Five of the candidates for leadership of B.C.鈥檚 two major political parties have passed through 91原创 in recent weeks. This may be a record 鈥� it certainly is very unusual.
New Premier Christy Clark, who was sworn in on Monday, was here on March 4, when she dropped by MLA Mary Polak鈥檚 fundraising dinner. The three frontrunners for the NDP leadership have all visited 91原创 at least twice, with John Horgan here last Wednesday. The runner-up to Clark in the leadership race, Kevin Falcon, was here just a few days before the Feb. 26 vote.
I鈥檝e had the chance to speak with each of the five and would like to pass on some of my observations. It seems likely we will be in a provincial election campaign by early 2012, and it鈥檚 more likely we鈥檒l be at the polls in September.
We now know that Clark will lead the BC Liberals into that campaign. She is very capable and quick on her feet. Her experience as a radio open line host has given her a unique ability to read the public mood.
While she was part of the BC Liberal government in its first term, she鈥檚 been away long enough to bring at least a whiff of fresh air with her. The Liberals badly need that, because the election will be close.
She also was not involved in the HST fiasco and, as a radio host, was one of a very few members of the electronic media to treat the anti-HST organizers with respect when interviewing them.
By her actions, she indicated that the effort should be taken seriously. It鈥檚 too bad that few others followed her lead.
Which of the three NDP candidates would be best suited to take her on? In my view, I think John Horgan may have the right combination. He is very engaging, extremely well-briefed on issues and is humble enough to admit that politicians don鈥檛 have all the answers.
He told a story last week about a nine-hour drive he took from Nelson with three guys in their 20s, as he could find no other way to get out of the area after campaigning there. He said he learned a lot about how they saw the issues from sharing that time with them.
Adrian Dix is a bright guy and likely the NDP鈥檚 best critic. He would be an awesome minister of health, but he carries too much baggage from the Glen Clark era to convince enough wavering voters to vote NDP.
Mike Farnworth is also an extremely capable individual, and has the added strength of being seen as a 鈥渓aw and order鈥� NDPer 鈥� a rarity in his party. This could help in an appeal to uncommitted voters, which the NDP must do in order to have any chance at winning.
However, I think a Horgan-Clark matchup may be the best one possible. It could match the great rivalry between Bill Bennett and Dave Barrett in 1975, 1979 and 1983 鈥� except that in this case, both leaders are great speakers.
Whether Horgan can get enough votes to win the NDP leadership, given that he is not as well-known in the vote-rich Lower Mainland as his two main rivals, is a big question mark.
Between that leadership race, the HST vote and an election, there will be a whole lot of provincial politics in front of us for the remainder of this year.
