Schmolly Poll

While I'm not big on polls, this one isn't surprising. The latest SES Research poll (which are usually the most accurate) has the Liberals one point ahead of the Conservatives for the first time since before the last election.

Where the big flip happens is in Quebec, where the Liberals have gained at the expense of the Conservatives. And this can mean only one thing: Afghanistan. The recent Liberal motion to withdraw troops sooner than later was obviously favoured by Quebeckers. As well as the contradictory statements coming from Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay, and less so from Prime Minister Harper regarding regarding Taliban prisoner abuse. What gets me is that Opposition Leader Stephane Dion's statement about bringing the Taliban prisoners to Canada, just before all that government confusion, was about the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but it just didn't stick to Dion.

But the Conservatives gain in Atlantic and Liberals drop. Basically, since Dion has been leader, Liberals have remained stagnant.

Another striking trend on the graph shows the Greens in double digits at 10%, but Conservatives dropping at their expense. Green leader Elizabeth May has done everything she could to grab the spotlight for her party, and this has drawn the attention of environmentally-minded protest voters who used to vote Liberal in in 2004 and voted Conservative in 2006, would never vote NDP, but are parking their protest with the Greens.

What this means essentially is that the Liberals have lost the environment issue, but the Conservatives haven't gained it, which really ticks me off because I don't like some of the Conservatives new environment policies with banning lightbulbs and costly CO2 emissions bullshit.

I like them beefing up our military, letting farmers decide on whether they want to be a part of the Wheat Board, and the family-friendly agenda. I don't like them taxing income trusts or not finally bringing in some needed middle and lower class tax cuts. I don't like how they threw a bunch of cash at Quebec again.

This past month hasn't been a good one for the Conservative government with the environment and with Afghanistan, hence the hit in the polls. Understandable. But I think this is just a blip and that they'll be able to rebound back up a bit.

But whenever Conservative governments stop being conservative, they lose, because then voters might as well just go Liberal. Careful now.