Shawn Graham Faces the Music
[Cross-posted at the The Sorry Centrist]
For the New Brunswick tories, the 2003 election results, could hardly have been worse. It was not only that they lost their comfortable 47 seat majority, but more importantly for them, it was 'who' and 'what' were lost. While Bernard Lord still stood as Premier of New Brunswick, many of his best and brightest went down to defeat on that Monday evening in early June and many more have since left. And, worst of all, Premier Lord now has the fight of his life on his hands, just to keep his job, due to a confident and surging leader of the Liberal party, Shawn Graham. And with the young opposition leader from Kent county slowly portraying himself and his party as a "government-in-waiting", there is no doubt that the next election will be a very bitter, dirty and hard fought affair; especially given the recent chitchat whereas Graham and the liberals are allegedly ahead of the tories by 18 points in two polls.
So what makes this guy so appealing to New Brunswick voters?
For starters, no New Brunswick politician has ever possessed better qualifications for public life than Shawn Graham. His father, Alan, had been a provincial minister of the Crown and is still on record as the longest serving member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, holding his seat for 31 years from 1967 until 1998. A UNB graduate, Shawn Graham stormed onto the political scene in 1998 winning a by-election in the riding of Kent which was previously held by his father. And with many humbling comparisons to the late premier Louis J Robichaud, he was urged to throw his hat into the ring--- four years later--- for Liberal leader. And to the "shock and awe" of many senior liberals and political pundits, he won the leadership of the party hands down at the May 2002 convention. With such strong political acumen and charisma alongside a humbling street charm, one might ask that all important question, is there anything stopping this budding superstar from occupying the premier's chair? Well, the answer, in my humble opinion, is "yes" there certainly is.
And contrary to the unanimous recent opinions of the Telegraph Journal, its editorial board, its bandwagoning pundits, and its shop stewart in the printing plant ---no, I do not think Shawn Graham will ever don the title of 'premier' of this province. My opinion is largely based on reason and logic, which I hasten to add are mental processes that have doomed the careers of many New Brunswick scribes. Notwithstanding, reason and logic do count for something, as I hope Shawn Graham will eventually prove. My reasons, in that, he will never make it to the government benches are surely cogent. First of all, Graham possesses an overabundance of petulance which is widely viewed, by many common New Brunswickers, as distasteful and repugnant. Secondly, despite his victories, he comes across as a very flaccid leader and has not been able to overcome this undesirable quality with the media. Thirdly, he has been unable to showcase and communicate his party's policy agenda, both socially or economically, and leaders of that kind are not likely to resonate over the status quo, nor are they ever judged favourably come election time.
But the hard reality is that the leadership question, in New Brunswick, needs time before acceptable answers can be found, if, indeed , there are answers.
The great irony, among many, is that Graham is more needed by his party than he ever was, because he is simply the only strength it has to assure stability and continuity. It could also be said that our province definitely needs him as well, since the role and function of the official opposition in the legislature is at least as important as the conduct of the governing Progressive Conservatives. And for many tories in New Brunswick, that is a place they would like to see Mr. Shawn Graham stay for a very, very longtime.
For the New Brunswick tories, the 2003 election results, could hardly have been worse. It was not only that they lost their comfortable 47 seat majority, but more importantly for them, it was 'who' and 'what' were lost. While Bernard Lord still stood as Premier of New Brunswick, many of his best and brightest went down to defeat on that Monday evening in early June and many more have since left. And, worst of all, Premier Lord now has the fight of his life on his hands, just to keep his job, due to a confident and surging leader of the Liberal party, Shawn Graham. And with the young opposition leader from Kent county slowly portraying himself and his party as a "government-in-waiting", there is no doubt that the next election will be a very bitter, dirty and hard fought affair; especially given the recent chitchat whereas Graham and the liberals are allegedly ahead of the tories by 18 points in two polls.So what makes this guy so appealing to New Brunswick voters?
For starters, no New Brunswick politician has ever possessed better qualifications for public life than Shawn Graham. His father, Alan, had been a provincial minister of the Crown and is still on record as the longest serving member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, holding his seat for 31 years from 1967 until 1998. A UNB graduate, Shawn Graham stormed onto the political scene in 1998 winning a by-election in the riding of Kent which was previously held by his father. And with many humbling comparisons to the late premier Louis J Robichaud, he was urged to throw his hat into the ring--- four years later--- for Liberal leader. And to the "shock and awe" of many senior liberals and political pundits, he won the leadership of the party hands down at the May 2002 convention. With such strong political acumen and charisma alongside a humbling street charm, one might ask that all important question, is there anything stopping this budding superstar from occupying the premier's chair? Well, the answer, in my humble opinion, is "yes" there certainly is.
And contrary to the unanimous recent opinions of the Telegraph Journal, its editorial board, its bandwagoning pundits, and its shop stewart in the printing plant ---no, I do not think Shawn Graham will ever don the title of 'premier' of this province. My opinion is largely based on reason and logic, which I hasten to add are mental processes that have doomed the careers of many New Brunswick scribes. Notwithstanding, reason and logic do count for something, as I hope Shawn Graham will eventually prove. My reasons, in that, he will never make it to the government benches are surely cogent. First of all, Graham possesses an overabundance of petulance which is widely viewed, by many common New Brunswickers, as distasteful and repugnant. Secondly, despite his victories, he comes across as a very flaccid leader and has not been able to overcome this undesirable quality with the media. Thirdly, he has been unable to showcase and communicate his party's policy agenda, both socially or economically, and leaders of that kind are not likely to resonate over the status quo, nor are they ever judged favourably come election time.
But the hard reality is that the leadership question, in New Brunswick, needs time before acceptable answers can be found, if, indeed , there are answers.
The great irony, among many, is that Graham is more needed by his party than he ever was, because he is simply the only strength it has to assure stability and continuity. It could also be said that our province definitely needs him as well, since the role and function of the official opposition in the legislature is at least as important as the conduct of the governing Progressive Conservatives. And for many tories in New Brunswick, that is a place they would like to see Mr. Shawn Graham stay for a very, very longtime.
