The Heat is Rising

Politics is often and aptly described as a swamp. And if there is a heart to this steaming, sticky, humid darkness it is the mucky ground covered by that mystic route called the Campaign Trail.

But it's not at all a straightforward route. And there isn't just one. Along the Campaign Trail there are many forks, decision points that signal a choice to be made. Moreover, each new decision may lead to a series of new ones, or effectively eliminate a prior one.

For the observer, the choices made by political parties, and particularly by their leaders, may give a clue to where each is heading--obscurity or 24 Sussex Drive--and also some idea of where the country is heading as a whole, or possibly into a hole. In this campaign, several issues are already cropping up as major markers, and as everyone in Canada knows, some parties are already out of the race.

That would be the New Democratic Party. Jack Layton's voice is lost amid the tropical cacaphony of the Liberals and the Conservatives. Nontheless, we'll be looking at them, as well as the Bloc Quebecois (in a minority Parliament, splinter groups become important) and of course the other two major contenders.

Stick with me and I'll tell you exactly how to vote. And unlike most part leaders, I'll give you rational reasons to do so.

Next: Child care and guns--a single solution?

Really next: The issues.

While you're waiting, have a look at the other parties (who won't be forming the next government).