I hope you're not just looking for a number in the form of a percentage. While the percentage is finalizing its shape and in the right direction, the much more interesting story is what's at stake and the strategies still at play, in all the camps.

First debates are like game one in a best-of-seven Stanley cup quarter-final. All sides are only too happy to discover a pace, test the waters, and fine-tune the strategy before the holy unleashing occurs in game two and beyond. The political battle over London North Centre is no different. The gloves started to come off at the second debate, but these were pretty tame gauntlets by any other election's standards. That's either a testament to Londoners non-appetite for American style campaigning, or, this particular set of candidates is setting a good example for Question Period.

It's not that battles and wars weren't waged, rather it's that three of the four actors were more strategic than blatantly obvious. The same subliminal message that would have gotten across even in a mud-fest, still landed, as hoped, and with the desired effect. Bravo!

Was the messaging 3 against 1? You can bet your left sock it was. Did the one tell it like it is, while the other three hoped voters wouldn't notice? Throw in the right sock too.

But which message did Londoners absorb? That's the $64,000 data cell that for some is still in figurative turmoil and reflecting hard upon itself. For others, it's a no-brainer. Directionally, however, it's all good. Only the clock now decides if it's going to be friend or foe.   

There were, count'em, seven candidates in this race; three of them irritatingly distracting, and one of them simply irritating. For absolute certain, the outcome in this by-election will, without doubt, be determined by voter appetite and predisposition to absorb one versus the other message. The significance of these two drastically different messages is the crux of this post.

But what election doesn't have its juicy subplots? So let's dispense with these first, and then focus on the issue of true national significance that everyone is talking about, and which Londoners May or May not get.

Diane Haskett

I think I genuinely feel badly for Diane Haskett. Her only crime, other than being PMO road-kill and the rumoured circumstances under which she left the mayor's chair, or rather that it left her, is that she's lived/worked in Washington the past 6 years until a month or so ago. Or, as she insists, in Virginia, which according to Ms. Haskett isn't really Washington. It's a suburb and, well, that doesn't count.

Megan Walker

I thought it was simply NDP. Apparently not. Apparently it's pronounced N---D---P with the final note held in competition with Andrea Bocelli. Elsewhere in Jack's constitution, members must be expected to say it five times per minute or 106 time per debate. It's like going to McDonald's and ordering only fries; invariably the order taker's response is "...would you like fries with that?"  Well, something like that, only worse. Here, listen for yourself. 

Glen Pearson

Now here's a guy I actually like. His wife's name is Jane. We learned that early on. He's a decent man. All firefighters are and you can't say nasty things about the person running the food bank. At least not without chancing collateral damage.

Next time I'm in Calgary and Vancouver doing focus groups, I'm going to try that one. "Hi, my name is Dan Baril, I am your moderator tonight, I live in Oakville ... no, no, no, Toronto's just a suburb, I swear"  and see if westerners hate Toronto any less.

The media was merciless with Ms. Haskett, as was one of the debate questioners on the same sex marriage issue. The post-debate media scrum after the televised portion featured a particularly bloodthirsty crew of journalists. Perhaps because the televised debate was held in a pub where inhibition wasn't on tap. There was no forgiveness, whatsoever, that Ms. Haskett, either by design or for really bad reason, a no-show at the UWO Health and Environment debate the previous night. A sampling of the carnage can be heard here.

But what I like best about Glen Pearson is that he really likes Elizabeth May. He even "pulls for her all the way that she gets into the house"  is what he told me in a post televised debate interview. Click Here.

For the most part Glen Pearson is a pretty cool cucumber. Not easily frazzled. At least not until Elizabeth May prodded him with "one more Liberal seat or one more NDP seat won't make any difference."  That's when the well trained demeanor cracked.

To me personally, Mr. Pearson told me he "wasn't happy" with what Elizabeth said. To Elizabeth, at the radio debate, he leaned over and whispered his expressed wish she'd stop saying it altogether.

A similar wished expression Mr. Pearson obliged upon a David Burghardt had the desired effect, and rightly so. We were all pleased to see there is no place on Mr. Pearson's team for sexist comments about there being no place for a woman's voice in politics. However, asking a recipient of the Order of Canada and a woman of Ms. May's experience, intellect and insights not to voice her considered opinion on the inner workings of parliament is, in my view, more than just a little concerning.

Mr. Pearson seemingly has no difficulty, whatsoever, holding up for all to see in a debate Ms. May's GP2 Report, and announcing he will take it to Stephane Dion and ensure a Liberal government would implement that which - reading between the lines - Mr. Pearson implies the Green Party, whose leader happens to be a woman, couldn't possibly accomplish because they have no seats. Mr. Pearson is therefore condemning Ms. May and her parties non-status in the house exactly where he wants it, with no voice.  

I am not, for a minute, suggesting Mr. Pearson's opinion would be any different if the leader of the Green Party was a man. I am quite certain this is sheer coincidence. However, Elizabeth May has every right, and even an obligation, to tell Londoners and Canadians what she believes any particular arrangement of the seats in the house May, or May not achieve for London and for Canada.

Mr. Pearson has absolutely no right asking Ms. May to silence her voice on the single most important issue in this election simply because, as we say in French, "la vérité choque." 

To hear what Elizabeth May said to get Glen Pearson's knickers in a knot, click here.      

The more substantive issue surrounding Megan Walker is what she claims t-e-a-m N-D-P can accomplish over everyone else. For every utterance of the word t-e-a-m, is the subliminal message, we suppose, the NDP is somehow everything the Conservatives and Liberals aren't.

We've been hearing this claim for a long-long time, and the evidence isn't obvious. Certainly not nationally. And provincially here in Ontario at least, we had our fill of NDP Rae-days and NDP Rae-bucks. If one thing is clear, at this juncture, it's the NDP track record on finance which the country doesn't need right now.

