From Day One of the largely uneventful 31-day Nova Scotia election campaign, observers have noted the three main parties have offered strikingly similar lacklustre platforms.

The province's rookie Premier Rodney MacDonald set out on the campaign trail May 13 hoping a robust economy, the near dearth of contentious sticking points and a buffet of campaign promises will help to elevate the ruling party from minority to majority status.

In the month since he called the election, MacDonald's strategy has been to boast about the Conservative government's legacy over the past seven years -- though he's only been the leader since February.

MacDonald, a former professional fiddler and gym teacher who is the country's youngest premier at 34, has pledged to provide 1,300 nursing home beds; reduce health-care wait times; and help struggling farmers.

He has also vowed to put more police officers on the streets; build roads; lower taxes on small business, cap class sizes; offer more green spaces; and expand the public drug plan for low-income families.

But the showpiece of his agenda happens to be the same as the centrepiece of the New Democrat platform -- a pledge to cut the provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax from home energy costs.

The promise hasn't come without its naysayers.

When MacDonald re-announced the HST tax break at the home of Gordon Stanfield, nephew of former Nova Scotia premier Robert Stanfield, the longtime Tory supporter disparaged the plan, saying the move would be problematic for businesses.

In another blunder that that was not overlooked by observers, MacDonald was asked if he still endorsed all the budget measures he introduced in May.

Initially, he said a Tory government would table a plan that was "very similar,'' save for a "an additional few hundred thousand here or there.'' Later, he said it would be exactly the same.

The final week of the election campaign saw MacDonald upping the ante with his attacks on the NDP, suggesting the Tories were rushing to respond to the NDP's perceived momentum.

MacDonald criticized the NDP for the plan to introduce a publicly run auto insurance system, and also suggested the party was harbouring a secret agenda when it came to the province's labour laws.

Meanwhile New Democrat Leader Darrell Dexter has tried to differentiate himself from rivals who share similar platforms with an aggressive strategy aimed at countering charges the party can't be trusted on economic matters.

Since the first day on the campaign trail, the party has waged an attack on the Tories, suggesting they can't be trusted to follow through on their pledges that seem similar to the NDP platform.

One of the NDP's television ads shows a flip-flopping image of the Conservative premier as a narrator reels off a list of broken pledges. In a not-so-veiled swipe at MacDonald's Celtic background, the ad charges that his "jig is up."

Despite recent poll results that show the NDP has gained momentum, the campaign trail hasn't been without its bumps.

Pundits concluded Dexter was unsuccessful in the only debate of the campaign as he was often upstaged by MacKenzie, which left MacDonald emerged unscathed.

Though the NDP's strategy has been a largely forceful one, Dexter didn't respond to charges from MacDonald that a New Democrat government would result in the "death to the economy."

Instead, Dexter waited a few days to release a two-year program that highlights a balanced budget while pledging millions in new spending.

In what appears to be a markedly similar platform to the Conservatives, the NDP has promised to provide 500 additional nursing home beds; reduce health-care wait times; cap class sizes; ban strip mining in Cape Breton; lower university tuition by 10 per cent; and give tax breaks on home heating bills.

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Francis MacKenzie, the only major party leader who didn't hold a seat in the legislature, has spent a large percentage of his time hitting the hustings in his Halifax-area riding of Bedford.

The Liberal leader estimates he's spent as much as 40 per cent of his time in Bedford -- though he says much of that included near-daily scheduled stops at the Liberal headquarters.

But his Bedford-focused campaign may have left him vulnerable to his rival parties.

MacDonald, in particular, has spent time campaigning for Bedford candidate and regional councillor Len Goucher.

The Tories have also launched a postcard campaign in the riding urging voters to remember MacKenzie is the only major party leader against slashing provincial tax from home-heating costs.

But MacKenzie has faced problems even outside the riding.

The Liberals suffered a damaging blow when the party failed to field a candidate in the riding of Queens, making it the only party without a full lineup.

MacKenzie was also sluggish in releasing the Liberal platform and never provided a detailed policy document as his New Democrat and Tory counterparts did -- points that did not escape unnoticed.

The Liberal platform includes promises to increase basic personal tax exemption; create a ministry for seniors and continuing care; combat effects of acid rain; improve workplace safety; and provide funding in tuition fee assistance.