Thus far, the 2011 election has turned into a race for who gets to brag: "We're Number Two!"
On the question of which party leader voters are most attracted to, a Nanos Research daily tracking poll shows that NDP Leader Jack Layton has regained his traditional second spot in voter affections, narrowly edging Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff at the end of Week One.
As of March 31, the Nanos Leadership Index - a compendium of responses from voters on which leader they think is most trustworthy, visionary and competent - awarded Mr. Layton a score of 50, back where he was in mid-March, while Mr. Ignatieff was rated at 44, four points ahead of where he was two weeks ago but once again behind Mr. Layton.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper remains far ahead at 98, suggesting that voters continue to feel more comfortable with his hand on the helm.
"Although the Liberals have closed the gap, the Ignatieff personal brand is still battling with the Layton brand for second place," pollster Nik Nanos concluded.
Daily ups and downs in such polls mean far less than trends over time. Mr. Harper's consistently high leadership score through the past week suggests that most voters do not care about, or have not awakened to, the controversies over recent allegations of misdeeds by party staffers and advisers, or the contempt-of-Parliament citation that brought down the government last week, forcing this election.
Mr. Ignatieff has improved voter attitudes toward his leadership abilities modestly but consistently, while Mr. Layton appears to be recovering from a significant decline.
All of which is to say, after one week, that Mr. Harper should feel good, Mr. Ignatieff should feel good and Mr. Layton can start to feel better.
None of this is having any effect on party support, which has changed little despite kerfuffles over Mr. Harper's allegations of plots by the opposition to forge a "reckless" coalition, or by Mr. Ignatieff's calls for a separate one-on-one leader's debate, something Mr. Harper himself first suggested and then backed away from.
The Conservatives are at 39 per cent in overall support, which is essentially where they were two weeks ago; the Liberals are at 32 per cent, an improvement from their 26-per-cent support in mid-March, while the NDP are at 16 per cent, down from 18 per cent two weeks ago.
So Week One of this election turned out to be a phony war, as it so often is in election campaigns. We are still waiting to see if, and when, one party is able to launch a blitzkrieg.