Going into the 2013 election, nearly all polls showed the NDP well ahead of the BC Liberals, with at least one showing the NDP ahead by as much as 20 points. Two months prior to the election, The Province newspaper's front page featured a column by pundit Michael Smyth with the banner headline: "If This Man Kicked A Dog He Would Still Win The Election."
In the 2013 BC election, polls consistently showed the NDP leading the BC Liberals.  A month before the election, a prominent newspaper published an opinion piece by a political commentator that compared the leader of the NDP to someone who would still win an election even if they were cruel and violent.