Who's fault will it be?

So the Globe and Mail has endorsed Harper, admitting they value money over democracy. While their competition is definitely anti-Harper, they haven't made any endorsement just yet (as of the time this was originally written, see update below) and we are constantly told, by both conservatives and the NDP, that the Toronto Star is an unofficial wing of the Liberal Party. It is a foregone conclusion that the National Post will endorse Harper, grudgingly since they feel he really isn't conservative enough. At Maclean's Andrew Coyne, a conservative but a rock-solid believer in the democratic process and parliamentary process, has decided to hold his nose and vote for the Liberals. CTV is gave Harper a chance to speak to the nation right after the big hockey game this week and has bent over backwards to argue that "both sides do it" and given the CPC fairly favourable coverage on the whole.
Pierre Karl Peladeau did his best Claude Raines impersonation earlier this week, declaring he was "shocked" to find out there was gambling going on at Rick's Cafe American a CPC strategist feeding his Sun newspaper chain false stories, a strategist that turned out also to be an advisor to SUN-TV, which is run by Harper's former spinmeister.
Given all this, I can't wait to see which "obviously biased"media organization the panic-stricken right wing in Canada decides is the latter-day Pravda responsible for the meteoric rise of the Jack Layton and the NDP. I'm sure it will be someone else's fault. The Liberals steady rightward  creep won't be blamed and the Conservative creepy mantra of "steady majority or CHAOS!" and refusal to even speak to anyone but true believers, let alone cooperate and compromise with other parties in the House of Commons certainly won't even be acknowledged. No, someone must be blamed, but who?

What about this big orange fella in Quebec?



Having said all that, I am not predicting Prime Minister Jack Layton will soon be giving the throne speech. I'm not against that happening, but I think the numbers in Ontario are still good enough for the Conservatives that Liberal/NDP vote-splitting will allow them to squeak through with between 140 and 156 seats. Your projections may vary, most do. But I would rather be pleasantly surprised than horribly disappointed, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

Update: The Toronto Star decides to live up to it nickname among conservatives - the Red Star - and endorses Layton and the NDP. I wonder if this is the final nail in the coffin for the Liberals for a few years? It depends how the next few years go - a polarized parliament of NDP vs. Conservatives with the Liberals and BQ holding the balance of power could end up driving voters back to the middle in the long run. If the Liberals can stay true to their basic left-leaning centerist principles, they could rebuild. If they decide to cave to the business-driven right-wing of the party and support the Conservatives, they will evaporate in a short span of time as the hard corporatists join the Conservatives and the progressive/leftish side jumps ship for the NDP.

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