The Ontario Conservatives’ hapless leader Timmy Hudak is a continuing problem for his caucus and party. Ontario pundits have continued to have their say about him and nobody knows anything they did not previously know and worried about. And if Timmy and his political handlers have no idea what to do, how is the party meeting in three weeks going to solve anything?
The basic problem is that nobody in the Conservative party can honestly say they are overwhelmed with Timmy Hudak’s performance as leader. If he is honest about it, Timmy is probably just as concerned about his performance as anyone else. The party buys him the best advice that it can find and Timmy keeps falling on his face. It is not whether he is actually a nice guy or not. That is not what anyone is worried about. The problem is that the voters of Ontario seem convinced that Timmy is a dumb schmuck. And there is no cure for dumb.
But that is only problem number one. The next question is what the hell the party intends to do about it? The Conservative gathering later this month has decided that delegates can vote for a leadership review. What help will that be?
Are the party faithful going to vote for a new leader when they have absolutely no idea who the new leader might be? Sorry, it does not work that way. When Brian Mulroney stabbed Joe Clark in the back and ousted him as federal party leader back in the 1980s, Clark still got more than 60 per cent party support at the convention. Mulroney had to count on Clark’s pride to get the leadership contest he ultimately won.
And, in this case, the party is setting a barrier of 60 per cent in favour of having a leadership convention to replacing the present leader. Even if Timmy Hudak only gets 41 per cent of the vote, it is enough to keep him in the driver’s seat. And you know he will do better than that. They do not call it the Conservative party for no reason.
You can do all the automated telephone polls you wish but the only way the Conservatives are going to dump Timmy Hudak is if you give them a viable alternative. And there is no viable alternative in sight.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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