Sometimes I can't help but wonder if, in their secret heart of hearts, Conservatives and New Democrats pine for the days when Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair led their respective parties.

OK, I know that sounds a bit crazy given how poorly both Harper and Mulcair fared in the last federal election, but let me explain why such thoughts might indeed be percolating.

To begin with, let's be honest here, neither the current Conservative leader, Andrew Scheer, nor the current NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, has exactly set the Canadian political world on fire.

Each man, in fact, leaves much to be desired when it comes to leadership.

First off, consider the case of Scheer.

Here's a leader whose main political trait is his unrelenting blandness it's almost as if he's trying to bore the Liberals into submission.

What's more, in my view, the Conservative leader is way too timid and defensive, and so far he has failed to really define who he is or what he truly stands for.

In other words, the average Conservative supporter might be forgiven for not seeing Scheer as the kind of guy who will inspire Canadians to topple the Liberal regime and thus return the Tories to their former days of glory.

Mind you, despite his faults, Scheer looks like Abraham Lincoln when compared to the hapless Singh.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Singh has been to politics what the Hindenburg was to dirigibles.

It's not that his political skills are bad; it's that they seem totally non-existent.

In fact, Singh's leadership to date can be summed up in a single word: irrelevant.

This explains why the NDP is where it is in the polls, i.e. in last place.

And now, Singh's entire political future seems to rest on whether or not, in a few weeks from now, he can win a by-election.

So yeah, I don't think too many New Democrats are dreamily scribbling the words "Prime Minister Jagmeet Singh" in their notebooks.

At any rate, my point is there's probably at least some disgruntlement within the Conservative and NDP ranks when it comes to leadership.

And such dissatisfaction is fertile ground for a little something called nostalgia.

Many Conservatives, for instance, are likely fondly remembering Stephen Harper's brand of tough, no-nonsense leadership and contrasting it to Scheer's vacuous, Pillsbury doughboy persona.

Plus, Harper's continuing media presence — he's written a book on politics, he's giving interviews, and he's doling out political commentary like it's nobody's business — is probably adding to fuel to the nostalgia fire.

And finally, the Liberals and the media are still continually attacking Harper, which only serves to increase his stock with Conservatives, since, from their point of view, anybody the Liberals and media hate must be doing something right!

Meanwhile, it's also possible nostalgia is working its magic in the NDP and making that party's former leader — Thomas Mulcair — look good.

True, Mulcair hasn't had the same high profile as Harper, but he's still making news as a political pundit.

Indeed, while appearing on the public affairs TV show, Power Play, Mulcair made a bit of a splash when he suggested if Singh loses the upcoming by election, he'll have to step down as leader.

As Mulcair put it, "it would be very, very difficult for him" to lead the NDP into the fall election.  "I think that anybody who knows anything about politics would agree with what I just said."

Now, isn't possible New Democrats watching this on TV might say to themselves, "Maybe Mulcair wasn't so bad a leader; he did, after all, lead in the polls at one time; I kind of wish he still led our party."

I suspect their reasoning would be something like, "He couldn't be any worse than Singh, right?!"

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not seriously suggesting that either the Conservatives or NDP will bring back Harper or Mulcair to lead them.

What I am saying is that neither Scheer nor Singh will have much of a future, if their own supporters are tempted to keep idealizing the past.