February 7, 2011
Why the Liberals want to get lively
You might be wondering why the B.C. Liberals would care about “lively” leadership debates as opposed to the boring one we had last week in Kamloops. After all, the only people they really have to impress are the party members deciding who to vote for.
In reality, leadership races encompass much more. People outside the party inevitably get drawn into the contest, pick favourites, and — if all goes well from the party’s point of view — think about who would get their ballot at election time.
Before the Liberal leadership race, you might never have heard of some of the candidates — or at least didn’t know much about them. A debate is an opportunity for the public to learn more, but they won’t listen if it’s boring. And if the debate is an open forum where anything can happen, there is likely to be more controversy and more coverage in the media.
So yes indeed, let’s have more liveliness.