Nicole Martel has an interesting post on an Angus Reid poll on the approval ratings of certain Harper Cabinet Ministers. There net positives are for Harper, Flaherty and McKay…Prentice is not seen in any of the data reports I looked at. Jim is way too far below the radar – working hard and effectively at the coal face but nobody knows it. Everyone else looks pretty bland or just plain bad.
The moral of the story is they are mostly a 50/50 crowd with lots of “Don’t Knows” as you will see when you click the link to the Toronto Star story. This proves the nation is essentially "test driving" the Harper government to see if we what to buy his form of government. Based on these results if is pretty obvious that we are not yet impressed nor particularly dismayed with the performance either. The Harper Cons have not yet done anything to really significnat make a mark that will win our hearts and minds over the past year. The fact that al other recent polls say Harper and Dion are statisticaly tied has to be a discomforting fact for "Steve."
Nicole also directs us to the other Toronto Star piece where the Harper Cons political rhetoric is matched against the factual reality of the Liberals and Dion. I have been waiting and hoping someone would do this comparison. The various examples used are a classic rebuttal of the issues framing done by the Harper Message Machine. He and his goverment is proven to be very disingenuous in their misrepresentations about the Liberals and Dion, and I am being generous in my assessment when I say that.
The Star story is also a very effective rebuttal of the pervasive MSM culture of take things said by politicians that are purely political at face value. We see this lack of background research and fact checking is just much too prevalent in political reporting today. It all gets repeated in other media and gossip gets over reported as "news" and then the misinformation become the "reality." We mere mortals have to wonder if anyone cares about accuracy and truth in politics today.
Anyway, with polling "approval" numbers like theses, Harper better hope Layton doesn’t ask for too much in the forthcoming Budget. There is nothing in these polling approval levels to foster any confidence by, for and about a Harper victory in an election in the near future. Remember also that campaigns matter and yesterday is not a precursor of tomorrow any more.
At 50/50 Harper's fortunes could go either way...but clearly the Cons are not on solid enough ground to want an election anytime soon. With every day that passes the environment embeds as more of an issue and Layton has to wonder about May's momentum and Harper has to worry about Dion getting better known and more acceptable as a possible alternative for the next Prime Minister.
Good for the Star for reporting on the reality over the rhetoric. Thx Nicole for bringing it to our attention. I had $10 bucks riding on a spring election. I think I may have to cough up the cash and eat some crow in a couple of months.
Thanks Ken – I still think it is possible that Harper will provoke an election this spring with the budget, especially if he feels Dion is gaining momentum. You may win that $10 yet! nic
ReplyDeleteWow Ken. I think you're suffering from a syndrone of hearing what you want to hear. The Toronto Star is simply the Liberal's talking points in the next election.
ReplyDeleteThe facts: IN THE LAST 8 MONTHS, the liberal introduced a 8 year environment plan and a multi-billion dollar child care plan.
You seem to see that as a positive? They had 13 years to commit to these causes but waited until 8 months before an election that was the most contested in a long time. Ah, shucks, one observer might state that these last-minute announcements were simply to buy votes in the upcoming election. (similar to what Liberals have been stating about the Cons re the recent environment announcements). I really don't think you want to put yourself in a position of defending Martin's last-ditch attempt to win the election.
The LPC actual record on the environment will be an issue in the next election - NOT what they planned to do but didn't do for over 13 years. It is the REAL action that is important - that is, the recent announcements by the new government.
btw, I agree with Nic that you will still win your $10. A tie in the polls at the start of an election campaign would mean the Cons would want an election. They have the resources and ground troops to make it happen. Having said that, the lack of NDP support will be seen as a very serious concern. In other words, the Cons have to, at the same time, prop up the NDP while calling an election at the same time.