Stop the Carney-val

 

Mark Carney

The polls in Canada are suddenly tightening. This is not because Conservative support has waned; it has held pretty steady. The big factor is a collapse of the NDP vote, and all of it going to the Liberals.

This is not strategic voting to keep the Conservatives out of power. That was as much of an issue two months ago.

I think it is because, now that Trudeau is gone, it is the NDP the voters want to punish for Trudeau. 

The NDP supported him voluntarily until the very end.

They do not blame the Liberals, at least yet, because Trudeau made that party so much about him. Now that he is gone, the voters see it as a new party under Carney. This is especially true because Trudeau’s own caucus revolted against him, and his chief lieutenant in cabinet. The general public can see them as his hostages, and sympathize.

I do not think the current Liberal support will hold up for long. To my eye, Carney has “beta” written all over him. He is a career bureaucrat. One is rarely challenged in any way in the government bureaucracy. It’s about blandness and staying inconspicuous and unimpressive. He is unlikely to blossom outside that hothouse. He is unlikely to be talented.