As the Liberals plea for mercy, WA election becomes a tale of two houses

Tomorrow is technically election day in Western Australia, but few expect it
will amount to anything more than a confirmation of the already established fact of Labor's victory.

With perhaps half the votes having already been cast, expectations of a
landslide have been established not only by opinion polls -- the latest of
which shows promising young Liberal leader Zak Kirkup headed for a double-digit drubbing in his own seat -- but also by a Liberal campaign that has devolved into an extended concession of defeat.

Facing a first-term government that has suffered only minor scandals and
presided over a (slowly) improving economic and budgetary situation, the
Liberals would have faced a daunting challenge under the best of
circumstances.