The Friends of Mr. Falcon

The British Columbia Liberal Party leadership race is starting to see a little pack separation, with Kevin Falcon joining Christy Clark as the perceived front runners in the race to replace outgoing (slow as it seems to be going) Premier Gordon Campbell.

When Ms. Clark entered the race she immediately seemed to grab the majority of the media attention and with it moved to the top of the list of potential replacements, since then only George Abbot and Kevin Falcon have found frequent mention for their efforts, trying to wrestle some of that media spot light away from the Clark campaign.

To that end, Mr. Falcon seems to be succeeding quicker than Mr. Abbot, Monday Falcon gained some valuable support from two Campbell cabinet ministers, Shirley Bond and Pat Bell, two northern based ministers who now provide a wider reach for the Falcon campaign and the appearance of support from the party establishment.

Vaughn Palmer of the Sun explains how Falcon has become the choice of the party loyalists, including it seems the choice of Premier Campbell though we imagine that isn't something that is going to appear on any Falcon campaign literature.

The latter point may be the Achilles heel in the Falcon campaign, if the party has heard the call from British Columbians for change that brought upon this leadership campaign in the first place, it would seem rather counter productive to select a candidate who perhaps best stands for the status quo and is associated, not to mention supported by the architect of the current state of distrust that the party finds itself in.

It may provide the hardest balancing act in politics, seeking to replace an unpopular leader by attracting his or her base, while creating the image of having your own agenda.

In fact in an earlier musing from Palmer,  the efforts that Falcon has gone to in order to try and put some distance between himself and the Premier were outlined.

Still despite the apparent desire of the inner circle of the Campbell cabinet to see Falcon rise to the top of the pack, down where the delegates sit the direction may yet be to go in another direction. Which is exactly where candidates Clark and Abbot seem to be staking out their turf.

Sometimes the tidal wave of support from within can end up washing a candidate out to sea when the tide moves back out.

Mr. Falcon is on the crest of that wave at the moment but the timing will be to secure the leadership bid and grab some solid permanent turf of his own before the political waters move out.

Victoria Times Colonist-- Bond, Bell endorse Falcon for leadership of BC Liberals
Vancouver Sun-- Candidates spar over MLA endorsements
Vancouver Province-- Candidates line up supporters
Vancouver Province-- Falcon's image fractured in search for fans
Vancouver Sun-- Business community support gives Falcon his wings
CKWX-- Falcon may be too cozy with business community
Globe and Mail-- Kevin Falcon adds two more ministers to his supporters