so, if you already think that wynne is some kind of evil villain, you're of course going to interpret her premature concession as some kind of a nefarious plot.

i think it's just a realistic analysis of the situation: her internal polling indicated to her that the liberals will be in a third-party role in the next government. canada doesn't have a two-party system; third parties have defined purposes and roles. and, third parties run elections differently than first or second parties do.

i think she should have run as a third party from the start - i made that point clear.

do i think it will make liberals more likely to vote conservative to block the ndp? well, that doesn't actually make any sense. not in the 905. not in the 416. what policies do the conservatives support that liberals would prefer over the ndp? and, if you preferred ford over horwath, why are you still intending to vote for wynne days before the election? the liberals have far more in common with the ndp than the conservatives, nowadays - partly because the ndp have moved a lot to the right. this is logic that's twenty years out of date. that said, there may be some lingering liberal support that's still voting against bob rae, but you'd think it's pretty muted, at this point - and likely not enough to matter much of anywhere. i'm not buying into that, and i don't think the liberal strategy is that meta - if anything, it's demonstrated itself as fairly shallow.

if i want to read an angle into it, i might suggest that kathleen wynne has come to terms with the benefits of retirement. she turned 65 the other day, you know.