09 10 17	A.S. 99.232.162.133
One wonders how things might have transpired in '08 had Garth Turner remained a Tory, or at least had he sat out the election and not allied himself with any party--maybe not a Dufferin-Caledon style blowout, but a 2:1 margin wouldn't have been out of the question. Theoretically, and according to past (and current provincial cf. Ted Chudleigh's '07 squeaker) patterns, this should be increasingly within the Liberal-friendly inner-GTA orbit...well, Liberal-friendly in the Chretien-Martin-McGuinty sense. And in such an event, Lisa ?Tabitha Vixx? Raitt's sexy-isotope flubs'd make for sexy targeting. But all in all, the bigger contentiousness about Raitt remains her Toronto Port Authority past; and in that light, given her representation, she's the perfect ?flight from 416? Tory, whose constituents don't give a hoot about what the David-Millerite T-Dot chattering class thinks. She might as well be as safe as the equally flub-prone Gordon O'Connor at this point; and all the more so in the future in case redistribution carves out Oakville North/Milton South bulwarks for the Grits to frolic in...
	09 09 28	PY 74.15.64.75
MF, you don't know that for sure with regards to how Lisa Raitt is actually perceived by the constituents of Halton. There's a definite Liberal/Conservative split in this riding, as demonstrated by the dancing votes for Gary Carr (provincial PC to federal Liberal) and Garth Turner (federal PC to present-day Conservative, as it were, to Liberal). If I remember right, Turner once said that the key to the riding is that part of Oakville that happens to be in it, so if enough of them go a certain way, then the seat can be had. The isotope outburst could cast doubts in the minds of some as to whether Raitt is actually capable of conducting herself appropriately as a Minister of the Crown...but as I mentioned above, it might just depend on the Oakville-based constituents to decide whether she's really up to the task or out of her depth.
	09 09 13	MF 74.15.66.240
I'm going to predict that Halton will stay Conservative. It is a well-off exurban riding and voted Tory in '06 (even if Garth Turner later defected to the Liberals), and then went Tory by a huge margin last year. Lisa Raitt may have her detractors but ?isotope-gate? is ancient history and most of the people who really dislike her live in downtown Toronto.
	09 09 07	Derek Cullan 99.255.229.144
I think Lisa will win this seat again. Considering her high profile, she remains a good local rep and is active in Halton. Although she wasn't at our daughters graduation, she provided us with a congratulatory certificate- a very nice touch.
	09 08 25	R.O. 209.91.149.139
This is no doubt a growing riding but still at its roots is the halton area , a region which has historically been good for the conservatives at the federal and provincial levels which partly explains why its 2 past liberal mp's actually had progressive conservative roots. Lisa Raitt is also a well liked mp and other than the isotope issue had a successful first year in Ottawa . The liberals i think without Garth Turner or Gary Carr aren't as well position as before. Now they do have a new candidate Deborah Gillis who was appointed by Ignatieff and who is suppose to be high profile but i've followed federal politics closely for the last decade and never heard of her or has she run before anywhere to my knowledge.
	09 08 25	wyatt 24.235.142.160
Raitt will hold this seat. She did very well in '08, winning by more than 7,800. She'll definitely have a fight on her hands with the isotope issue, but the longer the delay before the next election, the less of an issue it will be. The electorate has a very, very short memory.
	09 08 22	Dr Bear & Prof Ape 70.30.37.38
A while back we were commenting on how Lisa Raitt, along with Leona Agliukkaq, brought some much needed class, charm and decorum to the front benches of the Conservative party (and to the House of Commons as a whole)...and then less than a week later the sexy isotope thing happened. Regardless, this incident will not be Lisa Raitt's downfall as it is already largely forgotten and she still comes off as classy and dignified. If anything, her downfall will be from a strong Liberal candidate in this politically split riding. There was no great Liberal voter sit out here in 2008 (actually more votes were cast than in 2006...however this riding is growing rapidly). We're calling TCTC for now but we think Lisa has the edge.