Manitoba NDP leadership contenders running 3 different races
CBC News | Posted: January 9, 2015 11:53 AM | Last Updated: January 9, 2015
Pollster weighs in on tactics candidates using to brand themselves before March vote
The three contenders for the leadership of Manitoba's NDP are running very different campaigns.
Former cabinet minister and one of the five 'rebels' who called for the premier to step down, Theresa Oswald's bid for the top job is the most visible so far, with a boisterous lauch and several policy announcements already under her belt.
Curtis Brown, a senior research associate with Probe Research, a Winnipeg polling firm, said Oswald's strategy is to rebrand herself as a leader, much as a premier does during an election campaign.
"She's going out the way a leader would, ...[doing] a leader's tour, [doing] these announcements during an election campaign," he said. "I think that's interesting. I think what she's trying to convey is that she's premier material."
Brown said in comparison, former infrastructure minister Steve Ashton's strategy is to cast himself as someone who can repair the NDP.
"His core message is, 'I'm a uniter and can bring the party back together,'" he said.
In contrast, Premier Greg Selinger's absence in the contest is telling, Brown said.
"He's just trying to demonstrate more than anything that he is governing and he has been governing for the last few months and all this other stuff is a bit of a distraction," Brown said.
Brown said it's still too early to say who is gaining the upper hand.
"I don't think you can say with any certainty who's winning and who's not winning," he said.
The party picks its new leader at its annual convention in Winnipeg March 6 to 8, 2015.