be a government in waiting.
On the whole, this three-way race is making this election interesting to watch. And way too close to call.
But if the economy truly is the central issue of the campaign, then how can a voter decide?
In last week's leader debate, Harper stressed the need to only invest in things we can afford. The problem with this view is it leaves us short of the things we need, such as jobs. To which Harper replies that the job market is unstable: "I never said things were great."
Thanks for telling us now.
Trudeau, on the other hand, pledges the Liberals have a "strong and clear plan" to invest in the middle class. I am deeply curious as to how one invests in the middle class. What does that mean?
For Trudeau it would appear to mean investing in roads and transit while running a deficit.
Okay. Infrastructure is definitely a different take on things, but running a deficit is a Conservative party platform plank. After all, they seem to be very good at it.
And then there is Mulcair, who criticized Harper for putting all of his eggs in one basket. And went on to suggest Harper then dropped the basket.
However, where does it leave us going forward? According to Mulcair we need to revitalize our manufacturing sector. Too late.
The good paying jobs - the ones that supported a large majority of Canadians - are now overseas. Free trade agreements make it much cheaper to manufacture in other countries and ship to Canada than manufacture here.
Simplistic analysis of a complex issue and a lengthy debate, but realistically, if the economy really is the issue, none of the parties stand out as having a workable solution. Our flat world means we need to rethink our basic economic strategies in the global market. The Canada of the 2010s is not the Canada of the 1960s.
In the end, maybe I should just go watch the Blue Jays. At least then I know who to cheer for.
