Merging parties court Manning
Former Reform leader cool to political return
Jason Fekete and Don Braid
Calgary Herald
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The man set to lead the merged Wildrose Alliance party says there's a better person to unite the right and champion the fight -- Preston Manning.
Alberta Alliance Leader Paul Hinman, who's slated to head the new right-wing option if his members accept the merger with the fledgling Wildrose Party, told the Herald he would happily step aside if Manning wanted the crown.
While Manning said Saturday he's not currently interested in leading the Wildrose Alliance, Hinman is scheduled to meet the Reform party founder in Calgary later this week -- prior to the unification vote -- and will try to convince him to lead the party into an expected March election.
"It would be fantastic if Preston Manning were the leader," Hinman said. "He would light a fire under this province. I think the Wildrose Alliance would win the election." Hinman, his party's lone MLA, said he discussed with Manning a year ago the prospect of bringing the political icon into the Alliance fold in some degree. Manning's response, however, was there needed to be more members and more money in the party.
The Alliance leader suggested there's still not enough cash or grassroots support to generate the "critical mass" needed, but he expects the former Reform party leader's involvement would change that.
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