Why did a BC NDP election campaign overwhelmingly focused on attacking the character of the BC Conservatives fail to prevent a blue wave that came within 27 votes of toppling the governing party?

Partly because voters didn’t much care for, or about, all the New Democrat mudslinging. They were just hopping mad about some very specific issues.

That’s the conclusion of a post-election survey by polling firm Navigator, which provides an interesting glimpse into the public sentiment following the Oct. 19 election (margin of error /- 3.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20).

Navigator polled 1,000 people online from Oct. 20-23, and held four focus groups.

Almost three-quarters of people said they saw and heard the attacks by the political parties during the campaign, but 76 per cent of respondents said it had little to no impact on how they voted.

It’s an important conclusion, when you consider the bulk of the 28-day NDP election strategy centred around daily releases of controversial social media posts by candidates and leader John Rustad........

© BIV