Election fever is in the air as the Conservatives have launched their Edmonton campaign. All the big stars are on the signs…with one conspicuous absence: Stephen Harper.

Luckily, rising Conservative star Rona Ambrose explained the omission:

Conspicuously absent from the signs is any mention of embattled party leader Stephen Harper. But the local candidates said the omission has more to do with north/south relations than with Harper’s flagging popularity.

“You know how Edmonton feels about Calgary,” kidded Rona Ambrose, MP for Edmonton-Spruce Grove.

Phfewf! I thought for a second the Conservatives had concluded Ken Epp had more voter appeal than Stephen Harper – luckily there’s a rational explanation for the absence.

Still…I guess this opens the door for Toronto Liberal MPs to use the “Montreal-Toronto” rivalry as an excuse for the absence of “Team Martin” signs in the GTA this election.