Thursday, April 19, 2012

BC Liberals lose 2 - Will night of BC by-elections be followed by night of long knives in BC Liberal Party?

BC Liberal by-election loses tonight will help determine future of provincial politics - and that of Premier Christy Clark
No photo ops tonight for Premier Christy Clark - she will
respond to by-election results by news release!
UPDATE 10:00 p.m.


The BC NDP have won both by-elections - with the BC Liberals placing second and the BC Conservatives in a close third place.


Congratulations to new MLAs Joe Trasolini in Port Moody-Coquitlam and Gwen O'Mahoney in Chilliwack-Hope - for taking both former BC Liberal strongholds away from the governing party.


Condolences to BC Liberal candidates Dennis Marsden and Laurie Throness - they both fought hard and there is great honour in losing when you do your best.  


Condolences also to John Martin and Christine Clarke of the BC Conservatives - they both put in very credible performances without the benefit of the BC NDP and BC Liberal financial and logistical advantages - a huge improvement over past Conservative efforts but not enough to win.


While the BC Liberals will predictably spin the "vote splitting" story, the reality is that under Premier Christy Clark, two formerly untouchable safe ridings have been lost to their arch enemy - including, almost unbelievably, Chilliwack-Hope.


Blaming the BC Conservatives for "stealing" their vote won't cut any ice with unhappy voters who abandoned the BC Liberals in droves - voting NDP or Conservative or simply staying home.


I predict so-called "merger" talks prompted by BC Liberal die-hards like Phil Hochstein won't go anywhere - certainly not with Clark staying on as leader.


BC politics remain the most interesting in the country!




ORIGINAL POST


Tonight's two provincial by-elections couldn't be more pivotal - not only will they elect two MLAs but may serve as a road map for the future of the BC Liberal Party, BC Conservative Party and Premier Christy Clark.

Two BC Liberal losses would be a devastating blow to Clark's leadership - and rumours are already circulating about another defection from her caucus to the BC Conservatives.

Could it be John Rustad who follows in the footsteps of John van Dongen, the Abbotsford South MLA who quit the party to join BC Conservative leader John Cummins' surging forces?

Or could the BC Liberals narrowly eke out a win under Chilliwack-Hope candidate Laurie Throness thanks to his federal Conservative connections with former boss Chuck Strahl.

Stay tuned - your comments and predictions most welcome!

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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the BC Liberals having Pamela Martin campaigning in the 2 byelection ridings is despicable -- and illegal. And the mainstream media continues it's Rip Van Winkle impersonation. Disgusting!

Anonymous said...

Easy prediction I made turned out to be true.

NDP in two.

and agree Martin should not have been out there unless she took an unpaid leave of absence.

Anonymous said...

So assuming that this disaster for the Libs results in CC being forced out does that mean that Falcon suddenly changes his mind about not running in the next election. I think what he meant to say is that he wont run again if he has to play second fiddle to the incompetent and laughable CC.
Just a thought but I am thinking the Business boys will pull out all the stops to prevent Dix from winning.

Sean in British Columbia said...

Hope has a history of voting NDP in the past, even though it is only part of an overwhelming BC Liberal and former Social Credit riding.....Much the same as Squamish has a history of voting strongly NDP, even though it's in an overwhelming anti NDP riding.

Ron S. said...

What's surprising is over 30% of the electorate don't care or know about the LIbERalS corrupt government. A little distressing and very disappointing.

Anonymous said...

The Campbell/Clark BC Liberals have destroyed this province, to the point of...what is left to recover with? Nor do I forget Harper's part in the demise of our province.

In this country....if some politicians are afraid they won't win, they cheat.

The NDP have a very strong team. I think Dix has done a very good job for us. BC needs a leader, that doesn't work for Harper.

Anonymous said...

BC also needs a leader that doesn't work for Big Labour nor Big Business, so that leaves out Dix who is tied to Big Labour.

Anonymous said...

Beats being tied to Big Corporate thieves!

Anonymous said...

"Beats being tied to Big Corporate thieves."

Not if you're tied tothe demands of Big Labour as the NDP had been in the past, and will be the day after they become government.

Be here when it happens.

Also keep in mind that many union pension funds are made up of shares from Big Corporations.