OSHAWA, Ont. - Jack Layton spent the final day of the election campaign preaching to the converted and praying that the NDP vote holds together in Tuesday's general election.
The final polling snapshot of the election on Monday suggested the New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois were the only parties with slight momentum heading to the ballot box.
But that surge -- even under the best scenario -- would only deliver Layton a handful more seats than the 30 New Democrats held at the dissolution of Parliament.
It won't deliver him to the Prime Minister's Office, as he capriciously declared on Day 1, or the keys to Stornoway as leader of the Official Opposition.
Throughout the campaign, Layton has stubbornly refused to concede that his party was not going to form the next government.
"Oh, have you counted the ballots already?" Layton fired back when reporters asked him why he was sticking to that whimsical claim.
"Let's just say, it is very rare that polls are the results on election day. There's always an explanation as to why the polls aren't right. I look forward to yours on Wednesday morning."
He also refused to speculate about whether the NDP would participate in some kind of left-leaning coalition to usurp the Conservatives, deferring those questions until the day after the election.
Layton spent the last day on the campaign trail rallying NDP supporters in several Toronto-area ridings, urging them to get out the vote.
But the usual stump-speech refrain that he's "running to be prime minister" was eclipsed in the final weekend by an economic message aimed at the NDP's bread and butter -- working families and middle-class voters.
"I believe this is going to be a time when Canadians are going to be making a very important choice about who's going to be on their side when they wake up after the election has concluded," Layton told 100 campaign workers in Oshawa, Ont., a blue-collar town reeling under the weight of auto sector job losses.
"I think that's what this election is boiling down to: who's going to be on people's side, who's going to be on your side."
In the last two campaigns, Layton faced a last-minute panic as supporters stampeded towards the Liberals in order to halt the momentum of the Tories.
That doesn't appear to be happening this time.
Bruce Anderson, president of Harris-Decima, said much of the credit goes to Layton's more polished, confident message -- one that NDP admittedly cribbed from U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama and the Democrats.
The public also appears to be underwhelmed by Stephane Dion and Stephen Harper, he said.
"The alternatives for many voters were not all that appealing; even if they find (Layton) over the top sometimes, it wasn't enough to shake loose his party's votes as in the past," he said Monday.
The recent stock market meltdown, the gutting of Ontario's manufacturing sector and general uncertainty over the economy have also helped nudge the NDP forward.
It's given Layton an opening to cast Harper as aloof and uncaring when it comes to understanding the plight of ordinary, middle-class families.
Layton has pulled a few symbolic stunts over the course of the campaign to emphasize the differences between himself and Harper.
He touched down in Harper's Calgary riding to drop off his resume for the prime minister's job, flew low over the Alberta oilsands to highlight environmental concerns and whistlestopped through Ontario towns devastated by boarded-up factories.
Behind it all is a broader message that seems to have resonated with voters, especially in the country's devastated manufacturing heartland.
"The NDP could really be a factor in southwestern Ontario," Anderson said.
Layton said he gets the same sense.
"A lot of Canadians are still thinking this through -- that is what I am hearing -- and many of them have their doors open to the New Democratic Party; many more people than we've ever had in our history."
