Dumb, and dumber, and dumber. Through in a touch of corruption, and presto - 3 terms ! Is this what becomes of an electorate in these times ?
I think we need to back away from that (bolded), just a bit.
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not a supporter of the current government, and my faith in the citizenry on mass, is not as great as I would like........but....
1) The poll actually shows the majority of the electorate prefer parties other than the Ford PCs. It is the nature of the electoral system we have, (First Past the Post), that a share of the popular vote that is well shy of 50% may turn out to deliver nearly 100% of the power.
2) While the PCs have blundered along, major scandals (Greenbelt) aside, most of their shortcomings are policy questions, and under investment in certain things (schools, healthcare), along with anemic social assistance rates. Those are not good things, but by and large they aren't things that move the electorate in a large way. They (the gov't) have also been adept at doing things that may or may not be a good use of $$ or the highest priority, but are broadly quite popular. Its not just the elimination of license plate fees, its eliminating the need to do anything to renew your plate, unless its held up due to outstanding tickets/tolls; its also the booze rollout, which is simply something the majority of the electorate have supported since they voted for David Peterson on a platform of beer in corner stores in the 1980s, and for whatever reason, successive governments of 3 different political stripes failed to roll out that popular idea. These sorts of things, absent big scandals that resonate, leave the government better off in the polls than they deserve to be.
3) Have you seen a Bonnie Crombie commercial for the Liberals? One for Marit Stiles and the NDP? So far, both parties are keeping a lid on spending, and both leaders have a comparatively low profile. While both parties have some probable platform items......just try naming three that you're sure about. I'd be surprised if you could. That's going to cause the Libs and Dippers to under perform in polls because there isn't a single thing they are associated with in terms of a big 'change' idea.
For the above reasons, I wouldn't throw the electorate under the bus just yet. I'll also cut the opposition parties some slack in that they want to save money for a provincial election that may yet be 2 years away. But I think they would be well served to try and build some positive momentum sooner, rather than later, given the real possibility of an early election call.
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Last note, those poll numbers are quite deceptive at the provincial scale. You have to remember the Conservatives tend to capture 60% or more of the vote in many rural ridings in eastern and central Ontario, and some parts of the South-West as well.
The real key is what the numbers look like in Toronto, the 905, Ottawa and the urban centres elsewhere (London, Windsor, Kingston, T-Bay etc.)
The poll is accurate enough (so far as one can tell) that PCs are indeed in majority territory; but the numbers are not some wide yawning lead in most ridings that matter. With a few exceptions, their lead is under 10 points. Nothing that can't change in the space of a six-week campaign.
