It seems the fortunes of Bob Rae and the federal Liberals are turning thanks to the faltering NDP.

A new poll conducted by Nanos for CTV and the Globe and Mail found support for the Harper Conservatives dipped to 36.2 per cent, while the NDP and the Liberals are statistically tied at 26.8 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.

The tide has turned for the fledgling Liberals who less than a month ago were being written off by pundits across the country. Rae's summer tour was getting little, if any, media attention.

But Jack Layton's illness and the subsequent appointment of a less charismatic Nicole Turmel as interim leader has been a "game-changer".

"In the short term, it moves the leader of the third party into a position where his voice can be heard with Layton sidelined," wrote Tim Power in the Toronto Star.

"Turmel must realize she's in a tough game with Rae, a man who has spent his life taking on political opponents."

Turmel, who was picked by Jack Layton to replace him as leader of the party, confirmed last week she held a membership in the Bloc Québécois. She also admitted she's still a member of the tiny Quebec solidaire, a pro-sovereignty provincial party.

Rae, being the shrewd political animal he is, has been on the attack.

"We have somebody who did not reveal to the public the fact she was simultaneously, apparently, a member of three political parties over the last five years. For me, I just find that incredible," Rae told reporters in Toronto.

"You don't join a separatist party, a party that wants to break up the country, for five years because you're trying to help somebody out. This just doesn't make any sense to anybody who's been in politics,"

For Rae and the Liberals, their summer of discontent has turned into a summer of opportunity.

(CBC Photo)