OTTAWA - As election fever heated up in late August, NDP Leader Jack Layton headed south to Denver to watch Barack Obama's historic acceptance of the Democratic party's presidential nomination.
He said he found inspiration in Obama's agenda of change.
"Democrats here are talking about the same kind of change we're talking about in Canada," he said of the convention.
"Whether it's real action on climate change, forging trade policies that work for working families or standing up for jobs and better health care, there's a real desire here to put the concerns of the kitchen table ahead of the boardroom table."
There were echoes of Obama's themes littered throughout the NDP's 2008 election campaign and staffers happily admitted they had cribbed some ideas from Democrats south of the border.
At one point, reporters following Layton's campaign asked if he was deliberately trying to sound like the U.S. presidential hopeful.
"There are differences between myself and Senator Obama," he replied. "For instance, I'm shorter."
On Tuesday, Layton's message appeared to have permeated in several ridings, as the New Democrats added to the 30 seats they held at dissolution.
Layton failed to eclipse the party's best showing of 43 seats in 1988, but after carrying the party back from the brink of oblivion at 13 seats eight years ago, he can once again claim a moral victory.
It might be said that Layton's eco-friendly, multicultural and multilingual lifestyle make him a poster boy for the new Canadian reality, the leader perhaps most intimate with the huge social changes happening in the country's big cities.
Longtime friend Peter Tabuns says the former municipal politician was always on the cutting edge of issues, pushing Toronto's board of health to address the AIDS crisis in its early days, for example.
"He always likes thinking about new things; he revels in new ideas and new concepts," said Tabuns, a member of the Ontario legislature who served as a city councillor with Layton in the early 1990s.
"When he was on (Toronto) city council, he was always the guy thinking about new stuff. Things that later became accepted wisdom he was pushing very early on."
That image of the bike-riding Toronto socialist has always been a challenge for Layton, who must push his party into more suburban and rural territory.
"The trick that any NDP leader has ... is you need to hold your base and expand it. It's very difficult," said Jamie Heath, Layton's former director of communications.
The ultra-modern label seems incongruous for a man raised in small-town Quebec in the early 1950s. But Layton quickly put himself at the centre of political debate and activism at Montreal's McGill University and Toronto's York University. Layton is one of the best educated leaders on the provincial or federal scenes, holding a PhD in political science.
He went on to teach at Toronto's top post-secondary institutions, including a course in environmental studies.
The political world beckoned to Layton even before his studies wound down. In 1982, he was elected to city council in Toronto, and later left to sit on the Metro Toronto council.
He also made a failed bid for mayor, and became the high-profile president of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities. During these years, he tried twice to win a federal NDP seat, but lost.
To say politics is in Layton's blood is no cliche: Layton's father Robert was a Liberal-turned-Tory who sat in cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. His grandfather Gilbert was a cabinet minister in Maurice Duplessis' Union Nationale provincial government. His great-great-uncle, William Henry Steeves, was one of the Fathers of Confederation.
As he went to cast his ballot Tuesday, Layton took a reminder of his heritage with him in the form of a ring made out of his father's parliamentary lapel pin.
Layton finally made the jump to the federal scene in 2003, swooping in to win the leadership of the NDP against such party stalwarts as Bill Blaikie and Lorne Nystrom.
His flamboyant leadership style was something new for the NDP, following the staid, low-key Alexa McDonough and Audrey McLaughlin, and the statesmanlike Ed Broadbent. Here was a comfortably bilingual man compulsively in front of the microphone, full of witty sound bites that can occasionally slide into hokum.
His penchant for attention got the rookie leader into trouble early in his first federal campaign in 2004 when he famously claimed social spending cuts under the Liberals had resulted in the deaths of homeless people.
Still, he managed to boost the party's seats to 19 from 13, winning his own seat in the riding of Toronto Danforth. The overall result was not all he had hoped for, but broader electoral success was to follow.
During Martin's minority government, Layton was able to leverage his party's support for important gains. He saved the government from defeat once by convincing Martin to include a range of NDP demands in the federal budget.
In 2006, Layton was dealt another blow when Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove threw his support behind Martin's Liberals. Still, the NDP managed to collect 29 seats, their best showing since Broadbent led them to 43 seats in 1988.
But Layton soon found that the newly elected Conservative minority under Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn't as interested in negotiating for support as Martin had been.
Layton changed tactics, opting to forgo his traditional anti-Liberal offensive to attack the Tories for their policies on the environment, the war on Afghanistan and a lack of focus on the poor.
At the same time, Layton was dogged by the upstart Green party, seen as eroding his traditional power base.
"The New Democrats have been struggling to regain their protest vote role," said pollster Nik Nanos of SES Research.
"First it was hijacked by the Reform Party, and now it's starting to be hijacked by the Green party. Jack Layton has to recapture the voice of protest politically, as opposed to sounding like a traditional party."
Layton went into the 2008 campaign boldly declaring that he intended to be prime minister when all of the ballots were counted.
He has stubbornly held to that claim, despite polls that showed his party running third, but almost neck and neck with the Liberals.
"Oh, have you counted the ballots already?" he shot back at reporters who challenged him to level with Canadians about his chances.
"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 based much of optimism on the party's beachhead in Quebec.
The election a year ago of Thomas Mulcair in the Montreal riding of Outremont was perhaps one of Layton's career highlights. Mulcair is only the second New Democrat to win a Quebec seat.
One of Layton's best attributes is his ability to focus on the bright side, rather than the challenges all around him, said Tabuns.
"He is one of the most optimistic and hopeful people that I know, and I think that gives him a lot of strength to get through tough times.
"Some people don't like it, but I like the fact he's eternally looking forward and upward."
