The arrival of Jack Layton as a major player on the national scene speaks to a couple of interesting factors – the collapse of the federal Liberals and the ability of Layton to do what is usually impossible with his party – attract non-NDP votes while still mouthing the old standby one-liners the left requires leaders to mouth.

Layton, much better than Stephan Dion, has found a way to tap into the support Stephen Harper isn’t going to get. He’s also polished his act. Coming from municipal politics to the big house on the hill is never easy as Carole James is finding out in B.C. In local politics, one can reason together and compromise – that simply doesn’t happen in parliaments. It took Layton through a steep learning curve but he’s made it. Likely the major reason for this s that alone amongst the contenders, he has a sense of humour, a quality not always apparent when the NDP spends its time dolefully predicting the collapse of civilization as we’ve come to know it.

No one suggests for a moment that Layton will be prime minister now or in the near future but he may find himself as leader of the opposition and it’s taken the CCF/NDP more than 70 years to get a real sniff of that.

If Layton does become the second banana he has a glorious opportunity to get the usual balance in parliaments right, centre and left but this time with the NDP in the centre.

One thing's for sure – the New Democratic Party will not be looking for a new leader after October 14.