, 06.02.2018 10:48 AM

This is what $70,000 a month gets you

This is pathetic. It’s farcical.

And, as I will show everyone next week, it was completely needless.

If she had left a year ago – and if she had taken her pitiful Wizard and the Board with her – we could have won.

This is on them.

Kathleen Wynne on Saturday acknowledged that she will no longer be premier after the June 7 election and encouraged voters to elect Liberal candidates to prevent the NDP or PCs from securing a majority.

“Even though I won’t be leading this province as premier, I care deeply about how it will be led,” the Liberal leader said during a campaign stop in Toronto.

Public support for Wynne’s Liberals has plummeted since the election started on May 9, and Wynne said that a “confluence of things” led her to make her statement on Saturday.

24 Comments

  1. Miles Lunn says:

    Well at least the Wizard with his good salary probably has enough to take a good long vacation or perhaps even retire.

  2. Matt says:

    This is an, um……. “interesting” new strategy.

    “We aren’t going to win. We’re going to be decimated, but vote Liberal anyway”

    This combined with Horwath now publicy musing she’s open to an NDP-Liberal coalition government might just have the opposite affect Wynne and Horwath are hoping for.

    They hope it will draw votes AWAY from Ford.

    I suspect it will push votes TO Ford.

    Plus, isn’t Horwath with her now being open to a coalition, essentially admitting the NDP aren’t going to win?

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Matt,

      Railing against the coalition paid handsome dividends for Harper. If Ford takes up that mantle each and every single day, then Horwath may have snatched victory away again in a second election by way of her own deliberate steering of the NDP ship. Beyond stupid, on her part.

  3. Richard Besserer says:

    What to add?

    …At least give Kathleen credit for knowing when she’s licked. Would that many more politicians would concede electoral defeat as soon as it was inevitable and instruct their followers accordingly as to how to limit the damage.

    Realistically, this amounts to an endorsement of the NDP and Andrea Horwath in ridings where Liberal defeat is certain.

  4. Steve T says:

    My Spidey-sense is tingling at this announcement. I suspect this is an attempt to garner more seats by convincing citizens they can check “Liberal” on their ballot and not worry about the Libs actually winning. They are saying “Don’t worry – we are still going to get punished, but you don’t have to vote for those evil PCs or Communist NDPs.”

    Don’t be fooled, Ontarians. If you are unhappy with the Libs, don’t vote for them. Period.

  5. the salamander horde says:

    .. this is crazy stuff.. Wynne does not want to bleed, split away votes from NDP and let Ford get in.. so she is waving the white flag.. that’s what we see anyway.. maybe she sees Liberals helping NDP to a win or majority a la British Columbia NDP.. Doug Ford is a disaster Ontario cannot afford.. he needs to retire.. or just go away

  6. Gyor says:

    Who is the Wizard and the Board anyways? Just curious.

    And as NDPer whose party has been in third for almost his whole life, we did the worst when we even came close to conceding defeat before E Day, people like fighters not those that surrender. The Liberal campaign is the most disasterous Campaign since Kim Campell’s campaign, worse then Iggy’s even. At least Iggy fought to the last.

  7. Matt says:

    Hearing Wynne did this to keep some explosive information about Liberal financial misconduct the NDP were about to go public with private.

    Here’s the kicker. The NDP thinks it will help them. Liberal internal data shows it’s more likely to help Ford. More Liberal supporters list the OPC as their second choice.

  8. Eastern Rebellion says:

    I agree that she is long past her best before date, but it is hard to believe that she and her government are going to be obliterated by such mediocre opponents. IMHO it was hubris; she was absolutely convinced that she could could
    out-campaign Horvath and (especially) Ford, and she has failed abysmally. Maybe her courtiers were afraid to tell her the score, maybe they cynically saw a payday and were not concerned about the election’s result. I honestly have no idea. In addition to potentially taking the party to an unprecedented electoral defeat, she has also managed to alienate groups which previously might have at least supported the party if not her personally. (Excellent post on TVO’s website by John McGrath in relation to this matter, as well as the Premier’s hypocritical behaviour). I won’t be sorry to see her go, but this is what happens when you put yourself above the party.

