08 04 05	I'm Always Right 24.150.237.186
If former Liberal MP Russ Powers had agreed to run here again then the Liberals might have made a race of it but Powers was smart enough to forget about federal politics and instead made a safe landing as he got himself elected to Hamilton City council. Without Powers, the Liberals are going to take an awful beating. I'd look for the Green Party to make pretty good gains in this riding too.
	08 04 03	Stevo 74.14.49.219
This is hilarious! Ancaster and Dundas are ?rural, small town??? Do I'm Always Right/Peg Leg/Curley/(insert next in the series of nicknames) also believe that Markham and Thornhill are ?rural, small-town?? Since they, like Dundas and Ancaster, are smaller, suburban municipalities on the outskirts of a much larger urban centre. Anyway, as a McMaster Alum, I certainly know this riding well. Mac students are as apathetic as any others, and those that ARE politically aware often vote in their home ridings (McMaster is not a commuter school, but the bulk of the students are from Southern Ontario so the distance to return home to vote is usually not very long). The folks in Ancaster, as is often the case, are really the ones who will decide the outcome here and they took a chance on the Tories in 2006. I really don't see any reason to think that they'll switch next time around. After all, the Conservative candidate ran in 2004 as well and his religiosity was already well known. But this being such a patchwork riding, I'll withold a prediction for now.
	08 03 22	Curley, Larry and Moe 24.244.244.114
This riding has two sections to it that couldn't be more different. There's about 30 per cent of the riding that is urban, west end Hamilton. Here the NDP and the Liberals fight it out and the Conservatives are in single digits. Then there's the rest of the riding made up of rural, small town Ancaster, Dundas and Flamborough. While there is some suburban parts to these towns they are still very small town, small c conseravative in their voting patterns. David Sweet will win every poll in this section of the riding while the NDP are in single digits and the Liberals are a very poor second. Tories we talk to tell us that Sweet is building an empire in this riding and it's hard to disagree with them. Sweet will win easily.
	08 03 13	Doug The Slug 192.30.202.21
For the record, I have nothing to do with anyone else posting opinions on this site. That being dealt with, I am surprised this riding hasn't been put in the Conservative column. The Liberals don't think they can win here as clearly demonstrated by their lack of a quality candidate. That's why Sweet will have a sweet victory, again.
	08 02 29	Peg Leg Pete 99.234.197.75
Former Liberal MP, Russ Powers ran (successfully) for Hamilton City Council in the fall of 2006 because he knew he has no chance of beating David Sweet in the next election. As the only Conservative in Hamilton, Sweet gets to represent the Harper government at all the big events in the Steel City and even gets to hand out a few cheques. All of this has made him even strong than he was in 2006. The Liberals don't have a chance in this riding. I predict Sweet wins by 6000 votes this time.
	08 02 28	Dr Bear & Prof Ape 76.64.8.65
Ummm...I'm Always Right/I'm Never Wrong/Quick Draw or whatever else you call yourself these days (BTW has anyone else noticed that Doug The Slug seems to echo I'm Always Right's sentiments? Just an observation...), where do you come off calling this riding a ‘rural, small town riding’? Have you ever been here? We both have either friends or family living in this riding, so we know it well. Maybe the Flamborough part fits your ‘definition’ of this riding, but the bulk of this riding is suburban Hamilton, including Westdale (read: the student ghetto of McMaster University). The voting trends in this riding are going to be akin to other 905 suburban ridings, not rural ones. Really if you look at Ancaster it looks quite a bit like places such as Burlington. In addition, you said in your posting for London-Fanshawe, ‘London has a large university and college vote and those people understand what strategic voting is all about.’ Why would the university vote from Mac not know of (and engage in) strategic voting as well like their counterparts at UWO? There's an ever greater NDP base here than in St Catharines and you've been hammering the strategic vote thing on that discussion board like crazy (not that we buy into it that they will vote strategically). We're not saying that the CPC won't win again, just that for the 66% of the riding that is non-Flamborough, CPC policies (read: economic) and the lack luster Liberal campaign won it for Sweet. If Sweet wins again, it'll be because of Harper's good governance, not beacuse of his family values and especially not because this riding is filled with ‘rednecks’.
	08 02 23	I'm Always Right 69.49.38.86
An old fashioned, bible belter like David Sweet is a perfect fit for this riding. The rednecks in this rural, small town riding love Sweet's family values rep and there's now way he'll lose. Don't take my word for it, just look at the Liberals. They have a throw away candidate this time instead of Russ Powers and everyone knows that provincial Liberal cabinet minister, McMeekin drains every single dollar he can from the riding leaving the federal party bankrupt. David Sweet will double his margin of victory this time.
	08 02 22	Doug the Slug 192.30.202.21
Looks like a Conservative hold in this riding. The Liberals have a pathetic candidate and Sweet has bedrock support from the rural Ancaster, Dundas and Flamborough voters. As the only Conservate in Hamilton, Sweet has built up his profile over the last two years and will win easily this time. Hamilton Liberals will be busy trying to win Hamilton Mountain and Hamilton East - Stoney Creek so they won't put any bodies or money into a loser riding like this one.
