Anything is possible

Michael Byers' entire interview with the Tyee's Monte Paulsen is worth a read. But for now, let's highlight Byers' point about the opportunities in play in the ongoing federal election:

I disagree that there is very little chance the New Democrats will form a government. I think that Canadian politics is in a period of enormous flux and almost anything is possible. That's what makes it exciting.

"This is arguably the most important election in Canada for decades. And so much is changing so quickly that I don't think anyone should make any assumptions about what the outcome should be.

Indeed, it's worth noting that the situation may only have become more fluid over the past few days. Both the Cons and Libs are apparently running below their 2006 numbers, leaving a more obvious opening than there's been in a long time for some new ideas to make their way into one of the top two positions. And both obviously have room to drop further, particularly with the Cons' economic message falling apart and the Libs' perpetual infighting emerging once again.

With that background, and boosted by the best campaign of any federal party, the New Democrats are now within a plausible late-campaign surge of overtaking both. Which means that the main task now is to turn the obvious potential for real change into reality over the course of the next week - and it's not hard to understand why Byers is just one of many New Democrats excited about the possibilities.