Ontario Prefers Bob Rae Over Any Other Leadership Candidate

Some partisan bloggers who support candidates other than Bob Rae persist in claiming that Rae is unelectable in Ontario. Poll after poll have proved decisively that this is not true.

Today's Globe & Mail said:

...29 per cent of Ontarians believe Mr. Rae would be the best prime minister, well higher than the 22 per cent who picked Mr. Ignatieff and the 20 and 21 per cent, respectively, who picked Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Dion, respectively.

“It puts to the test — or to the lie —the notion that Rae carries the most baggage in the province of Ontario and that his five years as premier makes him unacceptable,” said Allan Gregg, chairman of the Strategic Counsel.

But don't trust media interpretations. Look at the polls themselves:

Globe-CTV Poll October 18, 2006
Gandalf poll September 14, 2006
Decima poll September 14, 2006
Globe-CTV Poll September 19, 2006

Why is Bob Rae the first choice of Ontarians? If you haven't read it yet, take a gander at this article by a non-partisan senior civil servant during Bob Rae's premiership:

Deconstructing Bob Rae: Political Myth-Making, Ontario Style

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