While the New Democratic Party continues its internal review of the election disaster, MLA John Horgan reviewed his chances if he decided to run for leader.
Although most assured him he was a strong contender, he didn鈥檛 like what he saw.
The first negative would be the leadership race. He looks back on the last one in 2011 with affection, even though he came third. He and colleagues Adrian Dix and Mike Farnworth were the obvious front-runners, and the biggest challenge the three amigos faced was being tough on each other. They grew up in politics together, worked and socialized with each other and liked each other too much to start any big arguments.
鈥淚t was unbridled fun,鈥� he told reporters Wednesday.
But he said the upcoming race will be a lot different.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see that [fun] in the future. I saw difficulty, I saw acrimony, I saw divisiveness, and it seems to be the best course of action when you鈥檙e faced with that is be grateful for the time you had and be ready to help whoever steps forward.鈥�
Why such a difference?
It鈥檚 because of the vastly different circumstances.
Former leader Carole James was forced to quit by caucus mutiny 19 months after she lost the 2009 election. It was a crisis over one issue 鈥� her leadership. After she resolved it by stepping aside, everyone parked their differences in the background and pulled together. Within a few weeks of her resignation, the race was on and the crisis faded away.
Adrian Dix said four months after he lost the 2013 election that he would step down next year. It was a quicker, cleaner severance. But it seems as if it鈥檚 going to take longer than last time to put the whole thing behind them. The loss goes deeper than just Dix flunking the campaign. The party is still casting about for reasons why they collectively blew it. Horgan鈥檚 decision not to run shows that process hasn鈥檛 been, and isn鈥檛 going to be, pretty.
Horgan also came to a shrewd conclusion about whether leader is the right position for him.
He runs a little hot at times and recognized that could turn into a problem if he were the leader.
Wednesday he said he will continue to be 鈥渦nfettered by the shackles of formal leadership.鈥�
鈥淵ou all know me to be a little bombastic at times ... I鈥檓 making a greater contribution when I鈥檓 free to just be me.
鈥淭he prospect of the constraints of message boxes and having to check with other people 鈥� I鈥檓 going to say stupid things and I鈥檓 OK with that. But as leader you鈥檙e under so much scrutiny I believe that would constrain my ability to add to the debate about where we need to go as a party.鈥�
Horgan鈥檚 two cents鈥� worth on that issue is the same as people like ex-MLA Harry Lali鈥檚.
鈥淲e have lost our way to speak to people in resource-based communities; we have become dependent on particular points of view largely focused in the Lower Mainland.鈥�
After Lali lost his Fraser-Nicola seat, he explained that Dix鈥檚 sudden move against a southern oil pipeline was read by working people as the NDP coming out against jobs.
Horgan is in the same camp.
鈥淚f we are going to win we need to speak not just in a pandering way, but in a positive way to people in resource-based communities,鈥� he said.
That view was going to be the foundation of a leadership campaign he said was starting to look as if it would be quite successful, before he pulled the plug.
In the back-and-forth between metro-Vancouver environmentally minded members and up-country working people, there is now one fewer candidate for the latter group to pin their hopes on.
Horgan said he heard repeatedly that he and colleague Mike Farnworth were such automatic front-runners that it was dissuading others from running.
So with the above matters on his mind, he decided to get out of the way to allow fresher faces to step up.
It will be interesting to see if Farnworth arrives at the same conclusion.
