Why Ekos Is Important.

Much has been made of the so-called Liberal lead in the latest Ekos poll: 0.5% is no reason to crack open the champagne. Rather, it's symptomatic of the problems facing all four parties represented in the House of Commons.

Let's take them one by one -- Conservatives should be concerned. This poll perhaps heralds the death knell of any chance they may have had of forming a majority government. It says something about this Prime Minister: that people's doubts are alive and well about Harper's suitability as a PM. The well established tendency to continually and inevitably overreach is the largest chink in the Harper armour.

Liberals aren't out of the woods either. There is no apprehended breakout on the political horizon. That's precisely why Conservatives are still smiling. The leader keeps plugging away, much to my delight, but significant forward projection past the incumbent government remains elusive. (We won't go into that one again. Enough already.)

The New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, and even the Greens, have the same problem. They're dropping. So much for the LaytonDemocrats consigning the Liberals to the ash heap. In Quebec, the Bloc remains the flavour of the month -- but without any enthusiasm, much less a bandwagon.

In short, people can't find a champion they have complete confidence in. That means trouble with a capital "T" for all the parties, not to mention a likely low turnout on election day.

But at least it's not all bad. The Conservative Party, Quebec Political Operations Director has said adiós, muchachos. That should keep them off-balance and spinning their wheels in Quebec for a while longer!