Who knows what tomorrow tonight brings....?

In about 12 hours the first vote results will start showing, most of these will be from inconsequential little polling stations and people who voted early. About a half hour to an hour later we'll start getting the serious results from the bigger, more important regions. Unlike most provincial elections in the last 10 years, I think that the full results won't be completely known until very very late (or early).

Those of you who know me, or those of you who read this semi regularly, know that I hold an election on par with the World Cup. It's like a religious event. How important is it? I'm about to start on diet to lose some weight that I've been carrying around for far too long. I've decided to only start on Tuesday so I can eat chips and drink a few beers on Monday while watching.

I love elections. LOVE THEM.

Except this one. I fucking well hate this election. With a passion. I hate the choices that face me, I hate each and every one of the leaders, I hate that everyone outside of Quebec seems to think that the only thing that matters is that we vote in a federalist government (NEWS FLASH: Charest sucks. He's a dink. If you like him so much you take him back at the federal level.), I hate the nasty, brutish tone of ethnic identity politics that all three main parties have been playing to varying degrees, I hate that we're going to violate the charter (probably), federal law (for sure) and our own electoral laws (OH, BUT IT'S AN EXCEPTION!) about identification at the polls, I hate that the soverigntist old guard cares more about a leader that prostrates himself before the alter of "referendum NOW!" than about kicking an inept idiot intent on messing with every social program he can reach, and Dumont? God I hate him the most.

And do you know what scares me? What fills me with dread? The Quebec electorate loves change. They just can't get enough of it. They also like giving the little/new guy a chance. They love that as well. Consequences be damned. Who cares about the future! FULL SPEED AHEAD! Well the little guy in this election isn't Charest. And it isn't Boisclair. Nope. No sir. It's Dumont. Paul Well's had an interview with an unnamed Liberal candidate that he talks about in this blog entry (The whole thing is really interesting, please read it). The bit that is on topic is this "One Liberal candidate was very comfortable throughout a long chat, until I mentioned there's a high number of undecided in the polls. He said: "I'm not sure they're undecided. I think they're ADQ." Then he quoted somebody who once said, "When the voters tighten up like clams, something big is happening.""

Just a few days before the last provincial election here a poll came out, Bernard Landry got high marks for his job performance as Premier. People seemed to like him and the PQ under him as the government. Then everyone trotted out on election day and voted Charet's Liberals in.

Look, as much as I don't like Charest, he's a known quantity. Red Tory Lite™ (heavier on the Tory, with less Red), political opportunist, a bit ham handed with the bonbons and the attempts at patronage. Prone to fits of annoyance like the whole passport for shoe podium smacking stuff from the referendum, in love with tax cuts that never seem to arrive and capable of disconnections from reality on par with leaders to the south of our fine country.

Boisclair? Also a known, he'll have to pander to this base with lots of promises of referendum etc (in this he'll be like a less talented, much less intelligent Bouchard - which is to say he'll get the boot sooner). He's another Red Tory Lite™ (heavier on the Red with less Tory), he'll go toe to toe with some of the Unions (as long as he doesn't need them), he'll probably screw the regions and actually tell some of the bigger farm business types the truth (your industry is dirty, fuck off).

Dumont? Who knows what he'll do? I'm guessing not even him. Who will he form a cabinet with? More importantly, why would anyone, anywhere think he is capable of running the province of Quebec? If you look at his bio you will discover that he's a politician. That is it. Nothing else. He has always been a politician. He doesn't seem to have had any other job. Ever. He doesn't seem to have faced much in the way of struggle (I may be wrong), basically he's been an insider of one type or another his whole life.

Last night we watched "Tout le monde en parle", one of the guests was Richard Martineau, Montreal area journalist and generally an intense shit disturber (which is to say I was in love with him immediatly). He'd just come back from a trip out in the regions with Dumont. What he said, and other have said it as well, is that there is a sense that Montreal is moving too fast, too far away from the rest of the province. That the gulf between Montreal and everywhere else, in terms of multi-culturalism, in terms of acceptance of difference etc is causing people who don't live in Montreal to freak out. This, he said, explains the turn towards the ADQ and Dumont, because they represent an old school, Lesage-era nationalism. The exact turn of phrase that he used was "The ADQ are like comfort food" (ATTENTION EARLY CONTENDER FOR BEST METAPHOR OF THE YEAR!).

Comfort food is great. Comfort food is wonderful.

Comfort food is always greasy as hell, filled with salt and will almost always lead to clogged arteries and early death.

One thing that makes me fell somewhat comforted is that Christine was telling me about articles and rumblings that a repeat of the 1976 election is in the offing. Honestly a weak PQ or PLQ minority would make me quite ... well pleased would be a strong word, but not unhappy either.

So, later today I'll pick up Lucas early from the daycare, Chris and I will meet up, and we'll all go and vote.

I'll be the one holding my nose.