strategic voting

Many groups are now trying to organize strategic voting efforts. It’s not easy.

Colby Cosh on the Green party’s effect in B.C.’s election

My story for print Maclean’s on Conservative fortunes in provincial politics is now on the web. As is often the case, I had help with the story from lots of people who didn’t make it into the finished version, and gathered information and had thoughts that didn’t quite fit.

BEST PHOTO:

How much strategic voting will go on come Oct. 14?

Angus Reid’s Liberal numbers have tended to be a few points below his colleagues’ during this campaign, so one mustn’t ncessarily run around screaming about today’s Star poll showing (a) the Conservative vote nearly double the Liberal vote nationwide; (b) Libs and NDP tied; (c) Stéphane Dion walking around with fully one-third of Paul Martin’s 2006 voter coalition gone somewhere else; (d) dogs and cats living together; (e) assorted other omens and portents of massive tectonic change. Let us treat this poll, as we must treat the approximately 42 quinjillion other polls in this campaign, as a piquant what-if. And consider only this.

Or any other sort of organized (or semi-organized) strategic voting scheme? I was musing about that in the morning open-ish Ekos thread, and I’m curious about something: How do/would you respond to pollsters if asked what party for which you intend to vote “if an election were to be held tomorrow,” as the usual patter goes?

Remember when Buzz Hargrove said Stephen Harper was so bad Quebecers should consider voting for the Bloc Québécois instead? Here he is again, in a lovely spring smock: