Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis
Obviously I wasn't painting all Wildrosers as racist and bigoted. But they were the only party last year who had candidates make such remarks, and thats unfortunate but its true. Much like not all Republicans are devoid of any intelligence just because Akin said women can't get pregnant during "legitimate rape". But when only one party, even a small fraction of its members, is saying such nonesense, its just the way it is. Its a dirty game politics.
And I can appreciate how difficult it is to vet candidates for any election, but using time as an excuse seems odds when you consider the CPC formed in 2003 and won an election by 2006 (for comparison, the current Wildrose formed in 2008). The Wildrose I think just thought voter disdain to the PCs was so high they could run mediocre candidates and still win. I'd also add it was Danielle's reaction to those comments more than the comments themselves that did the Wildrose in. You can't claim strength as a leader when you're passive towards such terrible comments. Had she come out and dropped the hammer they probably would have won.
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The CPC did have a head start as they had a lot of talent in the Canadian Alliance and the Reform party.
As for time, I was in talks with one candidate whose boss is a big supporter of the PC party. It was implied that he could be fired if he ran for the nomination. So he was reluctant and the nomination was delayed as he considered the ramifications of putting his name forward. There were also a lot of good candidates who didn't want to risk their business relationships by putting forward with an upstart party. For the next election I expect the WRP will have much better vetting process and also will see more candidates put their names forward.