Speaking of white knuckles...

Yesterday we saw Paul Martin finally baring his white knuckles in this campaign. Well, today it's Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton who are playing hardball.

First, Layton on Martin, per the Globe & Mail:

"Paul Martin has failed the test of leadership," Mr. Layton said. "His term of office as Prime Minister, like his campaign, is about nothing. The issues he and his team are talking about in this campaign are improvised, incoherent and frequently embarrassing when they aren't offensive."

Last week, Mr. Layton suggested the election wasn't over because the Liberals are "the ultimate campaigners."

"I've been proven partially wrong," he said Friday.

And on Harper:

While he questioned Mr. Martin's leadership ability, he offered no such criticism of Mr. Harper. Mr. Layton saved his barbs for the Tory platform, pointing out that the NDP's campaign promises cost less than the Conservative plan with its $45-billion in tax cuts.

"The Conservatives want to increase income taxes on people with low incomes so that they can pay for a cut in the GST," Mr. Layton said. "That's not a tax cut. That's moonshine. And that's always the way with Tory tax cuts. They put some dollars in one pocket and then pick your other pocket to pay for it."

Now this is what I like about Layton. He may seem overly polished (maybe it's that bald pate?) to the point of phoniness at times, but he keeps saying things I agree with 100%. He often gets a"Right on!" out of me. It's like we share the same outlook on most every issue.

Sometimes I agree with Martin too, but usually only after he's wavered on an issue for a spell while figuring out exactly what Very Crucial Stance he should take on a Very Very Important Issue to get a right-on out of me (and by then, as you can see, it's lost its exclamation point).

On to Duceppe. Per the Canadian Press:

Duceppe says the Tory platform doesn't give details on how Harper would address the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces. "Where is he going to get the money?" Duceppe asked.

"If he tells us 'I'm going to deal with it but I haven't planned anything,' that doesn't have much credibility," Duceppe said while campaigning south of Quebec City.

Okay, so maybe that's not exactly white-knuckles stuff, but at least he's in the game and shining some much-deserved light on Harper's multitude of uncosted promises.

And back to Layton, it seems another BC riding is suddenly in play for the NDP. Together with the Zeisman fumble, that makes two presents in two days. At this rate, Layton must be wishing the campaign could go on until summer.

Oh God. That's almost as scary a thought as a Harper majority.

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