Jack Layton closes the Facebook gap to 400

As of today, NDP Leader Jack Layton is officially within 400 supporters of the front runner Stéphane Dion and closing quickly. It seems everytime an email blasts hits with his facebook link people jump on board.

In just 25 Days, Layton has gained roughly 350 new supporters, nearly doubling Dion's 180 new friends and pulling him closer day after day. It looks like the gap is closing at a rate of 6 friends day (in purely linear terms), making it likely that Jack will overtake Dion in just about 2 months. However, this is the web-- and the web tends to be exponential rather than linear. Theoretically if more people post Jack's profile, ask their friends to join, and un-join Stéphane's, that gap may close much, much quicker!

Given the current pace, I'm going to predict July 10th as the day Jack overtakes Stéphane Dion in Facebook friends, embarrasses the Liberal Party, and demonstrates once again why he is favoured as Canada's next Prime Minister.