[RCO]

( the alberta pc's seem to poll alot worse when there in government vs when there is an election , another interesting observation is there was no mention of alberta liberals at all in this poll they seem to have disappeared )

Poll shows Redford's PCs sliding south

9:59 pm, March 4th, 2013



DAMIEN WOOD | QMI AGENCY


CALGARY -- A provincial election tomorrow might tell a different tale than an election a year ago, if a recent poll is to be believed.

Numbers released Monday by pollster ThinkHQ show Premier Alison Redford's approval rating has tanked 25 points since August, leaving her with a 33% approval rating.

Her government's approval sits at 29%.

Poll numbers also show 38% of 1,214 Albertans surveyed Feb. 12-16 would support the Wildrose party, compared to 26% who would still back the Tories.

The numbers show an about-face from the results of the 2012 election, when the Wildrose led opinion polls going in, but after all the ballots were tallied, the Tories won with 44% of the popular vote and 61 seats versus the Wildrose's 34.3% and 17 seats.

Marc Henry, ThinkHQ president, called this erosion of support a subtle one -- gradual when tracked over the year Redford has reined thus far, starting at the left end of the spectrum with what he called "temporary Tories."

"They have a really tough time in session -- when they go into session their poll numbers start dipping," he said.

The numbers are also far from an accurate picture of how next provincial election -- three years from now -- will pan out, however.

Henry said polls are interesting to look at but don't really mean a lot.

"What happens between elections is parking your vote with someone else -- it's a risk-free way of registering dissent," he said.

"It basically says (the Tories) need to change trajectory."
The 38-26% divide is an average of Alberta as a whole.

Larger gaps between the two parties' approvals exist in rural areas, where ThinkHQ's poll show the Wildrose at 61% and the Tories at 24%.

Calgary shows 36-27% in favour of the Wildrose, Edmonton 27-24% in favour of the Wildrose and smaller urban areas 38-27% in favour of the Wildrose.

Edmonton also shows the NDP sitting between the Wildrose and Tories -- all other areas showed anything not conservative sitting significantly lower.

The margin for error in the poll numbers is 2.8% in either direction.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/s.....15900.html

[cosmostein]

Polling in Alberta has already proven fairly suspect;
The problem is that the next election is years away.

They should have pitched the PC's when they had the chance.