In House: the state of the campaign

Where do the parties stand one week out from the election? Our In House panelists, the National Post's Andrew Coyne and CBC News Network's host of Power & Politics Rosemary Barton, are here to discuss.

The Conservatives:

AC: The Conservatives seem to have hit a plateau. It's a real question whether they can get their numbers any higher. I think they really need to get back on the economy and the TPP if they're going to have any chance of getting any higher than they are now.

RB: Yes, I agree. They need to refocus on the economy and the things they've done for Canadians, whether that's lower taxes or create jobs. It was almost every day this week they either got knocked off message, or they willingly fell off message, and I think that set them back in a way that could be problematic in the week ahead. But people also need to remember they have a very efficient vote, they're good at getting the vote out, and if they can do that, maybe that will be enough to carry them.

AC: Stephen Harper isn't an asset to the party anymore. He once was, but you look at the polls and he has an unfavourable rating of 60 per cent plus. I think the whole niqab thing has put a lock on that.

The New Democrat Party:

RB: In the beginning, Tom Mulcair was the best part of the NDP. He was always polling ahead, he was a huge part of their brand and they were happy to advertise him. I still think he is an asset to the party overall. I think they've run out of runway though, in terms of what they can do. The party is tacking so far to the left now because they're just trying to hold onto what they have, and it's begun to look a little bit desperate, to be honest. 

AC: You talk about a "period of difficulty" for the NDP — that was very diplomatically put. They've been on a pronounced swoon since late August. They ran what they thought was going to be a two-horse race, but they got outflanked by the Liberals on a number of issues, notably the deficit issue. I do think Mulcair's personal leadership numbers have shown a serious decline. I don't think he's warmed well to the public and that people felt he was making a compelling reason why he needed to be the Prime Minister.

RB: I actually think something happened in terms of trying to box him in too tightly. There wasn't enough recognition [by the party] that he should be allowed to be who he is. I think that's hurt him, and it's hurt the party.

AC: There's a lesson there — you can't try to be what you're not in politics. There was a fundamental kind of falseness to the NDP campaign of trying to present themselves as a moderate party that believed in balanced budgets. That was a hard sell, and trying to sell nice, cuddly Tom. He'd earned a certain respect as the prosecutor-in-chief in Parliament and I think he would have been better advised to stick with that.

The Liberals:

RB: I think they made a number of tactical decisions that made sense: the deficit, the F-35s, releasing the platform before anyone else. Is it enough for people to believe that [Justin Trudeau] could become Prime Minister? I don't know if he's made that sell, but I don't know if anybody has.

AC: It's the old "expectations game." I don't think there's any doubt that Trudeau is the story of this campaign. The Tories wound up more or less where they started, but the Liberals have risen steadily, and a lot of that has to be put on the performance of their leader. This is a completely new phenomenon, to have someone who is basically the dauphin, the son of a previous Prime Minister, and that has many implications. He has remarkable self-assuredness for a rookie opposition leader. That gets him into trouble — he tries to sound profound when he isn't, but one consequence of that is a willingness to take risks, to shrug off attacks from other parties. These strengths that he's shown I think are real assets to the party.

RB: I do think there are areas where there should been more scrutiny — the cuts in their platform, the issue around the TPP, it's still a really mushy position where they're straddling the fence — the level of scrutiny could and should get more intense for them this week.