Tony Clement is definitely in the race for the Conservative leadership.
"I'm in, and I'm in to win," Clement told a news conference in Ottawa.And he's coming out swinging.
He also took a swing at his leadership rivals. "The new leader must not just have the ideas to govern, but also the proven experience to govern," he said.He went on to say that both MacKay and Harper should "step aside" for the party to have a chance to win. That's about the tone I expected from Clement.
And Belinda Stronach will formally announce her candidacy next week.
Ms. Stronach, president of Magna International Inc., has already attracted substantial organizational support, including former Ontario premier Mike Harris, former Harris chief of staff Guy Giorno, a number of builders of Mr. Harris's Common Sense Revolution in Ontario, and some supporters of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein. Tory organizational guru John Laschinger is expected to manage the campaign.So Stronach is the 'Common Sense' candidate. Great. This oughtta be fun.
Meanwhile there's a little dissension in the ranks. It's now expected that Chuck Strahl will bow out.
Canadian Alliance MP Chuck Strahl said yesterday he has become increasingly frustrated by his inability to get hold of the rules under which the race will be run.And there are some complaints that Harper's tactics border on intimidation."I think that the way I have to milk information out of the organization as a candidate that would like to run, I think, is appalling," he said.
For example, he said he has no idea yet whether the committee that sets the rules will cap the amount an individual can donate. He has received an offer of a $25,000 donation, but is not sure whether it would be all right to take it, he said.
"It's going in the direction opposite of what it should be going," Mr. Strahl said.
"It should be more open. You should be helping people to run, rather than leaving them guessing and hoping for the best."
He also said the $100,000 fee to run for leader is also too high.
Several sources told The Globe and Mail that supporters of Mr. Harper fanned out through the Alliance caucus in late October and early November seeking signatures of support for his intended candidacy as leader of the new, merged party.They wanted some profile for this contest. Be careful what you wish for.The effort angered some caucus members, who said the move smacked of intimidation, while some others said the request was offensive because their word of support should have been good enough. The effort took place in the fall, when Mr. Harper was still leader of the Opposition.
I'm sure you already noticed
this article, referenced on Bourque today, but it is a very interesting discussion of the rules of this leadership race.
Each seat is equal, which means that nearly 60% of the "points" are in Ontario and Quebec.
Maybe this won't be quite a coronation after all.
Thanks for reminding me, Andrew. I had that bookmarked and hadn't gotten back to it. That certainly means that Harper's lock on the western support isn't enough to hand him an easy victory.
This Ibbitson column makes a nice companion piece. He suggests that Clement and Stronach might split the Ontario vote, which could still leave Harper in a good position. Or it could mean that whoever can do the best job in the trenches in Quebec can take it. And Stronach's French is pretty weak.
True, the Ibbitson column makes that suggestion, but when I read the Star article it pointed out that the race will be using a preferential-elimination ballot. So, it may not matter if Clement and Stronach split the vote. The loser between those two may be able to deliver their support to the other.
Anyway, the Star says "Party organizers have not decided whether there'll be a third count of preferential ballots if no winner emerges after two counts." That's pretty key, since it could end up deciding the whole race!
Don at Talk Canada has worked up a cool analysis of these voting rules over on his site.
But the tricky thing is this -- the Toronto Star article yesterday didn't know if there would be a third rearranging of the votes if there was no majority on the second.
This becomes very important if there are four or more candidates. If there are four or more, then it is quite possible that both Stronach and Clement will survive the second "ballot". Then Harper wins for sure.
On the other hand, if they keep dropping candidates and recounting the preferential ballots until someone has a majority, Harper may lose.
They/we really need to figure out what the rules are.
Yeah, if another candidate enters then it will really be interesting - who runs the party machine?
It doesn't look like there will be any other candidates though.
I've just done a quick look through the usual Canadian media outlets. There's nothing new on this that I can see, including nothing new on Strahl. As Don says, there may not be any other candidates.
Andrew wrote: "They/we really need to figure out what the rules are."
I'm not sure "we" can. I'm not sure they've thought it through that far. Strahl's recent complaint was that he was having trouble finding out what the rules are. Building this party was/is a rush job and I guess it shows. Growing pains.
It's almost officially a three-way race.
As far as Harper is concerned, this is probably worse than a two-way race, since there will be two teams out there working against him.
And what an odd group of three they are!
I think it's Stronach who makes it an odd group, and it's worth noting that in the last week or so, I've gotten quite a few hits from people googling for information about her. People are curious and that alone raises the profile of the leadership race. In that way, at least, her candidacy is probably a positive for the new party.
So if you want a short term boost in your traffic, put "Belinda Stronach" in a post.