Going dark

The CP notes Stephen Harper's interesting reaction to the last weekend of the campaign, as the Con leader is now refusing all requests from the national media:

Stephen Harper, anxious to protect his party's lead heading into Monday's vote, has cut off news conferences with the national media.

The Conservative leader brushed aside questions from reporters as he campaigned in the Liberal stronghold of Toronto.

His spokeswoman, Carolyn Stewart Olsen, says Mr. Harper no longer has time for formal question-and-answer periods.

Still, the Tory leader says open, accountable government will be one of his top priorities if he becomes prime minister.

As if there was any doubt, the tactic makes it all the more clear that Harper's vision of openness and accountability means revealing only whatever truth will help the Con cause. But leaving that aside, it's also hard to see how the move will help the Cons in the election.

After all, the national media which Harper now refuses to speak to still has a couple of days to report on the campaign before Canadians go to the polls. And Harper's unwillingness to deal with them could readily lead to more reporting on the Cons' general strategy of avoiding public scrutiny than there's been so far in the campaign. Surely a couple more days worth of well-coached soundbites would be preferable to the risk in amplifying Canadians'concerns about what the Cons have hidden...unless Harper doesn't even trust himself to stay reined in until the end of the weekend.