  9. Des says:

    This was the worst possible move for her and her base. The base now is probably a black hole. My feeling is that this increases the vote for the NDP in the downtowns of larger cities. But, would it be a possibility that it could drive the Liberal vote to the PCs in rural ridings and suburban Toronto knowing that voting for the Liberal candidate is futile?

    • Mike Sloan says:

      I agree with you. It’s like people who were prepared to vote for the OLP are now free agents. We’ll have to wait to see how it plays out. Where do they go, if anywhere?

      • Des says:

        “Free agent” is a good analogy. Sign with the team that gives you the greatest chance to win a championship or be selfish and take the money and play for a lesser team. Hmmmm…

  10. Lance says:

    Akin to saving the deckchairs from the water by burning them in a bonfire.

  11. Mark says:

    #winningnotwinning

  12. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Let me tackle this from two perspectives: first from the law of unintended consequences. Wynne wanted to acknowledge the obvious but make an appeal to save quality Liberal MPPs and candidates. But in truth, when you write yourself off, you pretty much take everyone else with you. In short, her announcement ends up being perceived as anti-Liberal.

    Now, as an instrument to slow down or blunt a PCP surge, it’s a gift to progressives. It gives all Liberals permission who want to prevent a Ford win by doing something called voting for the NDP. Wynne may end up being just as responsible as Horwath for putting the NDP in power. Great news for progressives but how ironic is that?

    • Des says:

      Preface: I’m a Conservative.

      First off, I think on ON NDP would be calamitous. If they’re as bad as I think they would be if they form an ON provincial government, this will be labeled all on the OLP because it was the OLPs (or Wynne?) fault. I have a feeling it won’t necessarily be put back on the PCs because the support of the NDP has mainly been on the backs of the OLP and I think the general public knows this (hopefully). This would also look bad on the federal LPC because they benefited (especially in 2015) from the OLP.

      This being said, would they prefer a PC government that would possibly be a success or failure (who knows?); or be an NDP government which is almost destined for failure and have them be your legacy?

  13. Mike Sloan says:

    I’m not sure if it was winnable in any way. 15 years is long run at governing, and they did achieve some good things. That said, people just want a change. Maybe that’s not a great idea, but when it’s in the voters heads, it almost impossible to turn it around.

    • Sjs says:

      Warren, I agree, the time for a change thing was strong. I know, “Bill Davis…”, but much has changed. Also, I’m incredible impressed by your skills and success, I don’t think you could have taken this on one year ago and won it. The right is not split into two parties and, you’re not running as the voice of change. But, it’s great that you can say that, nobody will prove you wrong.
      Couple things:
      -Caroline M made DoFo the Leader, splitting the sane vote. Hopefully she thinks of that as she sits in Cabinet meetings over the next couple years, wondering how she got into this stupidity.
      -for those beyond the 416 and Ottawa beltway— Gandalf (ie a wizard) consulting is Dave Herle, he’s Paul Martin’s old pollster from many years ago (used to be Earnscliffe) and he has been running Wynne’s campaign. “the Board” are around him on the Wynne campaign and were probably associated with Martin in the past— the illwill is deep, probably stretching back to the Calgary Saddledome in 1990 or perhaps, the Ottawa convention in 1984.
      It’s Martin v Chrétien. Sigh.

  14. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    This part makes me mad: why concede an election, along with your leadership of a government but not concede your party leadership as well, even though you may likely lose your own riding? By failing to do that, she is signalling that she still wants to be Captain Smith, even after the RMS Liberalic sinks. Yeah sure, that’ll save a lot of Liberal MPPs…

  15. p bre says:

    ..quitter…

  16. Des says:

    Also, this pipeline business isn’t helping the Libs. As an Atlantic Canadian and someone who is considering defending Atlantic Canada as a candidate for the Cons; the Libs are in an utter shitty place. Our candidate is unpopular due to tax reform (but still showed up to give details about marijuana legalisation but not tax reform)… the Libs are even vulnerable even in Atlantic Canada.


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