{"id":4231,"date":"2012-11-02T10:36:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=4231"},"modified":"2012-11-02T10:36:16","modified_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:36:16","slug":"your-weekly-olp-leadership-update-can-kennedy-restore-a-liberal-camelot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=4231","title":{"rendered":"Your Weekly OLP Leadership Update: Can Kennedy Restore a Liberal Camelot?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the membership cut-off<\/a> fast approaching, it seems likely we’ll have a good idea of the field of candidates to replace Dalton McGuinty within a few days. This week, Laurel Broten, Brad Duguid, and George Smitherman added their names to the list of those taking a pass<\/a>, prompting a round of “no one wants this job” headlines. <\/p>\n

The reality of the situation is far different. It seems almost certain the race will have between 4-6 viable candidates, with a couple more along for the ride. That’s as competitive as any leadership contest in recent memory, and you can be sure the same voices who are screaming “no one wants the job<\/em>” now will be complaining about crowded debate stages in a month’s time. <\/p>\n

There’s still some mystery about who exactly will be standing on that debate stage, but Sandra Pupatello already has endorsements<\/a> and Kathleene Wynne made it all but official today by quitting Cabinet<\/a>. Deb Matthews, Glen Murray, and Charles Sousa are rumoured to have assembled campaign teams, so expect at least one or two of them in the race. Even if they’re unlikely to match Pupatello and Wynne in terms of first ballot support, Dalton McGuinty showed everyone in 1996 what can happen at a delegated convention, so don’t count the dark horses out.<\/p>\n

The man who McGuinty bested in 1996 may also be considering a bid, as a Draft Kennedy<\/a> website has sprung to life, inviting supporters to a meeting this Saturday. Kennedy’s candidacy received a jolt of life today, with a new poll showing him as the most electable of eight rumoured candidates<\/a>. I’ve been skeptical of these hypothetical polls before and I’m not going to change my tune now, but it’s undeniable this will be a boon to Kennedy’s campaign if he does run, just as polls projecting a Justin Trudeau majority<\/a> have helped Justin sew up the federal leadership race before it begins.<\/p>\n

Obviously enough, the Kennedy poll is not nearly as flattering (he’s a less <\/em>distant third than the other candidates) but, like the Trudeau polls, it does suggest a feeling of nostalgia for Liberal Camelot. As the Education Minister during the early days of the McGuinty government, Kennedy represents the best of the McGuinty legacy, without being tainted by recent disappointments. While he would not have the same level of establishment support as Pupatello or Wynne, Kennedy would be a force to be reckoned with if he does run.<\/p>\n


<\/code>Declared<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

None<\/em><\/p>\n


<\/code>Likely<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Sandra Pupatello
\nKathleen Wynne<\/p>\n


<\/code>Call me Maybe<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Deb Matthews
\nGlen Murray
\nGerard Kennedy
\nCharles Sousa
\nEric Hoskins
\nDavid Caplan
\nJohn Wilkinson
\nHarinder Takhar<\/p>\n


<\/code>Taking a Pass<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Yasir Naqvi<\/del>
\nDwight Duncan<\/del>
\nChris Bentley<\/del>
\nMichael Bryant<\/del>
\nGeorge Smitherman<\/del>
\nBrad Duguid<\/del>
\nLaurel Broten<\/del>
\nDavid Orazietti<\/del><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the membership cut-off fast approaching, it seems likely we’ll have a good idea of the field of candidates to replace Dalton McGuinty within a few days. This week, Laurel Broten, Brad Duguid, and George Smitherman added their names to the list of those taking a pass, prompting a round of “no one wants this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1270,55],"tags":[1004,1275,1274],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4231"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4241,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231\/revisions\/4241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}