Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's gamble in calling an early election has yet to show signs of paying off, with questions being raised over whether he will lose his parliamentary majority or even lose office after six months in power.
Martin's Liberals made no major gaffes in the first week of campaigning for the June 28 vote, but the 65-year-old leader has also failed to catch fire.
In calling the election last Sunday, a year and a half before he had to, the gamble was that he could raise his support during the campaign to the point where he could salvage a majority government -- but his polling numbers have gone the wrong direction.
"In the four weeks remaining before June 28, Martin must reconnect with fickle, angry voters, illuminate a vision for Canada's future that has lost its focus, and, most important, dispel rising doubts about his leadership," columnist Jim Travers wrote in the pro-Liberal Toronto Star.
"Martin, who just months ago, was expected to sweep the country, might now become opposition leader and, in time, little more than a political curiosity," Travers wrote.
Martin had gained respect as finance minister from 1993 to 2002, when he delivered balanced budgets first and then tax cuts. He had an aura of invincibility and superstar popularity as he ousted his political rival, Jean Chretien, as prime minister in December.
He remains ahead of the Conservatives by a lead of 38 percent to 30 percent in the latest poll, but this is a far cry from leads of 30 points to which the Liberals had become accustomed. It would also mean losing a majority in Parliament.
The Conservatives, who are pushing for more tax cuts while Martin now says Canada cannot afford them, could even deny him even a minority government if the current trends continue, Ekos pollster Frank Graves predicted on Friday.
If he becomes a "political curiosity" as a short-term prime minister, Martin would join the ranks of Conservatives Kim Campbell, in office for just five months in 1993, and Joe Clark, who served nine months from 1979-80, and Liberal John Turner, who lasted just three months in 1984.
"I don't think [Martin is] seen as change anymore," the Star quoted Graves as saying as it released an Ekos poll showing 59 percent of Canadians think it's time to change parties.
Voters had certainly tired of Chretien after they gave him three successive majorities. Martin had to try to present a new face despite being elected under Chretien and serving in his cabinet.
The two biggest reasons for the decline in the polls are a spending scandal which saw government ad money being channeled to Liberal firms, sometimes for no work, and a broken-promise tax hike by Ontario's provincial Liberals.
Martin's strategists put a brave face on the numbers -- "It's only the first week," one said -- and said they saw encouraging signs especially toward the end of the week.
A sleeper issue in this campaign is gay marriage, which the Liberals want to legalize but most Conservatives oppose.
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