Poll watch

63% of Canadians think the Prime Minister is lying when he says he wasn't involved in the sponsorship scandal -- not just that he didn't know about it, but that he wasn't involved. Just under half -- 49% -- say their opinion of him has worsened in the past year, versus 10% who say it's improved: by far the worst showing of any party leader. But the headline on the CTV poll is "Cdns. suspicious of a Tory hidden agenda." INCIDENTALLY: For conspirazoids who've been digging into the "Liberal connections" of those polling companies showing the Grits bouncing back, the Post has a new poll from Ipsos-Reid putting the Conservatives on top, 33-30, but with the Liberals having regained their lead in Ontario. There's fodder there for both sides -- Cons ahead overall, but with less of a lead than before. I'd say if there's any conspiracy at work here, it's the conspiracy to overstate the significance of individual poll results -- one in which I can safely say every single media outlet is complicit. People: these are all within the margin of error of one another, give or take a point or two. There probably has been a slight swing back to the Liberals, which is only to be expected, after the pressure drop of recent weeks. The kind of voter who had not decided there was something fishy about the Grits until Jean Brault's testimony is not, shall we say, a person of firm opinions. In any case, get a grip: just because a pollster produces a result you don't like, it does not mean they are in the pay of the Liberal party. MORE: Ekos has it Libs 32.5 to Tories 30.5. Okay, Ekos really is a Liberal firm...