	08 02 03	Ancastarian 72.38.158.55
I truly feel that David Sweet will hold this riding. If you look at the polls, David Sweet is firming up support in Ancaster. Additionally a friend of mine closely associated with the Liberals tell me their polls have Sweet’s numbers up in Westdale of all places! If this is correct then here is how I see it. Sweet will handily win Flamborough. He should do well again in Ancaster, and improve in Westdale! Couple this with a really strong local organization (you can’t fit in the guy’s office when an election is called because he musters so many volunteers), and you have a recipe for not only a Sweet victory, but an improvement over his numbers from last time. Add poor leadership manifest in the Federal Liberals, and with or without McMeekin hitting the pavement, Sweet has this one.
	07 12 20	blakegoodman 130.15.94.27
As my hometown, Ancaster has always been the educated type of conservative, interested in neoliberal tax policies, small government and anything else that let us enjoy our mass-produced mini-mansions in relative escapist comfort. What the small-l liberals that I knew were never a fan of were so-con, poor-hating, religiously-motivated government policies. Take for example, the McMeekin byelection that was the beginning of the end of the Harris regime. While Ancaster may have handed in to Sweet last time, I am doubtful (at least hopefully so) that they will see him for what he really is. If not this time, then next. It is important to note that the Liberal vote increased by almost 3000 votes last time, while in most ridings it shrank, likely the sense of urgency that inspired such a huge growth in turnout will keep many voters home, returning this riding to its more Liberal equilibrium.
	07 11 11	R.O. 66.186.79.40
not sure what effect Ted Mcmeekin's recent win here provincially will have but he is not the liberal candidate federally and there running someone new as i understand. out of the various hamilton ridings i'd say this isn't the most urban or liberal of them as it includes flamborough area but it also includes mcmaster university. anyways if david sweet could win this one last time running against a liberal mp i'd see no reason why he couldn't hold on to this one.
	07 11 01	Mountaineer 130.113.193.21
MacFarland-Vanderbeek is a weak candidate but the libs can probably take this from Sweet. The reasons are as follows: 1) as the last commenter noted, Sweet voted against supply side management, and thusly lost the farm vote 2) Sweet has never shown up to any of the Hamilton-Wentworth Federatinon of Agriculture meetings, thus losing the rest of the sector 3) Sweet promised to get Cootes declared a national park and failed. 4) He's done nothing noteworthy since being elected 5) He has a low profile 6) Liberal McMeekin has been appointed to cabinet provincially, expect him to hit the pavement hard with MacFarland-Vanderbeek as he is the most popular Liberal in the city right now. 7) The Conservative flip-flop last Sweet lots of Seniors votes and tons of votes up in Ancaster 8) McMeekin won westdale, showing very clearly that the area is not an NDP bastion....or they at least vote strategically.
	07 07 23	Steve V 65.92.48.188
David Sweet’s traditional support base in Flamborough is eroding because he voted against supply side management. The Hamilton-Wentworth Federation of Agriculture is getting angry with him. It doesn't matter who the Liberals run here, Sweet has already beaten himself by turning his back on his traditional support base. He's finished.
	07 04 07	A.S. 74.99.222.209
As mentioned, a split-up as-goeth riding and one where, with enough wind in the Conservative sails, a particular candidate's so-con kookieness needn't matter anymore--and plenty might depend on who else runs, too. One stat to note: not only did the 04-to-06 voting electorate in Westdale explode (yes, Virginia, it turns out that the ‘student vote’ *does* factor in), but the result there was a net percentage swing *to* the Liberals, and *away* from the NDP--does socialism diminish with non-permanency of residence? (That was counterbalanced by rural NDP increases, a typical '04-vs-06 pattern in Ontario; also typical was that the advance poll NDP tally was lower relative to the final total in '06 than in '04. Just for the record.)
	07 04 05	Dr Bear & Prof Ape 74.12.178.113
Where Ancaster goes is where the riding goes! Thing is right now that would probably be right back into the arms of the CPC. However with an actual election occurring God-knows-when, conservative support may wane and we could see this riding flip. Right now, we say CPC hold but it's not carved in stone yet. Keep an eye on what the good people in Ancaster do. Makes ya feel powerful, eh Ancastarian?
	07 03 30	Ancastarian 24.226.61.228
This is my home riding. Sweet should be able to hold onto it. He has incumbent advantage and he also possesses a very dedicated and highly skilled campaign team. The Conservatives are tied with the Liberals in the province (40% each), and as long as the Conservatives remain above 34% in Ontario Sweet should hold this one.
	07 03 29	M. Lunn 74.99.130.109
A rather odd riding. You have Westdale which will go NDP, Dundas will go Liberal, while Flamborough will go Conservative. The real question is which way will Ancaster go since it usually goes whichever way the riding goes. On the one hand the Tories middle class suburban budget should be quite popular there, while on the other hand David Sweet's social conservatism isn't likely to sit well there.