There are lies, damn lies, and statistics, someone once said.

James Cudmore

Organizers of Stephen Harper's Edmonton rally Thursday night were expecting 2,000 Conservative supporters to attend. In fact, 2,000 supporters had registered to attend.

But as any good house party host knows, always invite more than you want, 'cause some folks just won't come. And that was the case in Edmonton Thursday. The hall was only about three-quarters full.

Some Conservative party officials said the crowd was hitting the 1,200 mark. But local organizers said they only recorded 1,100 entrants.

Even lower yet, the RCMP said there was barely more than a thousand. But journalists thought it was more like 700 or 800.

On the bright side, that's still more than any Harper rally to date. On thew downside, it's 800 fewer people than Conservatives were expecting. And as everyone knows, the first rule in organizing a political event is to always — always — find a room smaller than the crowd you have.

— James Cudmore