For all the talk today about Angus Reid's latest poll, not to mention Robert's rightful frustration with media double standards, I'm surprised nobody has yet commented on the most obvious omission from the poll.
After all, with the NDP polling within 5 points of the Libs, not to mention the Greens only another 6 points behind, it would surely make sense to at least allow respondents to give their opinions on Jack Layton and Elizabeth May as well. But instead, the poll only addressed Harper and Dion as individual leaders. Which in turn helps to both minimize the options Canadians have in opposing Harper, and perpetuate the usual "horse race" Lib/Con comparison - even as the party numbers within the poll show that nearly 40% of respondents plan on parking their votes elsewhere.
Of course, the results of this particular poll may make the omission particularly galling. (For those looking for other additional results worth analyzing, the precipitous drop in "right track/wrong track" and the NDP's relatively strong youth showing are probably worth some ink.)
But in general, there's no excuse for failing to consider more than just Harper and Dion in comparing Canada's leaders. And narrow coverage of the type applied in this poll is all too likely to keep either the NDP or the Greens from occupying as strong a position in Canada's political scene as they would if given a fair comparison.
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