A new Angus Reid poll has the provincial Liberals dancing in the corridors of power. For the first time in eight months the governing party has been able to modestly stem the exodus of supporters.
Premier Christy Clark’s struggling party garnered a paltry 25 per cent support in the online survey of 800 voters. But, that was an impressive three point gain in just one month. At the risk of raining on their parade it must be noted that this result was well within the poll’s 3.5 per cent margin of error. The NDP fell three points, but retains a commanding 46 per cent lead.
So the question becomes: Is Premier Clark getting her act together after months of lacklustre policy, failed photo opportunities and Asian junkets or is some of the veneer wearing off NDP Leader Adrian Dix?
It is hard to make a case for significant improvement in Clark’s camp. Her A-Team cabinet shuffle last week was more disruptive than inspired primarily because she was plumbing the depths of her draining talent pool. And, her show-us-the- money approach to the Enbridge pipeline proposal utterly fails to address wide spread aversion to the pipeline and coastal oil tanker traffic.
It is easier to make the case that voters are starting to seriously rethink their assumption that Dix has a plan worth turfing the Liberals for.
The NDP leader has been remarkable stingy when it comes to platform detail.
We do know that he wants to tax the bankers until they cry ‘uncle.’ But, we don’t know much else. This week Dix said he’d extend liquor tax breaks to micro-distilleries. That will help about seven people across B.C.
If the polls are accurate – and they usually are – they seem to be telling Dix and his NDP brain trust to start getting specific about their 2013 agenda.