Christy Clark: change wins it by a nose change, long

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Christy Clark: change wins it by a nose
By Vaughn Palmer 27 Feb 2011 COMMENTS(0) View from the Ledge
  

VICTORIA

The candidate of change won it by a nose.

There, in shorthand form, is the outcome of the B.C. Liberal leadership race.

For three months they went at it.

The front runner from the outset of the race to the final ballot was Christy Clark, the self-styled candidate of change. Gone from government six years, long enough to distance herself from some of the more unpopular decision of the Gordon Campbell administration.

Clark was nothing like Campbell in terms of style either. Cheery and out-going. A communicator who learned her trade, as she never stopped reminding us, talking to people and listening to them on the radio.

Then there was Kevin Falcon, the candidate of staying the course. The self-styled action man of the Campbell government. Not shy about letting you know that on his watch as transportation minister, the government built the Canada Line, the Sea to Sky highway, and set about twinning the Port Mann bridge. Indeed, given half a chance, he'd leave you thinking none of those things would ever have gotten built without his personal say-so.

Falcon was choice, far and away, of the party establishment. All the senior ministers lined up behind him. More than 150 members of the business community signed on to his Falcon 20/20 group of backers.

And truth be told, he was the likely choice of the outgoing premier. Some observers speculated that Campbell chose to stay away from Saturday's proceedings out of a concern that the leadership of his party would pass to someone other than his preferred successor.

Then there was George Abbott, the candidate who offered a little of both, meaning some change and some staying the course.

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On the change side, Abbott, in his own way, took as much distance from the Campbell style as Clark. He still bore the scars of an internal showdown or two with the outgoing premier, adding to the credibility of his promise to be more open and less controlling.

Abbott's supporters from caucus outnumbered those of Falcon. But in terms of the Campbell government establishment, they were mostly the B-team. Junior ministers and backbenchers who'd been passed over by Campbell for one reason or another.

But as the campaign unfolded Abbott took pains to assure party members that he would only take the change thing so far. He stepped up his attacks on Clark and announced that if he couldn't win the thing himself, he'd take Falcon the insider over her any day.

It muddied his own message and reinforced Clark's -- if Liberals wanted a change from the Campbell era, there was only one way to vote -- for her. They did.

Abbott, once thought to be in second and touted as a possible compromise candidate, finished third. His second choices went to Falcon, but not enough of them to make the difference.

End result: Clark won with 52 per cent of the vote, Falcon with 48 per cent.

Or to put it another way, a small margin in favour of change, with a strong sentiment for stay the course. And note the ideological split as well, for Clark is a Liberal, Falcon a Conservative.

At first glance, it portends a divided party, and a major challenge to the winner, to bring the losers close enough to produce the necessary degree of unity, while at the same time showing the public she means it about change.

She'll have her work cut out for her.

But a win is a win. And no question, she'll make for a fascinating story.