I've had nightmares before. Most involve me trying to run away from a monster, In these feverish dreams, I try to get away, but my legs are heavy and won't move fast enough.

I panic and then, all of a sudden, I awake to realize it was just a dream.

I had an even worse nightmare last week. In my dream, I saw Jack Layton standing on a podium, his arm raised in victory by none other than Mullah Mohammed Omar, self professed Emir of Afghanistan; and head of the Taliban Movement.

"We are happy for Mr. Jack's big victory in Canada," says Mr. Omar. "Now he will pull out the terrorist Canadian soldiers and allow us to return to the time where we can hang our women from soccer poles and forbid them from gaining an education. Jack's victory is a victory for all Taliban men who wish to beat women in the streets."

To my amazement, a crowd of NDP faithful applaud Mr. Omar's comments.

I yank myself out of this terrible nightmare.

And as I calmed myself from this horrific dream, I eased my head back into my pillow realizing that the chance of the NDP ever forming a federal government in this country is as likely as, well, the Taliban ever returning to power in Afghanistan.

Jack Layton seems like a nice enough guy. I appreciate, like the majority of Canadians, that he can say whatever he wants to appease his supporters because at the end of the day, he'll never have to live up to those pledges. Good gig if you can get it.

I wish I had the same luxury - to make promises I won't ever have to keep - but I have too much honour and sense of dignity to sink to that level.

Maybe my nightmare was related to the fact the NDP have been enjoying an surge in popularity during this federal election campaign. The Liberals continue to flounder under lame duck leader Stphane Dion, and appear poised to lose ground in Parliament.

Maybe my dream was the result of comments I read from Qari Mohammad Yussuf, a recognized spokesman for the Taliban, who expressed the terrorist group's views to the Canadian Press on the upcoming Canadian election, and suggested they are rooting for Mr. Layton.

It's no wonder. Mr. Layton has on numerous occasions suggested Canadian troops should cut and run and that NATO leaders should sit down and 'negotiate' with the Taliban.

"We believe that a comprehensive peace process has to bring all combatants to the table. You don't accomplish peace if those who are fighting are not involved in the peace-based discussion," he said in 2006. "Our party has always argued that we've got to carve out a path towards peace, it's got to involve some negotiations and discussions, even with those combatants with whom we're engaged in combat."

This is the leader of a party that at its 2006 convention was ready to consider a resolution put forth by one of its riding associations that called Canada's soldiers nothing but "terrorists".

The resolution read:

"In such a situation, Canadian troops end up acting like terrorists, destroying communities, killing and maiming innocent people."

To be fair, Mr. Layton did call his Taliban endorsement "reprehensible".

However, he's made himself a popular figure among those whose primary aim it is to kill Canadian soldiers.

It's one thing to be against the war. It's another thing to sympathize with murderous scumbags and secretly smirk every time a NATO soldier is killed, while offering placid sympathy.

Just a few weeks ago, an NDP candidate in Durham was under fire for comments he made regarding American war resisters who are trying to seek refuge in Canada.

"These American traitors have no place in my country," Andrew McKeever posted on the online social network Facebook in July. "There are bona fide (and by that I mean REAL) refugees out there. Not American crybabies that are trying to turn this country into a hotel."

He also used offensive language and threatened violence in an apparent argument with another online poster.

"I can guarantee, if I ever see you face to face I will make you squeal for the same authorities that you have such a (baseless) disdain for," he posted in July.

Despite using vitriol and obscenities to refer to a woman, and threatening to beat up a critic, Mr. McKeever has not been asked to step down.

These comments are extremely ironic considering the NDP has been pushing the government to provide sanctuary for Americans who flee to Canada to avoid being sent to Iraq.

No matter how you feel about Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, the NDP is the last party I would trust to support our troops and act responsibly when it comes to foreign affairs.

I'm not sure yet who I will support in this federal election, but rest assured I will not be marking my 'x' beside the local NDP candidate. If I could, I would draw an 'x' over the NDP candidate's name in protest over the party's lack of support for our troops.

However, that would be childish. Just knowing they have no chance of ever overseeing my life allows me just enough solace to sleep well, at least tonight.