"A substantial majority of voters would like to see Taoiseach Brian Cowen stepping down from his post before the next general election, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI."
A quick glance at the rest of the poll is confusing and I'm not sure I agree with how the pollsters phrased the questions. However, if this is how people feel, it flies in the face of opinion of most commentators who feel that the people would not accept a second change of Taoiseach without an election.
I'm not sure how I feel myself. But I do fear that if Cowen were to go and say Lenihan took over without an election, this government's chances to survive would probably increase. And when the next election does then come around, Fianna Fáil could feasibly do quite well. They would sell themselves as the people who cleaned up the mess and with Lenihan as leader, they would claim innocence in making the mess in the first place -- it wasn't us; it was Ahern, McCreevey, Cowen and the PD's who made the mistakes along with bad bankers and ineffective financial regulation. That's not us now; we're a different party.
And it would work. Even if they didn't manage another return to power, Fianna Fáil would not be decimated. And that's my problem with a change in Taoiseach without an election. My vindictive, vengeful side wants to see the complete annihilation of Fianna Fáil for what they've done.
So what does the rest of you think?
