Article content continued

There’s no doubt Harper enjoys the job or he wouldn’t be running again. Very few leaders step down until they are forced to by reality or other threats. Most of them probably look back on the worst days in office as being more fulfilling than many of the best days afterward.

But even after a win, Harper would have to acknowledge that he would be pressing his luck to try for another term. So why not borrow a page from David Cameron (the British prime minister, not the Senators coach) and say right up front that this will be his last campaign?

Cameron announced early in the recent U.K. campaign that if he was re-elected he would serve a full five-year term (the next fixed election date in Britain is in 2020). “The job is half done,” Cameron told the BBC in March. “I want to finish the job.” But he said he would not run again for a third term. “There definitely comes a time when a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership would be good,” he said.

Harper is a polarizing figure, but he’s more experienced and, to some Canadians, a safer choice than Justin Trudeau. If he makes it clear that he’ll step aside before the next election, it could mitigate some inevitable voter fatigue and give comfort to undecided voters that they are not sustaining a never-ending dynasty by giving him a final mandate.

It’s clear the sentiment is one that even the Conservatives have considered. Their most recent attack ad cleverly acknowledges that voters are already thinking ahead to life after Harper. Regarding Trudeau’s lack of experience, one actor in the commercial says, “I’m not saying no forever. But not now.”