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The first and only time I met Bob Rae was in high school, over twenty years ago now, when he was about the age I am now. We were assigned a big project in Economics. While everyone worked hard, I got the idea to invite Bob Rae in to class. I got an A+ for minimal effort. I've always liked Rae since then.

At the time, Rae had just formed a coalition government with David Peterson in Ontario. Nobody knew whether that was a smart or not at the time. It ended up being a very good move. A few years later, Rae was premier of the province in what might be the only time the NDP ever governs in Ontario. It wasn't smooth sailing, although you could blame the economy at the time in part. You could see Rae mature, but it wasn't enough for his government to survive the next election.

Now Rae is running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. This will drive my brother crazy, but here's why I like that idea.

Bob Rae is a great opposition leader. I don't know if he would make a great Prime Minister or not, but you always want the opposition leader to be effective. I'd love to see Rae as leader of the opposition in Parliament.

Bob Rae is brilliant. He is probably the smartest guy I've ever disagreed with on many issues (except for you, big brother David). I don't know if brains are really an asset in politics or not, but if they are, Rae has what it takes. He's principled too.

Of course, I haven't touched on policy issues. That's a whole other post. But I'm rooting for Rae and the introduction of national Rae Days (sorry again, David). Go, Rae, go!

From Pulse24 - Toronto's News:

We do not go out of our way to romance MPs to cross the floor...We try to create a principled party and going about it in a principled way. We are cautious about party-jumping because it creates cynicism it and if they jump once, you are not sure they will not jump again. I will always handle that with extreme caution.

As my six-year-old son said this morning, "Why does it seem like we have the same government?"

A new government is being sworn in, and a former Liberal cabinet minister has crossed the floor and joined the Conservative cabinet. His personal website still shows the Liberal logo.

I don't know how you can run for one party and join another one a couple of weeks later. What's changed except you were on the losing side?

I hope Harper passes legislation calling for an automatic by-election when this takes place.

We all wish you the best, and it really isn't any of our business, but please learn to hug your kids when you drop them off at school.

Update: Calgary Grit adds his thoughts. You have to have seen the Liberal election ads to get his humor. We're not making this up.

The world's most impatient voter here. With Tim holding Harper's feet to the fire, we're all going to have a few extra pennies in our pocket soon.

The other day I predicted the results of the election:

Conservative - 120
Liberal - 111
Bloq - 53
NDP - 23
Independent - 1

The actual results:

Conservatives - 124
Liberal - 103
Bloq - 51
NDP - 29
Independent - 1

Not bad! I actually did better than the pros (although they called the NDP numbers better than I did).

Warning: controversial political post ahead.

The past couple of days, I've had a few people tell me that the Conservatives are God's party for this election. They've also told me that Paul Martin and the Liberals are enemies of God, mostly because of their position on same-sex marriage and abortion. (I have to admit that Martin tends to dismiss and demonize anyone who agrees with him on these issues.)

I'm always surprised when Christians get too excited about any political party. Faith should enter into our politics, but no Christian party is going to win this election, nor would I want them to. We live in a pluralistic democracy, not a theocracy, and I don't long for a return to Christendom. Constantine should have taught us something.

The people I talk to usually raise two issues:

• Abortion - Marc writes:

  There are two different messages that I would like to issue to the Canadian public:

  1. To conservative evangelicals: abortion is not an issue in this election or at all at a governmental level.

  2. To left-leaning Canadians: abortion is not an issue in this election or at all at a governmental level.

  How about everybody stops hinging their votes and non-votes on a non-issue?

  I'd love to see an intelligent debate on third-trimester abortion one day - something that should be discussed even if you are pro-choice - but in this election, it's not even on the table.

• Same-sex marriage - I'd prefer civil unions, but this issue raises questions for me about Christian faith in a pluralistic society.

Greg Paul said a couple of things yesterday that are worth thinking about:

• "The Bible calls us to live by Biblical standards, not to impose these standards on other people." I often wonder why we spend so much time trying to get those who aren't Christians to live by Christian standards, especially when we have our hands full trying to conform our own lives to Biblical standards.
• "If you want to vote as a Christian, which party represents the greatest window of hope for the poor? That is what is primary in God's economy." Greg went on to say that people who take this question seriously might end up voting for any of the major parties, but that is the issue we should care about as Christians.

So no party is God's party, but faith sure enters into the decisions we make at the ballot box. And the concern isn't about making Canada a Christian country - that is not the government's job, and it never turns out very well. The concern is that we have a just government that allows us to lead "quiet and peaceable lives" and that is just toward the most vulnerable members of our society.

Gary Bergel writes:

Recognizing that we have a kingdom destiny, that we are sown by Christ to be the "good seed" of the new order (Mt 13:38), let us consider how we can adopt a kingdom focus as we relate to the world around us. I believe the hour is upon us—as it came upon Joshua when he looked to enter Jericho (Josh. 5:13-15)—to repent of all partisan, sectarian, and "pet" doctrinal and political persuasions; to humbly regather ourselves unto the person of Christ; and to pray in a simple but wholehearted way, "Thy kingdom come!" For, biblically, this is our primary and transcendent mandate for prayer.

TheStar.com - Liberal switches camps:

In a defection designed to damage Liberal candidate Michael Ignatieff, the president of his Liberal riding association in Etobicoke-Lakeshore endorsed Conservative rival John Capobianco yesterday.

The controversial process by which Ignatieff was acclaimed the candidate over local hopefuls - ruled ineligible by the party at a raucous meeting Nov. 30 - was a major factor in the decision, said Ron Chyczij, who sought the nod himself.

After the nomination fiasco, I've purposely waited on the sidelines to see if Michael Ignatieff can in some way redeem himself as a credible Liberal candidate," Chyczij said in a statement."This has not happened."

I've see people predict a Liberal win in my riding or that it's too close to call, but nobody has suggested a Conservative win in my riding quite yet.

It's election day on Monday here in Canada. I usually try to avoid going into politics on this blog, even though I do have my opinions. Do I ever.

Let's just say that there's one party that I'd find hard to support in this election. Nevertheless, it's always a hard decision to make, especially as you consider all the options. I am in an interesting riding, with a superstar candidate rumored to be a future Liberal leader running after being parachuted in.

So here are my predictions for the results on Monday. I predict a Harper minority with the following breakdown of seats:

Conservative - 120
Liberal - 111
Bloq - 53
NDP - 23
Independent - 1

I'm predicting more Liberal seats than a lot of people. We'll see if I'm right. It should be an interesting night on Monday.

Martin pledges to mend Canada-U2 relations.

STRATHROY, ON (CS) - Speaking to reporters in Strathroy, Ontario today, Prime Minister Paul Martin promised to establish high-level diplomatic relations with the pop group, U2. Martin's pledge follows a public dispute last year with U2-lead-singer Bono over Canada's commitment to foreign aid spending. "My administration will build a stronger relationship with Canada's loudest trading partner," said Martin. "We will work toward a Canada-U2 pact covering such mutual issues as: how to dismantle an atomic bomb."