Its the nature of Canadian democracy... with at least 3 viable parties in every riding and the first-past-the-post selection method, even a small change in the popular vote can cause large swings in electability.
Yes, absolutely agreed. That’s why I think looking at Harper and saying he was “broadly electable” is looking at such small differences and drawing conclusions that are not really valid, in my opinion.
If Harper had Mulroney-like numbers, I would agree…. Broadly electable. But he was nowhere close and his majority was mainly due to a surge in NDP popularity.
And Harper got ~40% of the popular vote when he won a majority. O'Toole got ~34%. A difference of 6% of the popular vote.
Mea culpa. You’re right. 6%. Still a pretty small difference.