Today@Dal

Published Monday by the Canadian Press:

Factor in the potential effects of new media platforms such as Twitter and the fact all three leaders have something at stake in the outcome, then the recipe is in place for a negative campaign, said Lori Turnbull, a political scientist at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"I think because there is not a huge ideological difference between the three parties the campaign will get pretty negative," said Turnbull.

She said she expects that negativity to spill over at the leadership level as opposed to individual ridings, where local issues tend to be the main focus.

Turnbull believes that's partly because McNeil, Premier Darrell Dexter of the New Democrats, and Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie are "up against it" as the campaign kicks off.

"They are all at a point where they are going to have to do something impressive or their parties are going to have to be talking about somebody else," Turnbull said.

Read the rest of this article at the CTV News website.