Michael Ignatieff is seen as starkly less patriotic than Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a new poll that suggests the Tories accurately put their finger on the Liberal Leader's vulnerabilities with a series of recent attack ads.
But while the survey comparing the two leaders reveals chinks in Mr. Ignatieff's armour, it also shows the public finds fault with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who voters say is more divisive, nasty and partisan in his approach than Mr. Ignatieff.
The Globe and Mail-CTV News survey shows opportunities abound for both sides to take advantage of the other's weaknesses among regions, gender and income groups.
“I think the Liberals will make [an election] campaign issue of Mr. Harper, and the Conservatives will make the campaign issue Mr. Ignatieff,” said Peter Donolo, a partner with The Strategic Counsel, which conducted the poll.
The comparative analysis also finds Mr. Ignatieff is seen in a substantially more positive light in Quebec than Mr. Harper, but that the PM has a lead in personal attributes in Ontario, where Mr. Ignatieff is from, and where the Liberals typically build their governments.
“The Liberals are in a good position in Quebec and they're in a strengthening position in Western Canada, but they have real problems in Ontario,” Mr. Donolo said.
According to the poll, when asked which party leader they most identify as patriotic, 37 per cent named Mr. Harper and 9 per cent named Mr. Ignatieff. And when asked who is more likely to buy his coffee at Tim Hortons, Mr. Harper led, 24 per cent to 10 per cent. On who is best able to represent the middle class, Mr. Harper had a six-percentage-point lead.
Those numbers suggest the Conservative research pinpointed Mr. Ignatieff's weaknesses before they unveiled a series of ads that depict the Liberal Leader as elitist and unpatriotic.
“They've zeroed in on the core weaknesses that are out there for Ignatieff,” Mr. Donolo said. “That's not to say that the whole match is going to be decided here, but they've done this for a reason. It's their best bet of undermining him.”
But the poll also shows the Liberals have some potential for exploitation. On the question of who is more strongly associated with being nasty, Mr. Harper scored 27 per cent to Mr. Ignatieff's 15 per cent. Another 32 per cent said Mr. Harper is the more divisive of the two, with 18 per cent picking Mr. Ignatieff. In Quebec, Mr. Ignatieff turned the tables on Mr. Harper in many of the categories. While Mr. Harper was seen by more Canadians to care about national unity and better understand the new economy, voters in Quebec strongly picked Mr. Ignatieff as their favourite on those issues, as well as a number of others.
The poll also shows substantial differences among genders and age categories.
For example, while Mr. Ignatieff is seen as moderately more inspirational than Mr. Harper (23 per cert to 19 per cent), he leads Mr. Harper 32 per cent to 16 per cent among those earning more than $100,000. And while there is only a 4-per-cent gap in favour of Mr. Harper on understanding the economy, he leads 21 per cent to 10 per cent among those with a high-school diploma or lower level of education. Women also believe Mr. Ignatieff is more respectful of the views of others.
When it comes to party preference, the two parties are close in who is viewed as best able to manage the economy, with the Tories ahead 26 per cent to 24 per cent, a gap that has narrowed from 11 points last August.
The online poll of 1,000 Canadians was conducted from May 26 to 28. The Quebec results were measured in separate data culled from the responses of 743 individuals.
