Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Why Manitoba Liberals will never win power


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/09/15/mb-doer-conflict-gerrard-manitoba.html

How much political mileage can the good doctor expect to get by bashing the guy who's being fĂȘted as he heads for the exit?

Be nice, Mr. Gerrard -- offer up the mandatory bouquet of nice words and funny anecdotes and then turn your attention to someone you'll actually be facing off against.


4 comments:

John Dobbin said...

The problem is that Doer should have appointed an interim leader. There would be plenty of time for bouquets but there are issues about a premier who is appointed by a PM still in the premier's office.

This is one reason why the NDP are going to have a hard time emerging from the shadow of Doer.

And in turn, they might find it harder to get elected another term.

Prairie Topiary said...

I can see how you arrive at your conclusion, but the Premier's position is a big job -- not one that I think can just be tossed to someone else on a moment's notice.
If Doer planned to stay on for, say, six months, perhaps it might be a problem, but I think it's reasonable that he takes some time to transition out of his position.

Mike said...

Yeah, I don't see much of a conflict here. Doer isn't holding the two jobs simultaneously because he isn't ambassador yet. And, as you say, he's staying in the Premier's Office for a fairly short time while the NDP selects a new leader. Shouldn't be a problem.

John Dobbin said...

If a premier dies in office, they can replace him that day because that is how the system is set up.

Yes, it is a big job. But transition to the deputy leader or other interim leader is built into the question of succession.

I think that any potential conflict should be dealt with. To say that there is absolutely no conflict is too broad a statement to make.

It not hard to think of a few that could happen within the NDP leadership race itself.