Jack Layton is acutely aware he could actually end up at 24 Sussex Drive, signalling on Sunday that he'll be looking for political "dance partners" when all of the votes are counted.
Monday's election is currently too close to call and another minority is a likely result, Layton admitted in an interview with The Canadian Press.
He said his staff has been contemplating a variety of possible outcomes for months now, and the realistic ones point to some form of coalition building, either formal or informal.
"The essence of that plan is to phone all the other leaders and say this what we'd like to accomplish, depending on the scenarios, hoping we're in the leadership position," Layton said.
He did not rule out working with the Conservatives, however unlikely that may seem given the bitter tone of the election campaign.
He'll work with anyone, "if there's a dance partner -- if Stephen Harper happens to be there, (or) another leader," Layton said in his last interview as the NDP campaign winged its way to Montreal from Vancouver.
And he dismissed as a smear campaign the furor over reports on the weekend that said Layton -- a brash city councillor and deputy mayor of Toronto at the time -- was a customer at a massage parlour when it was targeted in a police raid in 1996.
"I don't think Canadians like personal attacks and that's what they find distasteful about Ottawa politics these days," he said.
"I expect many will recoil with this kind of smear."
Harper has been urging Liberal supporters to vote Conservative in order to stop an NDP government and its "extreme" policies.
That hasn't entirely poisoned the well of co-operation for Layton, but he said the offer of working together stands regardless of whether he's elected prime minister.
That said, he said he'd be surprised if any common ground could be found between the two parties. That leaves the Liberals -- or possibly the Bloc Quebecois.
If voters hand him a minority government, the NDP is ready to take charge, he said.
"I am humbled," Layton said of his party's unprecedented popularity in recent weeks.
"The adrenaline is flowing but I'm also humbled by the number of people who are prepared to put their trust in us."
In the NDP's last two election campaigns, Layton has brazenly declared his intent to become prime minister, a statement many pundits greeted with laughter.
With the campaign at an end, there's been a "pinch-me" quality in his stump speeches, and staff members have struggled to stifle their glee at the notion power is within their grasp.
During a whistle-stop bus tour between Montreal and Toronto, Layton exhorted a crowd of 400 supporters to "believe" they could elect a NDP government.
In both Montreal and along Ontario's Highway 401, cars honked their support alongside Layton's campaign bus, which is decorated with massive photos of the leader.
The Conservatives have led in support throughout the campaign, and remain the odds-on favourite to win and form a government.
Layton was mum on whether an NDP-led opposition would move swiftly to defeat another Conservative-led minority -- or if he'd give it a chance to breathe by forcing concessions.
He showed little interest in the idea that the left-leaning parties should formally unite in the aftermath of the election, as some pundits have suggested.
Layton seems content to see the Liberals wither on the vine.
The election has "demonstrated that New Democrats are being accepted by Canadians as a legitimate contender for government," Layton said.
"My view is I want to build our team to be the choice that Canadians make."
Much has been written about Harper's disdain for the centrist Liberals, but what has gone almost unnoticed until recently is how Layton and the NDP harbour a similar loathing.
It is often evident at street level in areas where the NDP and the Liberals are competing for the same turf.
Layton said the Liberals have no one to blame but themselves for the apparent collapse in support.
"I think people have seen a party that says one thing and does another for too long," he said.
"They say they're against corporate tax cuts and yet they voted for them. They say they're against the Harper agenda yet they kept them in power all that time. There's a fairly long list and after a while people begin to ask what's this party all about?"
Layton described his party's dizzying assent in public support as the long-anticipated breakthrough he's worked towards since becoming leader eight years ago.
He brushed aside suggestions the surge caught him and the party off guard, even though the NDP has been accused of running "phantom" candidates in a number of ridings and appeared startled by the intense scrutiny the platform is now receiving.
"I was certainly planning; all of us were planning for some very significant growth in the size of our caucus this year," Layton said.
"We've been planning for this, and (we) hope it will happen."
