The Price of Lies

No big surprise, the most recent polls coming out today show that Canadian voters are not impressed by the Grewal Tapes affair.

The Conservatives have reverted to their Alliance days support - about 23% of decided voters (I'd have to guess that 80% of the 23% resides in Alberta...) - putting them at about the same level of support as the NDP. In all-important Ontario, Conservative support fell 26 points behind the Liberals - wiping out any of the gains they may have made in the last few years.

What does it mean? It means that the perception of a great many voters is similar to my own take on the Grewal Tapes affair - it was a badly stage-managed attempt to score a few cheap points.

Conservatives will argue that the tapes are now in the hands of RCMP investigators, and the story is not finished yet. Perhaps, but do you really think that voters want to hear any more about this sordid tale? Even if the RCMP lay criminal charges - an event I suspect is very unlikely - as soon as the charges are laid, the ability of anyone knowledgeable to speak publicly is drastically hampered.

I think the point out of this whole business is this - if you are going to try and "make a point" politically, your case has to be pretty transparent. As a result of AdScam, the people of this country are not willing to believe our politicians on their word any more. Mr. Harper, Mr. Mackay, and Mr. Grewal tried to attack by insinuation and innuendo, keeping their evidence private for too long. Big, big mistake.