According to this article, the following is revealed in a current Angus Reid poll:
Current federal decided vote:
Conservatives: 35%
Liberals: 27%
NDP: 19%
Confidence in national federal leaders:
Layton: 30%
Harper: 29%
Ignatieff: 13%
Hypothetical support in an election between the Conservatives and an NDP-liberal combination:
Harper versus a combination led by Michael Ignatieff:
Conservatives: 40%
Combination led by Michael Ignatieff: 34%
Harper versus a combination by Bob Rae:
Conservatives: 38%
Combination led by Bob Rae: 38%
Harper versus a combination led by Jack Layton:
Conservatives: 37%
Combination led by Jack Layton: 43% (in Quebec, 44%)
These figures make it a little easier to understand why Mr. Ignatieff and his team have so clearly signalled in the past week or so that, notwithstanding a growing view within his own party, he remains entirely uninterested in working in any effective way with parliamentarians from other parties to replace Mr. Harper. As Mr. Ignatieff demonstrated a year and a half ago when (in the first really important decision he has ever made in his life) he decided that Mr. Harper should remain in office, Mr. Ignatieff is only interested in strategies that will make himself Prime Minister of a Liberal-only government. Unfortunately for him and his team (who are working on their last hurray, since generational change is coming to their tribe very soon), this is an increasingly faint hope. Today's figures suggest that Mr. Ignatieff's I-am-the-only-alternative game plan is not a proposition Canadians are interested in, or may ever be interested in.
Instead, Canadians are strikingly more interested in a fresh new approach led by more experienced and competent politicians, in better touch with Canadian values and priorities. One of them is sitting next to Mr. Ignatieff on the Liberal bench. Another is a little further along on the opposition bench. Layton's critical advantage is that he appeals to Francophone Quebecers and, specifically, to Bloc voters.
So what?
Perhaps Canada's progressive majority is going to become increasingly impatient with the prospect of a re-elected Harper government in the months to come. And perhaps, as these numbers would substantiate, more and more of them are going to conclude that Mr. Ignatieff is part of the problem. And that Mr. Layton is part of the solution.