The old maxim in politics that governments defeat themselves was evident yesterday as the BC Liberal Party committed political hari kari or ritual suicide by selecting Christy Clark as their new leader and premier designate.
In choosing a self-professed "outsider", Clark, with no caucus support and with strong ties to the federal Liberal Party (their chief organizer and BC Rail celeb Pat Kinsella was her campaign manager), the stage is now set for the BC Liberal/Conservative coalition to fracture.
As B.C. political history shows, when the right wing vote splits the knee dippers (NDP) slip up the middle to form the government. This is how the party ends - not with a bang but a whimper.
Clark's so-called populist campaign platform was a grab bag of simplistic, Oprah-like pronouncements centered around her New Age Family First Agenda.
Empowering people, modernizing the approach to healthy familiies and anti-bullying legislation all served to underscore her lack of depth.
To paraphrase what one wag said about Ronald Reagan, "You could wade through her deepest thoughts and not get your feet wet."
In attempting to play it safe by avoiding a vigorous debate and some needed soul-searching about the direction of the party, the six leadership candidates seriously underestimated the depth of anger and disillusionment of B.C .voters (and delegates) over the HST, the BC Rail Scandal, the carbon tax and 10 years of Premier Gordon Campbell's one man show.
Anticipating that the outgoing Campbell would wash away all their sins with the electorate was naive and arrogant as the election of Clark now shows.
By relying on a virtual convention, notable for the screw-up that resulted in many delegates not receiving their pin numbers in time for yesterday's vote, the Liberals passed up a golden opportunity to reinvigorate the party, attract new members and garner the attention of B.C. voters and the national media.
With a caucus resentful of Clark's populist approach and her portrayal of herself as "not one of them" she stands isolated, and is already backtracking on her promise of an early election.
She will now presumably run in Campbell's old riding and hope that she doesn't end up trying to run the government from the press gallery.
In any case the Grand Coalition is dead and the B.C. Conservatives and right-wing Liberals will not support Clark.
It only remains for the NDP to pick a new leader and wait for the writ to be dropped.
History and a Liberal Party that seemed intent on self destruction will do the rest and the voters of B.C. and, in particular the North, will suffer the consequences.
