And we’re off. At least I assume we are – I’m away from e-mail today and this was drafted up last night with an 11 am timestamp. I wouldn’t put it past Stephen Harper to cancel the election so as to ensure Canada’s economic recovery stays on track.

While I’ll no doubt be busy this campaign, there’s always time for election blogging. I’ll be doing a week-in-review every Sunday. I’ll try to find something interesting from Alberta to write about every Friday. Like last election, I’ll be asking you to rate commercials with “Ad Watch“. I’ll be running seat projections. There will be debate live blogs full of live snark. I’ll try to keep things light and not get too uber-partisan because, as important as elections are, blogging about them should be fun. Let’s leave the nastiness for the Tory war room.

If you’re just tuning in now, here’s what you need to catch up on:

–Election Primer (Read other election primers here, here, here, and here)
–Election Pool (And check out the James Bow election pool too)
–Election Calendar
-Rate pre-election ads here and here
-A look at the Tory platform

So, what should we expect between now and May 2nd?

I know the common consensus is this election won’t change anything. After all, Harper is flying high in the polls and none of the dozen scandals plaguing his government have Canadians protesting in the streets.

But despite this, my gut feeling is Michael Ignatieff is going to surprise people this campaign. And I say this as someone who has never been overly optimistic about Liberal chances in recent elections, and was never a big fan of Mr. Ignatieff’s during either of his leadership runs.

I’m not saying he’ll win, but he does have some things going for him. Those gloomy poll numbers have been built on two years of attack ads – during a campaign, voters will get to see Ignatieff’s side of the story. And he’s got the makings of a good story. A “family friendly” Liberal platform is going to sound a lot more appealing than corporate tax cuts or new fighter jets. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Tories are besieged by scandal.

But that’s just my gut feeling. Anyone who tells you how this election will play out is full of it. Campaigns are unpredictable and campaigns matter.

So stay tuned. It’s going to be a fun ride.