Seriously, this is just getting ridiculous. Has there ever been a politician who has come back from the brink more often than Jean Charest?

A poll released Monday suggests support for the sovereignty movement in Quebec is fading, with only about one-third of Quebecers who answered the Leger Marketing poll saying they would vote to separate if there was a referendum.

That’s down five points since May. The poll, conducted online, also shows a drop in support for the Parti Québécois, from about 40 per cent last September, to 24 per cent.

That puts the separatist party 10 points behind Premier Jean Charest’s front-running Liberals.

Charest may still get swept away next year by one of the half-dozen new parties that have sprung up in Quebec, but at this time last year everyone assumed he was toast. Most felt he was foolish to stay on and, if he did, it would only be to go down with the ship.

Now, he has a 10-point lead in the polls. This guy is either one of the most talented politicians of his generation, or one of the luckiest. Or both.