3 Parties and the RCMP

It can't be much fun being Paul Martin these days.

Fighting for his life against 3 vigorous opponents he can attack and the RCMP which he cannot.

Try as he might to put Gomery behind him, turn a page and move on, it seems that events beyond his control conspire to bring the morality issue back to the fore.

In a surprising preemptive move, Minister Pettigrew stepped forth yesterday to admit to receiving money under a consulting contract shortly before the referendum. He then went on to say that he was sick and tired of endless smear campaigns!

Now that was surprising in as much as no one has smeared M. Pettrigrew if only because no one knew he had received money until he came forward.

Mr. Martin seems to be carrying most of the load, some of his senior ministers will be hard put to retain their seats and his most trusted ally in the West, Ralph Goodale has been relegated to a lower profile.

I think it's all over but for the funeral, unless the Conservatives return to 2004 form and start piling up the mistakes in the last 2 weeks. But if the first part of the campaign is any indication, that's not about to happen. The polls will continue to self-fulfill, the more they show momentum for the Tories, the more momentum there will be.

At the rate they're losing support, the Liberals will be reduced to pockets of seats in the Maritimes, English Montreal and Toronto.

And Jean Chretien will having the most fun evening he's had in a long time.