Voters split UN blame between Harper and Ignatieff in poll

I understand that the pollster doesn’t write the headline. It’s also true that a pollster will look for a narrative from every single finding. Another objective truth, this headline and subsequent analysis is pure BUNK:

31% of Canadians, less than 1/3, just below the Conservative support score in the same poll, blame Ignatieff. On the other hand 50% blame the government, or put another way 66% more than blame Ignatieff. How that becomes a "close second" is frankly absurd. You know, you just want the numbers, nothing partisan. However, these tortured arguments just make a mockery of the finding, the numbers suggest no such thing, there is no split. If anything the finding is closer to a overwhelming 2 to 1 rejection of the government and the analysis should go from there:

Fifty per cent of those polled blamed “the government’s recent record on international diplomacy” for the loss, but Mr. Ignatieff came in a close second.

I’d say it really isn’t a significant number, particularly when you factor in the regional distortions. As a matter of fact, from the Liberal perspective, anytime we can halve a result in Alberta, it represents big trouble for the government arguments.

Bottomline, and this speaks volumes about this whole issue. If there really was any significance for the Liberals here, why did the Conservative drop the Ignatieff argument after day one? Why did the Conservatives shelve the Ignatieff ads they had in the CAN, if their talking point was getting any traction whatsoever? I’m sorry, but the storyline is a failed excuse, and if anything this poll SUPPORTS that argument.