Snakeeye:
Fair enough on most of your points.
I will disagree with this one though:
Quote:
Even given the scandal's plaguing the Liberals, the NDP has made virtually no gains.
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Outside of the West, the lion's share of the "anti-Liberal" vote has gone to the NDP (Quebec being the exception, where the only two viable parties are the Libs and BQ).
Take a look at these numbers:
2000 Federal Election:
Liberals: 40.8%
Alliance + PC: 37.7%
NDP: 8.5%
2004 Federal Election:
Liberals: 36.7% (-4.1%)
Conservatives: 29.6% (-8.1%)
NDP: 15.7% (+7.2%)
Latest Poll (SES/CPAC):
Liberals: 36.1% (-0.6%)
Conservatives: 29.5% (-0.1%)
NDP: 17.9% (+2.2%)
According to those figures, the NDP has more than doubled their support from five years ago. Also take a look at this article published today by Macleans:
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics...6_105475_105475
According to their surveys, the NDP is the #2 choice for the majority of both Liberal supporters and CPC-backers.
Quote:
Of voters who currently back the Liberals, 42 per cent make the NDP their second choice, compared with 27 per cent who name the Tories as their next pick. Perhaps more surprisingly, of Conservative supporters, 32 per cent make the NDP their second choice, slightly higher than the 29 per cent who would switch to the Liberals. In B.C. and Saskatchewan, vote swings between NDP and Tory candidates are commonplace. But Gregg says he can't remember a time when the NDP was the top second choice nationally. "The acceptability of the NDP to Liberal and Conservative voters has never been higher," he says.
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Based on these facts, your text that I quoted ought to read: "Even given the scandal's plaguing the Liberals, the
Conservative Party has made virtually no gains."