Gordon Campbell steps down - Nov 03 2010

[Mike K.]

Gordon Campbell this morning announced that he is stepping down as Premier of BC. A leadership convention will be held.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1784300/

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...-campbell.html

[gumgum]

Beat you by 5 minutes. Actually 10.

[Layne French]

Kinda surprised by this news

[Mike K.]

Originally Posted by gumgum

Beat you by 5 minutes. Actually 10.

Oops. I didn't see the other thread.

[spanky123]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

Gordon Campbell this morning announced that he is stepping down as Premier of BC. A leadership convention will be held.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1784300/

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...-campbell.html

Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[yodsaker]

They took him into the back room and said they weren't willing to lose their cars and drivers, their toadies, flunkies and yes-men, their nice offices on account of Mr. Nine Percent.
Best news since the Maui booze-up.
Carole James was very gracious on Global TV for 30 seconds then descended into partisan talking points. None of them learn to shut up while they are ahead.

[Mike K.]

This is nothing more than positioning by the Liberals. A replacement will give voters a sense of renewal.

Carole James can say all she wants but her party lost two MLAs in the last month, one of whom was ejected for criticizing her and the other stepped down over the NDP's decision to eject rather than reprimand said MLA.

[rjag]

So I'm thinking that the NDP will wait and see who the Liberals choose before they have their own coup d'etat and dump Carole. I'll be very surprised if she's around this time next year.

[spanky123]

Originally Posted by rjag

So I'm thinking that the NDP will wait and see who the Liberals choose before they have their own coup d'etat and dump Carole. I'll be very surprised if she's around this time next year.

The bet on the street was who was going to be dumped first, Gordon or Carole. Carole won't be around in 12 months guaranteed.

[weirdie]

Originally Posted by spanky123

The bet on the street was who was going to be dumped first, Gordon or Carole. Carole won't be around in 12 months guaranteed.

I really hope so. The only thing keeping me from voting NDP is that horrible harpy of a woman.

[Mike K.]

Any thoughts on who Campbell's replacement may be?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

Any thoughts on who Campbell's replacement may be?

Bill Vanderzalm

[Bernard]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Bill Vanderzalm

The Zalm hates the Liberals and could make a run for the BC Conservative leader

[spanky123]

Originally Posted by Bernard

The Zalm hates the Liberals and could make a run for the BC Conservative leader

Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, are all just names these days. People pick a party based on where they feel they have the best chance of winning.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

Any thoughts on who Campbell's replacement may be?

Rich Coleman has been actively campaigning for awhile, now. Mary Polak's stock as never been higher and I'll bet Kevin Falcon rates his chances; though I think that he would only ever win a convention in some alternate bizarro universe.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Bernard

The Zalm hates the Liberals and could make a run for the BC Conservative leader

I know, I just thought that it could be a different party and leader that replaces him.

[concorde]

Originally Posted by weirdie

I really hope so. The only thing keeping me from voting NDP is that horrible harpy of a woman.

The Liberals could have Kermit the frog as leader and I would still vote for them. It will be a cold day in hell before I vote NDP. Don't people remember the late 90's under the NDP?

[Bernard]

The political reality is that the NDP will have to replace Carole James before 2013, ideally within six months of a new Liberal leader.

The Liberals will suffer if they choose anyone from within the existing caucus, but there are some people that could survive till 2017 and win then, that has to be someone younger than 50 now. If the Liberals choose a leader from outside of the caucus they stand a chance of doing much better in 2013 than anyone would expect. Someone like Diane Watts or Keith Martin would make for a very, very interesting change.

The big unknown are the BC Conservatives, with federal MP such as John Cummings as leader they could sweep most of the interior of BC other than the Kootanies. There is a large pent up right wing vote in BC that is desperate for a right wing party to vote for.

If the BC Liberals are seen the same as the federal Liberals, this is very, very bad for the NDP. With the rise of a BC Conservative party this becomes a possibility. The federal NDP has trouble getting past 25% support in BC. The last election in which BC had the same alignment provincially as federally was in 1940. If we have that in 2013 we could see eventually see the shift to a permanent Conservative government in BC. In the last generation there is only two federal elections in which the right did not win the majority of seats and only once when they were not the largest party.

If BC politics align with the federal politics, this is the worst case scenario for the NDP

[Dylan Leblanc]

I think Gordon Campbell has been a good Premier for the province. He has accomplished a lot, and really cleaned house after the disasterous NDP of the 1990s. It's sad to see him go, but least it's on his own accord.

Thanks Gordo!

[rjag]

Originally Posted by concorde

The Liberals could have Kermit the frog as leader and I would still vote for them. It will be a cold day in hell before I vote NDP. Don't people remember the late 90's under the NDP?

Hahaha thats so true. Look at them now, do you really think its Carole running the show or.....Mo?

The NDP remind me of Iranian politics, Carole James is the public mouthpiece like Ahmadinejad and Mo and the rest of the union gang are behind the scenes really running the show like the Mullahs.

[spanky123]

Originally Posted by rjag

Hahaha thats so true. Look at them now, do you really think its Carole running the show or.....Mo?

The NDP remind me of Iranian politics, Carole James is the public mouthpiece like Ahmadinejad and Mo and the rest of the union gang are behind the scenes really running the show like the Mullahs.

Although this ssounds callous, IMHO the only reason why James is still the leader is because of her cancer diagnosis in 2006. The NDP didn't want to squeeze her out at that time and look like a bunch of heartless opportunists.

[weirdie]

Originally Posted by rjag

Hahaha thats so true. Look at them now, do you really think its Carole running the show or.....Mo?

The NDP remind me of Iranian politics, Carole James is the public mouthpiece like Ahmadinejad and Mo and the rest of the union gang are behind the scenes really running the show like the Mullahs.

I'm definitely not under any illusions that she's running the show in any capacity. I just find her offensive to the eyes and ears.

[mysage]

Originally Posted by Dylan Leblanc

I think Gordon Campbell has been a good Premier for the province. He has accomplished a lot, and really cleaned house after the disasterous NDP of the 1990s. It's sad to see him go, but least it's on his own accord.

Thanks Gordo!

I agree. Campbell was good for the province for a number of years. His problem is /was the same as every other politician when they stay too long. They think that they have the freedom to do virtually anything they please and we ,being Canadians, will wring our hands, complain like hell but eventually fall in line.

Much to the chagrin of Campbell and the Liberals it didn't happen this time and the HST became a grass roots lightning rod that has driven him out of office. There is a major upside tho and that is if the Liberals can elect someone who has some independent credibility (not a present Liberals retread) they can gracefully back away from the HST, right the ship and continue to keep the NDP on the outside looking in (the way it should be).

Van der Zalm may be a wild card in the above scenario but I think that he has had his day and can't carry the province on the sole issue of his anti HST stance.

In any case we are in for some fun.

[phx]

Perhaps we are incorrectly assuming that the HST is the reason for Campbell to step down. Could there be more dirt yet to be revealed in the Basi-Virk scandal?

[Sparky]

I just woke up in a cold sweat remembering something I had read almost a decade ago.

Despite all of his success in the United States, Foster says he still cares for his home province, and he'd like to seek the premiership, if he can find the time in his schedule.

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local...shColumbiaHome