Affordability and public safety are more important to voters than wacky candidate tweets
It’s fair to say candidates who insinuate that COVID-19 vaccinations aren’t safe are not in line with the broadly accepted science on the matter. However, in an attempt to reduce Rustad and the Conservatives to wacky conspiracy theorists, Eby and the NDP are missing the opportunity to talk about the major issues affecting British Columbians. Their smears are also failing to land because Rustad is difficult to cast as dangerous, even if he can be criticized for certain things. The mild-mannered man from northern B.C. just isn’t scary.
So far, Eby has mostly insulted Rustad and treated him more like a misguided child than a serious former cabinet minister. It’s unbecoming and, worse for Eby, it isn’t working. Since day 1 of the campaign, the NDP playbook has been to go negative and try to scare B.C. into voting for them. British Columbians aren’t hearing that message.
The BC Conservatives were a small fringe party last election. That historical fact cannot be denied. However, the present reality is that they are a serious centre-right alternative to the B.C. NDP.
Polls aren’t showing strong support for Rustad and the BC Conservatives because the province is full of crazy loons and conspiracy-minded quacks. Quite the opposite is true. British Columbians are looking for a serious and common-sense alternative to what they view as a province in decline. If Eby and the NDP don’t wrap their heads around this reality quickly, we will be swearing in Premier Rustad after Oct. 19.
National Post
Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.