Falling up

I've seen spin before, but this is unreal...

OTTAWA (CP) - After three consecutive weeks rising in the polls, Conservative momentum appears to have paused - perhaps tripped up, analysts say, by Prime Minister Paul Martin's TV appeal last week. A Decima Research poll, conducted Thursday to Sunday, suggests the Conservatives were still out in front, favoured by 32 per cent of respondents compared with 27 per cent for the Liberals. The survey, provided to The Canadian Press on Monday, is the first since Martin spoke to the country Thursday night about the sponsorship scandal. Last week, a Decima poll put the Tories at 35 per cent and the Liberals at 28 per cent... "We think it's a fair hypothesis that the prime minister's argument gave at least some voters a kind of pause to reflect," said Bruce Anderson, Decima's CEO. Greg Inwood, a political scientist from Ryerson University, agreed. "I think there was some effectiveness to Martin reiterating the line: 'Let Gomery do his job.' "I think that gave pause to a lot of people who were ticked off at the revelations that were coming out. "This might be the bounce from the speech."

Bounce? Leave aside that we're within the margin of error in all these polls. But bounce? Liberal support went down. UPDATE: CP revises the lede: "The first poll since Paul Martin's televised sponsorship speech suggests his appeal didn't give the Liberals a boost, but may have halted Conservative momentum."