According to Harper, allowing May in the debates would amount to having a "second Liberal candidate," which he said was unfair.
NDP campaign spokesman Brad Lavigne confirmed Layton's refusal to attend with May present, and for the same reason.
"We said that if the Liberals were going to have two representatives, we would not accept the invitation."
Jack Layton looks increasingly like a Harper wannabe. Alpha monkey says he won't play because May and Dion aren't running party candidates in each others' ridings. Ergo, May is a Liberal in sheep's clothing. Beta monkey mimics the same line.
By this reasoning - we can't call it 'logic' -, not just May, but also Dion and Harper should be excluded:
- Dion, because he was the other side of that agreement. Which means, according to the argument used by Harper and Layton, Dion is a Green in Liberal clothing. Therefore, with Dion and May in the debates there'd have been two Green candidates. If May is to be excluded for purportedly being a Liberal in Green clothing, then Dion should be excluded for being a Green in Liberal clothing.
- Harper, because the Conservatives aren't running a candidate in a Quebec riding in which a popular Independent MP is running for re-election. By Harper's own reasoning, as mimicked by Layton, this makes Harper an Independent, not a Conservative. And we all know that Independents are not allowed in the debates!
This leaves Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton to debate each other... Cue the crickets.
NB: This is a duplicate of a post written at 10:00 AM this morning. The original was not picked up by Progressive Bloggers, which means the following link wasn't working. Please vote, here and in the election!
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