adma
Superstar
I seem to recall that the NDP continued to campaign against a universally-acclaimed Liberal candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands, despite the fact that their candidate's past exposure of himself to preteens was, uh, exposed. Needless to say, the NDP voters were the difference between a strong, environmentalist Liberal candidate and the Tory who promotes the tar sands and gutted our nuclear regulatory system.
Actually, Julian West did resign his candidacy within days of the revelation, and with that the NDP suspended its campaign. The trouble was, by the time that came to pass, it was (a) too late to nominate somebody else, and (b) too late to withdraw his name from the ballot. Thus his name remained as a "ghost candidacy"; but that's as far as "continuing to campaign" went, in case you think there was some kind of morally bankrupt at-all-cost anti-Liberal conspiracy theory afoot. (And it's not the first time this "resigned candidacy/too-late-to-withdraw" situation's happened; for instance, in 2006, the Tory candidate in BC Southern Interior stepped down, easing the way for an NDP landslide pickup.)
And you know something? It very nearly worked--the token electorate who voted for the remnant NDP ticket "anyway" was whittled down to a historic low of 5.7% (versus nearly 20% for the Tories in BC Southern Interior in '06), and the Liberal vote soared to 39%, within four points of upsetting Gary Lunn. Yes, the NDP voters "were the difference"; but in this case, it was more by inadvertent autopilot than by design--and the Liberal result was all the more remarkable, considering there was a strong *Green* candidate as well who had the country's best result for the party in 2004 and who, on paper, ought to have been a legit wild-card contender for those stray NDP votes as well.
Given the kind of seat it was, Briony Penn did well; in fact, even allowing for her credentials, she overachieved, esp. compared to the dismal results for the Liberals most anywhere else in the BC (particularly where they weren't the incumbent party, as here). But to go any further, you'd essentially have to liquidate the NDP from existence and persuade their campaign team on-side holus bolus--which, once again, is easier said than done (though Team Penn surely couldn't have done as well as it did without a bit of token wayward NDP-team support).
And I must emphasize: if the tables were turned, i.e. if the NDP were running someone of Briony Penn calibre and the Liberal candidate resigned in scandal but too late to be off-ballot, the result would have been no different: Gary Lunn winning by a slender margin. To play devil's advocate, Stephen Harper's Conservatives = strong government/strong leadership, maaaan.