WI Bob Rae wins Liberal leadership in 2006
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thatsbunkers
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You’d have to change his time as premier for him to win the leadership election. The memory of him still hurts the oNDP. If he was liberal leaders the liberals would do a lot worse in Ontario
I forget where I read it (maybe Peter Newman's When the Gods Changed?) but after the third ballot Ignatieff apparently considered withdrawing and endorsing his old college buddy Rae, despite the fact that Ignatieff had consistently polled ahead of him at the convention and that it would require a slight bending of the rules to ensure that Rae wouldn't still be eliminated (having come in last on that ballot). IIRC the Ignatieff camp had been seriously wounded by the fact that Dion had leapt ahead of him, and didn't think they'd be able to win. Now, who knows if this was ever actually that realistic (personally, I have my doubts), but still, it's one of the more interesting ways to get Rae into the leadership. Arguably unrealistic, but interesting.
Alternatively, I feel like an easier way to get Rae as leader would be to keep Kennedy and/or Dion out of the race. Without their pact I doubt either would've been able to leap ahead of Rae and Ignatieff.
In any event, with Rae as leader it likely means we have an election sometime in 2007 or early 2008 (periods where IOTL, for what it's worth, Dion was polling better than he ultimately ended up doing). He obviously has the baggage of his Premiership around his neck, but unlike Dion he was actually personally popular and a good enough campaigner to at least cancel it out.
Alternatively, I feel like an easier way to get Rae as leader would be to keep Kennedy and/or Dion out of the race. Without their pact I doubt either would've been able to leap ahead of Rae and Ignatieff.
In any event, with Rae as leader it likely means we have an election sometime in 2007 or early 2008 (periods where IOTL, for what it's worth, Dion was polling better than he ultimately ended up doing). He obviously has the baggage of his Premiership around his neck, but unlike Dion he was actually personally popular and a good enough campaigner to at least cancel it out.
Or maybe, unlikely though it is, have Kennedy endorse Rae?
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He probably does the same if not better than Dion, who was pretty useless. I suspect Ray would connect with people much better than Dion did but ultimately "Ray Days" would be a rock around his neck in Ontario.
I honestly don't think so (though I am admittedly biased). Voters are people, and people have very short memories.
Idk it's been used against the NDP for years, even Doug Ford used it against them(though he won for plenty of other reasons).
I think the reason the NDP doesn't win isn't because of people remembering Rae Days, but because they are the NDP and people don't think they can win. It's the same reason the NDP never even smelled victory in the 1980s, despite Broadbent being way more popular then Turner or Mulroney.
Also, talking about the most recent Ontario election specifically, the NDP was still in the lead for like half the campaign. You can’t blame Rae for Horwath blowing the lead.