Libs and Cons deadlocked in new Decima Poll. Will Chantal Hebert mention it?

Apparently, according to some readers, I only bring up polls I like on this blog. First off, I’ll mention that Angus Reid released an (online) poll for the Toronto Star the past couple of days that showed the Cons. up by 10 over the Liberals, had the NDP near 20%, and which seemingly put Chantal Hebert into overdrive mode at the Star in her op-ed columns claiming this poll showed that the Liberals and Dion were dead in Quebec; she was already doing this after the CROP/La Presse poll came out earlier that had the Liberals down by 10 to the Cons. and BQ in Quebec.

This was done a week or so after another column where she played down other polls which showed Conservative strength much lower in Quebec and had her arguing those polls didn’t match what was heard and seen on the ground (which curiously enough, is what Antonio over at Fuddle-Duddle has been claiming as well to me as well - coincidence?). So, I’ll be very interested to see if the new Harris-Decima poll gets mentioned by her - or others - that shows another polling deadlock:

The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggests the Tories have 32 per cent support, with the Liberals at 30 per cent, which is within the survey’s margin of error.The NDP have 13 per cent, the Greens 12 per cent and the Bloc is at nine per cent...In Quebec, the latest poll suggested 37 per cent support for the Bloc, 21 per cent each for the Conservatives and Liberals, 10 per cent for the Greens and nine per cent for the NDP. In Ontario, the survey suggested the Liberals are at 38 per cent with the Tories at 33 per cent. The Green party has 15 per cent, leading the NDP at 10 per cent.

This is also interesting analysis that I wonder if Chantal or any of the other pundits will bother talking about - worrying trends for the Cons.

“The most recent cause for concern is among older voters,” he said. “Among those over 50, the Conservatives have seen a 12-per-cent lead over the Liberals in November-December completely evaporate…He said the Tories also have a problem with soft and second preferences. Among decided voters, the Conservatives had a 12-point edge in November. That has shrunk to two per cent. Among voters leaning to a party, the Tories and Liberals were competitive for much of the last year, but the Liberals now lead by 12 points…

Not very good news for the NDP either, and a slow recovery of the Liberal brand, with firming up of Green support:

“There’s a lack of enthusiasm for the Conservatives, waning interest in the NDP and a firming of support for the Green party,” he said. “The Liberal brand is slowly, but perceptibly recovering from the trauma of the sponsorship scandal. “NDP voters show increased interest in the Liberals and fewer Conservative voters see the Liberal brand as toxic.”

But again, let’s see how many pundits or talking heads actually report this poll or its conclusions - Chantal Hebert in particular.

UPDATE: A slightly different take on it by Steve, but overall agreement the Liberals have some potential to move up. Hopefully, no one takes him to task for putting a question mark in his title like my previous blogentry was over polling results (looks at Mr. Ross).

UPDATE 2: Matt Guerin, who also has been taking exception to Ms. Hebert’s analysis, says more or less the same thing I do, except he also aims his cross hairs at the gang on CTV’s Question Period. Let’s also see in addition to Chantal, if Conservative Television Network and Conservative shills Bob Fife and Mike Duffy mention this poll.