Dalton McGuinty was given another mandate as Ontario's Premier by the voters last night. Despite a record of tax increases, skyrocketing deficits, broken promises, and union coddling, the PC's could not defeat the Grits. The blame lies entirely on the PC leader, Tim Hudak.
Despite having some good ideas and that he would have, undoubtedly, done a better job than Premier Dad (in my opinion), Hudak could not convince Ontario voters to change horses. This is especially surprising given the success the federal Conservatives have had in Ontario.
So why did Hudak fail? My belief is that he ran as Liberal-lite, offering policies and ideas on slightly to the right of McGuinty. Hudak ran an Ernie Eves (Hudak's political mentor) campaign. I don't believe Hudak really had a vision of what he wanted to do for Ontario as its premier. Say what you want about Mike Harris or Rob Ford, but they came to power knowing exactly what they wanted to do: prevent or slow government expansion, ensure fiscal accountability and responsibility, and create an environment where business can thrive.
Hudak presented no vision of where he wanted to lead Ontario. The videos attacking McGuinty as a tax and spender were all true, but that's not enough. Voters must understand the new direction a challenger wants to take, why it is better than the status quo, and how they will get there. Hudak utterly failed in that regard. There were no big ideas in the PC campaign at all. Hudak will likely follow the paths of John Tory, George HW Bush, Gerald Ford, and Ernie Eves, leaders who lacked a vision and ran "moderate" campaigns.
Moderate conservatives almost always fail. Principled conservatives like Reagan, Mike Harris, Stephen Harper, and even Rob Ford win elections. So when the next leadership campaign begins for the Ontario PC's, as it should, remember that principle beats unprincipled.
4 comments:
Well said and exactly right. You forgot Ralph Klein's first two terms in there. The Liberals painted Hudak as a devil and Ontarians picked the devil they know.
Nicely put.
The die was cast in the previous election.
These last two Liberal wins could have all been avoided years ago if the PC party had nominated a strong and articulate blue-tory conservative, someone like Frank Klees for leader, instead of John Tory.
What bothers me more than the failure of the PC campaign was how many PC bloggers are in total denial that Hudak has to wear this failure, and look to blame it on:
-the media
-unions
-Rob Ford
-principled conservatives
Anyone, except wooden Hudak and the people who came up with his vacuous platform.
This election was ours to win. If you don't admit to the cause of the failure, you will make the same mistake next time.
Three years ago when Mark Spiro was introduced as the campaign director I knew we were doomed as he never would answer any questions. Pretty much sums up the campaign as candidates were told not to attend debates.
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