A WARNING SHOT ACROSS THE BOW OF THE S. S. CAMPBELL

Gordon Campbell was in full damage control this morning, popping out of the caucus bunker long enough to offer up some comments on the latest voters poll on BC Politics. Campbell took his message to the Bill Good Show on CKNW, as he made an “unscheduled” appearance for fifteen minutes of banter with Good.

If he thought he was going to get an easy ride of things he was wrong, while Good certainly didn’t bluster the way a Rafe Mair would have, he none the less quizzed the Premier on the low standing of both his party and his leadership of it. Campbell’s Liberal party trails the NDP by 3%, 42-39 with the Green party attracting 12% of the voters surveyed.

But it must be his personal rating that is food for thought in the caucus room; Campbell falls to a new personal low of 34% in this poll. Unknown NDP leader Carole James has a 47% approval rating and she hasn’t been particularly visible since her claiming of the NDP title.

Campbell suggested, that the NDP had been given a free ride of late hence their high standing of the day, he also feels that the public are impatient for his changes to show results. In fact he said he himself wished for a faster result for the “positive” aspects of the many programs and policies put in place. Good offered up that the “heartland” is not following into step with his plans, an observation that seemed to ruffle the Premier’s feathers, he claiming that he has sensed a different opinion on things from his travels in the “heartland”. Yet the “heartland” is where most of the population is suffering and thus becoming cynical about Campbell and his government. His best course of action in those areas would be to improve the dreadful economy suffered by "heartland" residents. Just saying “the area is strong” doesn’t necessarily make it so!

The “unscheduled” appearance ended after fifteen minutes, no phone calls taken, ending with a sense of a rather uncomfortable atmosphere. Probably not quite the spin the Premier’s handlers would have hoped for. The whole fifteen minute concept seemed a bit panic driven, why not a half hour or an hour, take calls and rebut the callers from the “heartlands” that aren’t exactly feeling the benefits of the many changes. His visit with Good had all the feeling of a visit to a dry cleaner, in at 8:30 out by 8:45, hold the starch please.

The poll is probably not indicative of a voter pattern, more of a disgruntled population showing it’s weariness of not gaining any results from its government. In fact it does seem hard to believe, that a leader that has an almost invisible profile such as James has at the moment, could be so high in the polls and possibly given charge of the government.

The NDP really should have to earn the publics support back again, not be given a ticket to govern simply by default. Surely the wave of voters that threw the Clark era socialists from power, haven’t forgotten what had them so annoyed on Election Day?

What the poll does do serve as a warning to the Premier and his Social Credit/Liberal cross bred acolytes, that they had best get busy providing some positive news to the folks that last supported them in 2000. With an election a bit over a year away, they obviously have time to improve the poll results. But with three years in government already behind them, and nothing positive to show for it, time is of the essence to turn it around.

However, a few more drops in personal appeal and the well documented Liberal caucus rows may turn into putsch. It’s one thing to follow a leader into battle; it’s a totally different thing to willingly walk into the slaughter.

Campbell and his party need to provide examples of accomplishments, otherwise the negatives surrounding their current reign will continue to shape the vision of the voters. Caucus ministers resigning, police officers raiding the legislature and the scent of scandal, do not generate warm and fuzzy feelings from the voting pool

The Ipsos-Reid poll results of Tuesday should be a message from the voters that they aren’t happy with the current direction, a message that will be ignored at the peril of a government and it’s Premier.