Politics, the dirty game

Politics has always been a dirty game, but it seems to sink to new depths each year. That, or maybe I become less forgiving as I age.
But the whole concept of a government, even a minority government such as Canada's, planning the timing of an election based on short-term fluctions in polls, always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
So, now that a poll gives the Tories a better-than-previous showing in the national opinion, difficult to believe though I find that, the talk is all of a spring election. The Chretien government did it, and I complained then as well. The Blair government did it. I suppose they all do it. It's contemptible, but it's what you do to get yourself re-elected to maximum advantage.
As I see it, it's one thing for an opposition party to force an election through a no-confidence vote. But personally I don't see any excuse for a governing party ever to call an election before their due term. By definition, it will just be a cynical exercise in positioning.