Re: Globe Editorial: More flip-flops from Harper.
Face it, Conservatives are bound to sweep a majority and we'll be left out in the cold. Just desserts.
This is what your crystal ball tells you? Sure, the Conservatives have their best chance to get into power as a majority now. However, I would not consider this as a certainty. This is a new government, and holding off an election as long as possible may be a great benefit for both the Liberals and the NDP. What many voters want is stability, and if the party in power offers that, they will likely receive some votes for that reason alone. If they begin to look arrogant, particularly as a minority, the damage can be extreme.
Here is the part you are missing in your analysis. The Conservatives are likely to be undone by taking up radical positions that don't respect the views of a majority of Canadians. Canada's diversity and desire for stability and accomodation makes it increasingly difficult to weigh one large group of people against another. People in this country dislike seeing the wealthy get a free ride just because they are wealthy, and don't enjoy having their "live and let live" attitude come to be questioned by government policies that don't reflect that approach to life. People want a stable and fair society; and generally speaking are not interested in pitting conservative social beliefs against that workable and tested live and let live approach.
The Conservatives, if they want to stay in power, have to become more middle of the road. That is their key to being the government for a long time. That means giving up the more extremist policies and favouring the centre ever more. And that means looking more like the Liberals than they may want to admit to.
The greatest successes of the Conservative party in the latter half of the twentieth century came during the existence of the Progressive Conservatives. The present Conservative party may find themselves needing that progressive element if they are to make headway in urban areas. Any quick review of Stephen Harper's beliefs of the past and what he speaks of today shows that either his attitude is maturing, or that he is just keeping is more extreme beliefs under cover. If he chooses to expose these beliefs in a majority government, it probably will be at his own peril.
Canada is nation of radical centrists. Any party that understand this has a chance at forming a majority in the federal parliament.