What’s perhaps more important is the role that norms play in our life. If we perceive widespread support for a particular party – especially within one’s own demographic – we’re much more likely to support that party. It’s a build of an “if we build it, they will come”, or rather, “if we claim it, it will happen”. So this kind of news – regardless of accuracy – is generally good for the party.

I know it’s fun to dream about the possibilities, but any single poll should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. If we see a half-dozen polls across all the pollsters showing the Greens at 24% in B.C., then we’re talking!!! Case in point: 4 days before the last election, the very same pollster (Harris-Decima) put the Greens at 21% in B.C. (they got 9.4%).

Averaging the latest poll from the 5 major pollsters gives the GPC 14.9% in B.C. (including the 24% H-D poll, which definitely looks like an outlier at this point). Not including the H-D poll, the average is 12.7%, which is right around what the last polling average in the 2008 election showed (the GPC got about 3 points below their polling average).

So while it’s good to be optimistic, it’s better to be realistic. The numbers say the GPC is right about where they were last time.