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I wonder if the Conservatives regret calling an election during the media feeding frenzy that is the Mike Duffy trial.

The thinking must have been that Stephen Harper’s appearances on the campaign trail would deflect attention from the goings-on in court.

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Those hopes look increasingly forlorn.

While most people won’t delve into the minutiae of the testimony, they will remember the prime minister looking like a character from the poster for the Usual Suspects, as he was peppered with reporters’ questions about the murky behaviour of his most senior staff.

Being caught on the defensive is never a good look for a campaigning politician and Harper lost the benefit of the doubt some time around his first prorogation of parliament.

While the Duffy trial is unlikely to shift votes on its own, it does hurt a government that was first elected on the twin pillars of accountability and fiscal competence way back when God was a boy.