Thank you, Mr. Harper

So much for the theory that Harper would need 8 weeks to really damage his party, as he's already dedicating his media attention to publicly fighting lost battles:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would try to reinstate the traditional definition of marriage if Parliament supported the move in a free vote.

Harper says he would not rein in cabinet ministers as Paul Martin did last summer when Parliament legalized same-sex weddings.

The Tories would restore the traditional definition of marriage - between one man and one woman - if that's what MPs decide.

This is great news for the NDP. While Harper's speech yesterday already seemed more aimed at the Con base than at swing voters, the decision to make this the Cons' first message of the campaign makes it all the more clear that there's no risk of the Cons getting their strategy together sufficiently to win anything close to a majority. And with the Cons firmly entrenched in second place with no upward momentum, the NDP/Lib swing vote has no reason to panic its way into Martin's camp as it did in 2004.

(Via Babble.)