Halfway through a campaign few saw coming, former Premier Christy Clark joined Michael Gardiner and Azim Jiwani on BC War Room to size up the race. The day's news set the stage: Lorne Doerkson promised a $1,000 income tax cut, David Eby pledged three more years of frozen ICBC rates and the Conservatives dropped their candidate in Victoria-Beacon Hill.
Clark, who led BC from 2011 to 2017, said the NDP campaign can't be happy with where things stand. The New Democrats began with every advantage, she argued, but the snap election call has cost Eby, and the Conservatives have been chipping away ever since. Polls now show the Conservatives ahead by three to eight points.
Drawing on her 2013 come-from-behind majority, Clark described the freedom that comes with believing the odds are against you, and said Doerkson gets to run as the underdog even while leading. Eby, she said, should be offering a big vision for the province but is stuck in repair mode instead. Clark predicted Doerkson will win the debate. She described him as dependable, plain-spoken and honest, and her advice was simple: be himself and skip the over-rehearsed lines. Her advice to Eby: don't talk about your record. She argued Eby too often comes across as talking down to people, a trait she said women voters in particular notice.
Gardiner countered that women remain the NDP's area of strength, and shared research from after the 2013 election showing many women voters ranked their household's economic security above all else. On Surrey, Clark said pocketbook issues dominate and households tend to vote together, and she expects the outcome to come down to the ground game. The conversation closed on what comes after.
Recalling that even Gordon Campbell lost in 1996 when the centre-right split, Clark said a leader has to let caucus members speak freely in private, give them meaningful work and set the tone from the top. She acknowledged today's issues are more incendiary than in her era, but said Doerkson, a former bareback rider from Williams Lake, seems well suited to managing difficult characters.
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