Charest has what I would describe as a hall of mirrors to victory. He has to make every correct turn to find the prize at the end, and he has a lot of turns to make. If not he will get lost or end up back at the entrance.
Something I keep reflecting upon is that, traditionally, the person who finishes second in the leadership race gets a plum appointment in the new [usually shadow] cabinet, often Deputy Leader or a prestige portfolio like Justice, Finance or Foreign Affairs.
And if Leslyn Lewis works her way onto the final ballot, that's exactly what she'll probably get. She'll become a leading figure within the federal party, Poilievre will be forced to find her a frontbench role (my money would be on Defence or Industry), and the stock of the socially conservative faction will appreciably rise.
But Charest and Brown? Charest clearly isn't going to run for a federal seat just to be good sport and serve in a Poilievre cabinet. Brown's plans are less transparent to me, but given that he already has a job (and probably has more influence as the mayor of a large city than he would as a member of a federal cabinet, let alone a federal shadow cabinet), I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he chose to stay municipal in the face of a leadership rejection.
If I'm right about this, this means that even if we get a Scheer/Bernier 2%-on-the-final-ballot photo finish, so long as Poilievre wins, the Red Tory faction gets nothing to show for the campaign.
I see Charest as being a Kamala Harris sort of candidate. Lot of establishment support; not much popular support. Hyped up by the meida; but will fall flat when he faces the electorate
Charest has what I would describe as a hall of mirrors to victory. He has to make every correct turn to find the prize at the end, and he has a lot of turns to make. If not he will get lost or end up back at the entrance.
Something I keep reflecting upon is that, traditionally, the person who finishes second in the leadership race gets a plum appointment in the new [usually shadow] cabinet, often Deputy Leader or a prestige portfolio like Justice, Finance or Foreign Affairs.
And if Leslyn Lewis works her way onto the final ballot, that's exactly what she'll probably get. She'll become a leading figure within the federal party, Poilievre will be forced to find her a frontbench role (my money would be on Defence or Industry), and the stock of the socially conservative faction will appreciably rise.
But Charest and Brown? Charest clearly isn't going to run for a federal seat just to be good sport and serve in a Poilievre cabinet. Brown's plans are less transparent to me, but given that he already has a job (and probably has more influence as the mayor of a large city than he would as a member of a federal cabinet, let alone a federal shadow cabinet), I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he chose to stay municipal in the face of a leadership rejection.
If I'm right about this, this means that even if we get a Scheer/Bernier 2%-on-the-final-ballot photo finish, so long as Poilievre wins, the Red Tory faction gets nothing to show for the campaign.
Seems to me that Poilievre is less about grievance politics and more about what this interview has to say, about reclaiming populism and hearing voters: https://tarahenley.substack.com/p/theres-a-problem-there-and-the-responsibility?s=r
I see Charest as being a Kamala Harris sort of candidate. Lot of establishment support; not much popular support. Hyped up by the meida; but will fall flat when he faces the electorate