Three political polls have shown the NDP running first in Quebec as Bloc voters head for the exit over Duceppe indicating at further constitutional troubles.
The objective of the Conservatives under Harper according to Tom Flanagan has always been to end the Liberal party in Canada. It seems likely that this has been the desire of Layton as well.
A two party system: us versus them.
It is hard to see what the dynamic might be of a Layton surge in Quebec. It may simply result in a split of votes in the province and more victories for Harper. More perturbing for Layton is if some Liberals won more seats as a result of the split.
One thing seems clear is that some wrenching change could be about to happen.
If we do appear to be heading to a two party system, what might it look like? Well, we could look to Manitoba from 1981 to 1986 where we had some of the nastiest "us versus them" politics in the province's history. There was no Liberals at all elected in 1981.
If a centrist option ceased to exist and all that was left was a "us versus them", I would simply stop voting as I would feel I had no real choice. I suspect we might see a lot of people do that.
