Are the federal Liberals in the midst of an epic comeback?

Ever since Justin Trudeau entered the leadership race, the Liberals' polling number have been rising.

Not surprisingly, a new Ipsos Reid poll, released Thursday, suggests that 69 per cent of Canadians believe Justin Trudeau will be the next leader of the Grits.

What is a little surprising, however, is that the survey claims that 56 per cent of Canadians agree with this statement: "The Liberal party, led by the person who wins the current leadership, will some day return to power as Canada's government."

Fifty-six per cent?

That's a far cry from where party was just after the May 2011 election when pundits and authors such as Peter C. Newman were writing about the death of Canada's 'natural governing party.'

So what happened?

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Liberal insider Warren Kinsella attributes the success to Trudeau.

"I take [the poll] seriously - Ipsos is one of the best polling outfits in the country," Kinsella wrote in an email exchange with Yahoo! Canada News.

"It means that, controversies notwithstanding, Canadians like what they seen in Justin Trudeau."

Trudeau-backer and former MP Dan McTeague offers up a more macro-view of Canada's political landscape.

"The dynamics of the next election have yet to be determined, however, Canadians will not be swayed by the attack campaigns of the Conservative Party, especially after revelations they covered up a $45 billion whopper on the F35's, fudging their budget numbers, short-changing wounded vets and a stagnating the economy, especially in eastern Canada," he told Yahoo!.

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"Moreover — Mulcair is not Layton, so the future of the Liberal Party is intriguing and Canadians aren't likely to continue voting in a way that has a Parliament consisting of a left wing opposition vs. a right wing government.

"As moderates, Canadians appear to yearn for the middle of the road, unsaddled by ideologies of the two extremes that make up the current membership of this House of Commons."

It appears that stories — over the past 18 months — about the demise of the federal Liberal party were greatly exaggerated.

For the time being, at least, Liberals are feeling good about themselves.

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