Only the Liberal party pollster knows for sure. (Maybe.)
The Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt reports on the man who may hold the short- to medium-term electoral fate of the country in his hands—or at least, his PowerPoint deck: Liberal party pollster Michael Marzolini, of Pollara research firm, who will be making one of his periodic presentations to the caucus as they meet in Sudbury this week. Although Marzolini insists that he’s not there simply to feed the beast—”Of my 40 minutes, I’m only dedicating 10 seconds to the issue of when to call the election,” he told the Star yesterday—it’s hard to see how the numbers he reveals can’t influence the ongoing debate within the Liberal Party over whether it’s time to bring down the government. Although Senator David Smith, who will likely be at the centre of the eventual campaign, told reporters last week that he doesn’t envision an election over employment insurance, the Star quotes a ‘senior Liberal MP’ characterizing the leader’s attitude as ‘bullish.’ Then again, that was before hearing from Pollara.