Harping up the Wrong Tree

Stardate 4337.7

OTTAWA — The gift of scandal and voter fatigue with the four-term Liberal government have done little for Stephen Harper's Conservatives, a new poll suggests.

It would seem that critics are saying that Conservative support has waned because of one man. The man who would be a poorly dressed cowboy.

"The whole thing is Stephen Harper at this stage,'' said Michael Marzolini, who was a longtime Liberal pollster.
"Liberal support is artificially high now because of him.
"If the Conservatives didn't have this hamstring around them . . . they would be in the high 40s in the polls.
"A Brian Mulroney type of Conservative leader would have Conservatives in the 50s right now.''

In a sudden turn-around from only two months ago, when the Liberals were being beaten down with the sponsorship scandal, they are now 11 percent higher in the polls than Harper-led Conservatives. Somehow, at this point, I don't think a cowboy hat wearing barbeque fest will save Harper.

Barry Kay of Wilfrid Laurier University compares Harper to "Wile E. Coyote being outmanoeuvered by the Roadrunner" when dealing with parliamentary issues and selling his party to Canadians. After Stronach defected to the Liberals, all he could do was call her names, questioning her intellectual prowess...

When it comes to the biggest issue plaguing the Conservatives and Harper, it is definately the Same-Sex issue.

"Every time Stephen Harper talks about same-sex marriage he's not just opposing that issue. He's campaigning for intolerance,'' Marzolini said.
"That's how Canadians see it.''