Don't Ever Change, Stephen

Wow - this is the best poll yet for the Conservatives. An even tie for the Liberals and the Conservatives! Way to go Tories.

Taken for CanWest/Global News, the Ipsos-Reid poll put both leading parties at 31 percent, followed by the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP) at 18 percent. A November 22-24 Ipsos poll put the Liberals ahead 34 percent to 30 percent.

Of course, this leads inevitably to the next question - how will Harper fuck it up?

Oh, never mind:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper reopened the hot-button issue of same-sex unions on his first day on the federal election trail Tuesday, saying he would hold a free vote on changing the definition of marriage if he becomes prime minister....

Harper, who believes same-sex couples should be recognized through civil unions, promised to preserve the gay marriages already performed across Canada.

Some observers say the Tory stance against gay weddings cost the party crucial support in urban Ontario and among younger voters.

But Harper may have raised the issue to pre-empt his critics, who say he's intolerant and has a secret agenda.

First off, what Harper is proposing would not only be dumb politics, it would be unconstitutional. On the off chance a tory is reading this blog, listen carefully: The Supreme Court has ruled on this matter. You lost. Get over it.

But I love the speculation that Harper may have raised this issue deliberately. "My critics say I have a secret agenda. This is unfair. My agenda is right out in the open - and it's batshit crazy!"

My initial reaction is to think this poll is an outlier, and others will show that the race isn't this tight. But it's good to know that Harper can still be counted on to screw his party in a pinch. Some days I suspect Harper is in fact a Liberal sleeper agent.

More seriously, this is bad news for the NDP if these numbers are confirmed by later polls. The NDP is going to hemmorhage votes if it looks this close.

Off to a great start already!