Pauline: Nik, Sarah, in my experience of covering elections, each one has a heartbeat, a way of unfolding that is unique — and that's part of the fascination. This election has arrhythmia!
Historically, campaigns have momentum in one direction or the other. Early on, the Conservatives were worried about peaking too soon. A couple of days ago, it looked like that was happening, with the Liberals beginning to rise and the Conservatives dropping.
But the turmoil in world markets has altogether changed the calculus. And if you factor in social networking and strategic voting, today it feels as if almost anything could happen. What do you think?
Nik: Polling aside, in trying to anticipate what will happen, a very simple rule of thumb hasn't let me down. Ask yourself who an election is about on the weekend before the vote and you can usually see who is in trouble.
In 2004. the closing days of the election were about the Harper Conservatives and they lost. In 2006 the closing days of the election were about the Martin Liberals and they lost.
The Conservatives need a strategy that will pivot the attention of voters to the Dion Liberals. I was a bit surprised not to see their advertising campaign launch with their platform.
Considering their war chest and campaign bricks and mortar, I expected a big push for the close.
My sense is that the Conservative campaign has had difficulties with the economy turning from a positive to a negative issue for them. In football terms, one could say they have a problem "reading the blitz."
Sarah Albertson lives in Vancouver where she works for an environmental group that promotes public transportation. She has always been interested in politics and, in 2002, founded a new civic party called the Dance Party Party, which was designed to get young voters involved in the electoral process. The DPP fielded two candidates in the Vancouver municipal election that year.
Pauline Couture is a journalist, author, communications consultant and public policy volunteer, careers that have taken her across Canada and around the world. Based in both Toronto and Montreal, she has worked in a range of knowledge industries from media and telecommunications to energy and financial services, with a special interest in culture.
Nik Nanos is one of Canada's most trusted pollsters and the president of Ottawa-based Nanos Research. He is the official pollster for CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, Quebecor's Sun and Osprey Media Groups and Policy Options magazine. Nanos is also a research associate professor in Canadian Studies at the State University of New York in Buffalo. 