Isn't it time someone else be what the Conservatives and Liberals aren't without threatening National bankruptcy? Okay, so maybe the entire $15 Billion surplus didn't all need to go to the Debt. That's true. But it didn't all need to go to increased government spending either, and raised taxes the year after that.         

A lady full of hugs and a genuine smile that never stops; and not one of those pasted-on smiles I see at my daughters' dance competitions. But as I reflect upon the past week, there were a half-dozen moments I could easily say were special and utterly defining.

The best of which, for me, was a moment very few got to see and hear. As fluke would have it, Susan - Elizabeth's driver and long and trusted friend - and I were there when that special moment occurred, and I just happened to be recording.  

No, it wasn't a crushing blow aimed at Stephen Harper during one of the debates, nor was it the man who yesterday after chatting with Elizabeth for only 2 minutes asked for a Green party membership. Yes, she has that effect on people. Like Garth Turner, but less prickly.

Indeed, it was a one-of-a-kind moment, and it speaks to a quality in Elizabeth May that I've always seen in Garth. They both have it. It's that ability to just let it all hang out. It wasn't rehearsed and it most certainly wasn't simply a politically correct answer. It was just a pure, unadulterated and genuine answer to a tough-tough question.

While speaking to the Sisters of Saint Joseph, at Mount St. Joseph's, one of the Sisters asked "...so what's your position on abortion and gay marriage?"  

I had one set of fingers grasping for the handle on my briefcase ready to bolt, while the fingers on my other hand had dialed the 9 and the 1, but suddenly minutes later everything was okay. The perfect answer flowed. But that perfect answer was perfect not because it gave the sisters what they wanted to hear. On the contrary. It was perfect because it was 100% honest, it was 100% from the heart, and the Sisters, 100% of them I believe, got that.

This is what Elizabeth answered to the Sister that asked: click here.

I've already referred to it briefly above, but on Monday, the voters in London North Centre are going to choose between one of two very different messages. It is a choice, I believe, is of significant importance and of national consequence.

The serene Mr. Pearson,  peek-a-boo Haskett,  and  Megan  Walker of the N--D--P will disagree with me; but, ONE MORE Liberal seat in the house of commons, or ONE MORE Conservative seat in the house of commons, or ONE MORE N-D-P seat in the house of commons, WON'T make ANY difference. But ONE Green seat will make a difference, both optically and in practice.  

Easy Mr. Pearson, take a valium, don't go having a controlled aneurism over that last statement. I state only fact. It has nothing to do with the competence or incompetence of any of the candidates. As posted last week, the candidates are mostly all competent enough. However, London choosing Elizabeth May has everything to do with how our parliamentary system can and will work in the future. Still not convinced? Keep reading.

The Bloc with 10% support has 51 seats. The NDP with 15% support has 29 seats. Does anyone truly believe one more of those seats is truly going to make a difference? The fact Mr. Pearson becomes so agitated whenever hearing this argument is proof-positive even he knows of its legitimacy. "Me thinks thou doth protest too much" comes to mind.

But that's not all that came to mind, or to the riding these past two weeks in defense of the old guard. So fearful of Elizabeth May getting a seat and the floodgates opening thereafter, that surging Green party polls saw the riding blessed with not one, but all of the Liberal party leaders. Yup, Bill-Iggy-Bob-Steph and Jack all showed up in the riding this week. Okay, so technically Jack isn't a Liberal ... I'm trying to bring this blog to a close. I heard too that even Justin was in town; no, not Timberlake. It makes me wonder though. Was Repentigny as well represented?  I wonder why not?

So Londoners, with a day to go which message are you buying?

Are Londoners drinking the Kool-Aid that one more Liberal or one more NDP backbencher somehow holds, in the balance, London's and Canada's future? For her part, Diane Haskett claims she's 'never been in a Party and has always been a free and independent thinker not afraid to speak her mind.'   Yup, that'll fit right in with Stephen Harper and the PMO. How long was Ms. Haskett in Washington, I mean Virginia, and when did she return?

If I may be so bold to leave Londoners with one final and very crucial thought.

For fun and instead of giving the Liberals or NDP one more seat now on a go-forward basis, let's go back 10 months. Let's figuratively go back 10 months and gift parliament with either of Glen Pearson, Megan Walker, or even Diane Haskett. Are these fine individuals suggesting had they been in parliament these past 10 months, the Clean-Air-Act would be any cleaner? Would hospital wait times be any shorter? Would income trusts be still untaxed? Would our role in Afghanistan have better definition? Would Quebec be or not a Nation next week?

With all due respect to Glen Pearson and Megan Walker, had you been there since January 23, I think it is presumptuous at best and naive at worst, to think Rona Ambrose-Harper would have paid any more attention to you than she ignored everyone else. The tradeoff would still involve vomiting CO2 into the atmosphere in return for a block vote of an entirely different culture. As for Diane Haskett, but of course, she was hand-picked by the PMO out of Washington because of her independence of thought, I'm sure.

One need look no further than the impact of a garth.ca to see what one single MP can accomplish. Has anyone crossed the floor since Emerson? Do we or don't we have income splitting for pensioners? Is income splitting for families not just around the corner? Will the Prime Minister and his personal photographer ever again spend $85 Million rescuing Canadians of convenience? Yes London, one lonely guy in Halton has done this, and more. Just think what an Elizabeth May, on an equal footing and all that she represents, could accomplish.

'C'mon Harold, it's 6 months, it's a hockey season for goodness sakes, just do it;'  vote for Elizabeth May, and if you do not like her, you can soon-enough vote for Pearson-Walker in the spring!