On poor perceptions

The Star reports on another recent set of issue polling which deals with the Con government alone. And combining these results with the Harris-Decima ones which came out last week, it's striking how poorly both the Libs and Cons are apparently seen by Canadians:

Forty-eight per cent of respondents said the Tories had done a poor job "fixing climate change" and 43 per cent said they have done a poor job on health care...

Thirty-nine per cent of those surveyed said the federal government was doing a good job managing the economy, compared with 30 per cent who thought it was performing poorly.

Assuming the respondent pools are similar enough to compare the numbers, it's striking how the "poor" numbers for the Cons compare to the lack of any relative preference for the Libs.

On the economy, it would seem highly significant if significantly more Canadians see the Cons as doing a poor job (30 per cent) than think the Libs are equipped to do any better (22 per cent). And on health care, it's remarkable that a plurality of respondents could consider the Cons to be better qualified than the Libs even when as many as 43 per cent see the Cons as having done poorly (in a poll which seems to include neutral and/or undecided components).

All of which would seem to suggest that the Harris-Decima relative comparison may say far more about a low public opinion of the Libs than any actual comfort level with the Cons. And while it may be too much to ask the Libs to turn around their current public perceptions in time for a fall election campaign, the door would seem to be wide open for another party - particularly one with a historical brand based the one area where neither the Cons nor the Libs seem to have any strength - to emerge as another governing alternative.