Jack Layton victory

VICTORIA - Orange crush? The Jack factor?
Call it what you will, Jack Layton's visits to Vancouver Island during the last election campaign drew huge enthusiastic crowds.
And in the thick of it, Layton shaking hands, beaming, and basking in a wave of popularity that would drive the NDP to official opposition.
It was a campaign that began with low expectations for the NDP leader and quiet whispers about whether the election would be his last.
At the time no one could have imagined how shockingly, almost five months to the day, that prediction would tragically come to be.
But, seemingly out of nowhere, the tide turned for the NDP.
And Layton, almost celebrating every step he took, aided by a cane as he recovered from hip surgery.
There were polls predicting a NDP win of a hundred seats.
And the unthinkable; an NDP thrashing of the Bloc in Quebec, that had political watchers across the country trying to comprehend what was happening.
By the final week of the campaign more and more people were being drawn into the NDP fold.
On Election Day, as Layton cast his own vote, history was being written right across the country; he had done what no other NDP leader before him could achieve.
Knowing his death was imminent, Layton reflected on all he and his party achieved.
In a letter to Canadians he wrote "Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world."
It's a message Layton carried with him through his political life, and one that he told supporters is much bigger than any one leader.
But with his passing, Jack Layton leaves a party in mourning. Not only for the man, but for a leader who believed that anything was possible for the NDP.
Follow Stephen Andrew on Twitter - / anewsstephen