Last Thursday The Vancouver Sun carried the headline, "Dix surpasses Clark as top choice for leader."
The story referred to an Angus Reid poll showing 26 per cent of respondents said NDP leader Adrian Dix would make the best B.C. premier while 22 per cent of those same respondents favoured current premier Christy Clark.
Just under a year ago Clark was elected leader of the B.C. Liberals and one can conclude this hasn't been her best year, particularly when an Angus Reid poll last March -following Clark's win - showed the Liberals with a 43 per cent approval rating.
So what's gone wrong? Good question. To some extent it has to be the solid defeat of the Liberal-induced HST issue, but that was last August and one has to ask what's soured the B.C.
electorate since then.
Looking at the record, our provincial economy - while not setting the world on fire - is strong, our resource industry is punching well above its weight and over the winter months the B.C. unemployment rate has stayed static at 7 per cent.
The Stats Canada population data released Wednesday shows B.C. is growing and we're now home to 4.4 million residents. By most measures, and under the current Liberal government, B.C. is doing well.
However, with the greatest respect and in an attempt to sort out the mind set of the 800 respondents to the Angus Reid poll, I'd have to say the problem with the Christy Clark government is Christy Clark.
Going back a year, an obvious major concern for her candidacy had to be the lack of support from current Liberal MLAs. Clark had served in Gordon Campbell's first cabinet, but during the run-up to the leadership race, was endorsed by only one MLA, Harry Bloy, a backbencher representing Burquitlam.
It's always a bad sign when the majority of your former colleagues - who know you as well as anyone - support someone else. As an aside, leadership candidate Kevin Falcon had considerable support from 19 sitting MLAs including senior cabinet ministers Pat Bell and Shirley Bond.
Nevertheless, Clark who had three good years as a popular Lower Mainland open-line radio host won the leadership with a 340 vote margin over runner-up Falcon. Since then Clark's record as premier has done little to catch the imagination of British Columbians.
With the next British Columbia general election just over 15 months away - it's Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - the Liberals have to put a hurry-up offense in place and make sure it works.
First, the Liberal party should do some serious polling to identify Clark's positives and negatives. The Angus Reid poll of 800 respondents is a bit skimpy on numbers and details but it does identify the economy as being the single most important issue to British Columbians.
Surprisingly for the Liberals, Angus Reid found NDP leader Adrian Dix
literally tied with Clark as the best
person to deal with the B.C. economy.
The NDP is ahead on social issues such as education and health while Green Party leader Jane Sterk was seen as the best leader on environmental issues. If Christy Clark is going to show she can win a general she has to get her strategy and her strong side -what ever that may be - into gear quickly.
Second, Clark has to start leading. She took a tough stance on law and order following the Stanley Cup riots and was happily front-and-centre when Vancouver's Seaspan won a solid share of the federal ship-building contract, but there is the impression lately that she needs to get out more.
I suspect Clark is gun shy; she's not taking charge. By way of quick rewind, during the 2011 leadership campaign Clark showed the same indecisiveness on whether or not she would seek
Gordon Campbell's legislative seat.
Clark was a great radio host; she was a quick study and handled the listening audience with ease, but leading the most important enterprise in the province is a bit more daunting than hitting the on-air button and talking to people.
In the business of running a government, you can't sign off on a problem one day and merrily roll on to another the next. I've been involved in both and believe me radio is easier.
Liberal supporters you have a problem.
You know Christy Clark was unable to convince her former colleagues she was the best person to lead the Liberal Party, so the question becomes, will she do any better at selling her leadership skills to the BC electorate in the next provincial election? If you accept the latest Angus Reid polling results, the answer is no.
