Timing of election puts extra pressure on parties

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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OTTAWA - Many Canadians will have more than drumsticks and pumpkin pie to dig into this weekend as political debate elbows its way to the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Today, political parties will be scrambling to get their closing messages out before the electorate shifts focus from headlines to turkey.

Harris-Decima pollster Alain Cusson said parties better be prepared for the long weekend, especially since about 18 per cent of Canadian voters were still undecided at the start of the week.

Cusson said it's critical that leaders generate positive momentum they can ride until election day.

"(Today) is a very important day because it leaves a trace in the minds of people that will follow them through the weekend."

Some analysts believe that supper-time family chats during the break for Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's at the midway point of the January 2006 election campaign helped nudge the Tories to victory.

But McGill University political scientist Antonia Maioni said she doubts "turkey talk" will have the same impact this time around because it's so close to the end of the campaign. "I think it's a little late in the game," she said.

"This is the moment where all politics becomes local, where it's all about getting out the vote, it's all about how people feel about their local candidates ... that's really important in the last few days."