Election is up for grabs, but is there a Tory who can win?
There are exactly three months to go before the Progressive Conservatives elect a leader for their party, and there is no time to waste.
The two and a half men who have entered the race so far (we say two and a half because party president Robert MacLeod has just resigned his post to pursue the leadership but hasn't formally announced) have a massive amount of work to do. No doubt there will be many barbecues and corn boils, picnics and community suppers in their immediate futures.
Former cabinet ministers and current MLAs Bruce Fitch and David Alward have launched their campaigns. Former transportation minister Paul Robichaud, Enterprise Moncton CEO John Thompson and Fredericton orthodontist Bob Hatheway are mulling things over. Unless there surfaces a mystery candidate, that's about it for the shortlist.
The problem with the shortlist is those six men lack the charisma and name recognition that transcend the province.
Remember, this is a provincial leadership race, not a riding nomination. That's not to say the declared and potential candidates don't have an impressive list of credentials and community involvement - they do, but the problem is they aren't well known outside their own ridings. They are big fish in small ponds, and that's despite some having served in cabinet.
MacLeod has been relatively high profile since taking over the party presidency last fall, and his father, Malcolm, was a much-respected and long-serving agriculture minister in Richard Hatfield's government. He has the best foundation for success of non-MLAs. Hatheway and Thompson are unknown outside their spheres. Who outside the party and the respective cities has heard of them?
Some might not see province-wide star power as much of an issue in a leadership race, since it is party members who will choose the leader Oct. 18. But after that contest, a much bigger battle looms, and that's the one that really counts.
In order to unseat the Graham Liberals, the Tories have to be a party hungry to win, with a leader at the helm who inspires confidence, exudes charm, and whom the majority of voters genuinely like and have come to know. Right now few voters know or care.
New Brunswick has developed a pattern of keeping its governments for two terms. But two years from now, that might not necessarily be the case, what with the baggage that will surely hang around. Post secondary education, French immersion, uranium and ambulance services are all issues with the potential to bring down the Liberals.
But to do that, there has to be a viable choice, and that choice has to leave a perception with the voter - not just the party faithful - that they are premier material.
More Opinion
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
Comments (7)
All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.
Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.
A new conservative.
If a Phys Ed teacher and former bartender at Sweetwaters can do it, how hard can it be?
But seriously, Bernard Lord was unknown outside of his area.
and I disagree that people d0on't care. For the first time ever, I am paying close attention to who is running.
I have always voted Liberal because they were always closer to my views. If Kelly Lamrock hampers my child's ability to qualify for bilingual employment when he grows up, my vote will be Torie.
I await Minister Lamrock's decision. If I don't like what I hear, I'm becomming a card carrying Torie on August 6 (and I have never been political before).