Fallout

Steve covers most of what I was planning to say about Innovative Research's poll on the Cons' secrecy and media wars. But it's worth pointing out one more way in which the poll bodes extremely poorly for the Cons' chances in the next federal election.

Steve is right in noting that it's largely the most attentive Canadians who are aware of the issue so far. But the flip side to the current lack of awareness is that the Cons are now stagnating or sliding in the polls even as 3/4 of the Canadian public has yet to discover one more issue where the Cons are generally seen as being in the wrong.

Of course, the press feud wouldn't necessarily pose a future problem for the Cons if it figured to stay quiet from here on in. But in an election campaign, each party's relationship with the media is bound to receive a substantial amount of commentary. And whether the Cons continue their current adversarial stance or shift into full suck-up mode in a campaign, any coverage figures to include at least some mention of their treatment of the press while in office - meaning that a large number of Canadians will discover another reason to distrust the Cons just in time to decide how to vote.