Get Out and Vote...Conservative

Yeah I just said it. It really hit upon me today while I was out canvassing for Andrew House, the local Tory candidate, that the Stephen Harper-led party really is the best thing for Canada at this time. I've been very confident that I will be voting Conservative in this election since the writ dropped, given that I simply cannot support Paul Martin's "leadership" and I would probably sooner bite my foot off than vote NDP. What was at first moreso a vote against Martin than for Harper, over the course of 7 weeks, has steadily reversed that view. I am happy to be voting for Harper, and I truly believe that he will do a good job of "standing up for Canada" beginning on Tuesday.
Today it felt really good being out there supporting Andrew, whom I've had the pleasure to talk with a number of times during the course of the campaign and have found to be an engaging, interesting, intelligent, and thoughtful young man who will do very well in Ottawa if he should be elected by the good people of Halifax. He faces a tough battle against a popular incumbent NDP MP who is known by her first name, and I wish Alexa a strong second-place finish on Monday night.
It's been an interesting seven weeks, almost sad at times to watch Paul Martin's spectacular crash and burn. It was he and his potential that first enticed me to join the Liberal Party in October 2002, but it was he and his failures to live up to that potential that enticed me to leave the party behind until he is removed from its leadership. After doing an about-face on everything that he once stood for, he has ran a disastrous campaign, replete with anti-Americanism and fear and smear, and devoid of any true vision for a future prosperous Canada. The Liberal website today features no positive messages about the party's platform, merely desperation attempts to tear down Harper's lead and image. This is not the same party that I was a part of for years, and that is a damn shame.