This just in: Ches Crosbie has a sense of humour (and a hell of a hill to climb)

It evidently came as a surprise to a number of people that Ches Crosbie not only can make you laugh, but is quite aware, thank you very much, of his image.

That certainly was the case this week, after Crosbie's campaign released a video featuring Crosbie at home — but his mind still very much fixed on work, work, work.

"I'm glad you're asking about equalization at supper," Crosbie says in the video, which shows his daughter Rachel politely listening to her policy-wonk dad drone on from one issue to the next.

Crosbie's Twitter account posted the video on Tuesday (exactly at the moment, by the way, that he was answering questions on CBC Radio's CrossTalk … a confirmation that leaders' Twitter accounts have other thumbs tapping behind the scenes).

It's been retweeted or quote-tweeted more than 1,500 times since. Most reactions have been positive, and a common thread is the discovery that Ches Crosbie, yep, has a sense of humour. 

It's also important to note that as funny as the video is, it's not an original concept at all. Right after its release, people noticed that it is really, really similar to a 2016 video that went viral, involving a Texas politician named Gerald Daugherty. "Please re-elect Gerald. Please," says Daugherty's wife at the end. "Please elect my dad. Please," says Crosbie's daughter Rachel at the PC ad's close. (I guess the old adage that "good artists borrow, great ones steal" applies to politics, too!)

Like father, somewhat like son

Back to that sense of humour, and a video that probably did more to bolster Crosbie's standing than anything else in the campaign.

Crosbie has a sharp mind and a dry wit, and it's come across over the years, including when he was a lawyer in private practice. He is, after all, the son of the late John Crosbie, whose formidable political talents were sometimes eclipsed by his ability to crack up fellow MPs and the press gallery alike. That's not Ches, but he's hardly a block of wood. 

Ches Crosbie also wound up in a bit of controversy for a bit of political comedy. In 2015, he appeared in a sketch comedy show called Called to the Bard, in which local lawyers (get the pun in the title? Arr, arr) made fun of politics and such in the style of Shakespeare. Crosbie played MacHarper, a jab at then prime minister Stephen Harper, in a skit about "MacDuffy," or Senator Mike Duffy. The performance went largely unremarked until Crosbie — set to be acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in Avalon riding in the 2015 election — was dumped with no explanation.

Crosbie didn't give up on politics. He won the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership, and rallied the party in a 2019 election, giving them a strong caucus and bringing the Liberals to a minority government.

But Crosbie's performance was not universally admired in the party. Crosbie notably refused to concede on election night in May 2019, and his speech that night struck a few (including those close to him) as unnecessarily angry.

Back in the ring 

Like the NDP's Alison Coffin, Crosbie is back in the ring 21 months later for another bout in a provincial election. Instead of Dwight Ball, the incumbent now is Andrew Furey, the surgeon who became premier last August after winning the Liberal leadership.

Recent polls, though, show that Crosbie has a big challenge ahead of him. Even before Furey took the reins, the Liberals had a comfortable lead in the polls. For example, Narrative Research's quarterly tracking polls from last May through December had the Liberals at between 58 and 61 per cent, when decided voters were asked which party they would choose if an election was held that day. Crosbie's PCs trailed well behind, at numbers ranging from 21 to 26 per cent. (Narrative's most recent margin of error is 4.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.)

The most recent public opinion poll, from Mainstreet Research, shows Liberal support among decided and leaning voters is 62 per cent, while the PCs are at 26 per cent. The margin of error in this poll is 3.31 per cent, 19 times out of 20.)

Going into the election as an underdog, Crosbie has adopted a scrappy tone. That came through in the televised leadership debate on Wednesday.

"Look, I'm honest with the people. I level with people. I look them in the eye," Crosbie said. "I tell them the hard facts and the realities. I don't use buzzwords like 'redesign the future.'"

Pushed back over 'bankruptcy' comment

But Crosbie was on his back heel during the debate, because of a controversy he sparked a week earlier by saying that declaring bankruptcy would force the federal government to cut a new fiscal deal for Newfoundland and Labrador, a province that — despite grave economic circumstances — does not qualify for equalization. (Political scientist Kelly Blidook was scathing in his critique of Crosbie's remarks. "I'm sorry, you're not in a position of power when you're just about to go bankrupt," Blidook told CBC last week.)

WATCH | Ches Crosbie, Alison Coffin and Andrew Furey squared off Wednesday night in the televised leaders' debate: 

Leaders' Debate: Newfoundland and Labrador Votes 2021

4 years ago

Duration 58:35

Liberal Leader Andrew Furey, PC Leader Ches Crosbie and NDP Leader Alison Coffin square off ahead of the Feb. 13 general election.

Crosbie has been focusing on an agenda that's sharp on the economy, jobs and economic development. Rather than focusing on curbing spending, he wants to grow the economy so that more tax revenue can be collected.

Rhetorically if not also ideologically, it seems that he's moved far away from some public stances in 2019. Weeks before the election, he said the government needed to cut spending, and health care was an obvious place to look for savings.

"I don't know anyone with experience with the health-care system that does not think there is waste in health care," he told CBC's Terry Roberts. "That's a good place to start. While preserving the quality of care you can root out a lot of waste."

This year, Crosbie is accusing Furey of being obsessed with cuts. (It's worth noting, though, that during the debate that Crosbie said he was prepared to go line by line through the budget, looking for waste. A similar message, actually, to 2019, but a wholly different tone.)

Crosbie may find some comfort — but so too will the other parties — in Vote Compass data released Friday that shows the No. 1 issue among voters is the economy. Crosbie's slogans are "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" and "Bring Jobs Back." To be fair, the Liberals and the NDP are also emphasizing economic recovery.

Well before the 2019 election, Crosbie had been trailing Ball in the polls. Closer to that election, though, he narrowed that gap.

He has quite the significant challenge this time, though.

And, as CBC polls analyst Éric Grenier pointed out in a recent column, Crosbie needs to make history to win the government. A leader who lost an election in N.L. has not yet won on the next try.

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