Great News: Harper Cons Tanking

[Bragi]

OTTAWA — The leaderless federal Liberals have caught up to Stephen Harper's Tories in electoral popularity for the first time since the federal election campaign, according to a new poll that shows the parties in a dead heat.

The survey, conducted for The Globe and Mail-CTV News, finds that the two parties would each receive 32 per cent of the votes were an election to be held today.

It also finds that in such an election, Bob Rae would be the favourite Liberal leadership candidate to take on Stephen Harper.

I am elated to see that, according to at least this poll, more Canadians are turning against Harper.

It is particularly gratifying to see the numbers in Quebec showing that there is little chance that Harper will be able to even retain a minority govt after the next election, let alone form a majority.

It is also good to see that the NDP is down, suggesting that maybe their predictably divisive campaign in the next election will produce fewer conservative wins.

- B

[glarius]

1. This is very encouraging news! ....I'm especially glad that the tactics

of Layton and his people are not working. I have voted NDP in the past, but have been completely turned off by the "you Conservatives are very bad, but the Liberals are just the same" campaign which virtually all of the NDP members have been waging!

[daleo]

2. The "Bob Rae" preference was highly spun

If you examine the pie charts in the report, nearly all of the differences among the Liberal leadership preferences are within the margin of error. Furthermore, they just vary between the Liberal candidate and the "don't know" response - Harper's level of "best prime minister" support only varies by a percentage point or so, regardless of the Liberal leader scenario.

Harper certainly seems to have tanked in Quebec. No surprise, he acted as if that was his main mission in governing.

[tuvor]

3. It will be interesting to see if a Liberal party with an elected leader...

...will change things for the better or for the worse.

[CHIMO]

4. Green may prove fatal colour for Harper

Stephen Harper would like to be remembered as the prime minister who installed the Conservatives as Canada's natural governing party.

But what if he was the best thing that could have happened to a complacent Liberal party?

In Quebec, one increasingly hears long-time Bloc Québécois supporters musing about making a switch to the Liberals in the next federal election.

That is talk of a kind unheard of in the province since the early '80s.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1161079748179&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist969907622983

Quite a different picture from a year ago.