The Kim Campbell of the first decade of the new century.

Ouch, just when you're down on the ground, somebody else comes along and gives you a good swift kick. Richard Gwyn of the Toronto Star ( a paper that once upon a time, in a land far away found all that was holy in the Liberal party of Canada) says in his column from Friday that the Liberals may be about to enter the valley of reflection that Conservatives traveled for most of the last twenty years.

Reporting on startling numbers of a collapsing vote in the centre of the universe and a surprising positive vibe coming from Quebec, Gwyn feels that the Liberals may be heading to slaughter on January 23rd. Even worse for the Liberals, Gwyn says that the current Grits have run an even worse campaign, than the much unlamented Ms. Campbell did during her short lived time at the top. The only difference according to Gwyn is that Campbell was basically undone by Brian Mulroney, while Martin has been undone by Martin.

Gwyns take on the sudden interest in Harper is that he's finally been able to take the Conservatives into the middle, a place where the majority of Canadians feel at home. If he's correct about the impending sense of a shift of power, then there may very well be a stampede from the Liberals in nine days.

Rather than holding the middle ground that they have for the better part of a century, the Liberals may find themselves in completely new territory. The sidelines, a banishment that the Conservatives suffered for many years. The Liberals will surely not suffer the ignominy of holding only two seats, but losing their base in Quebec and Ontario will surely send shudders through the legions as they ponder their fate post January 23.