BC Election Riding Watch...Abbotsford South Edition

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OK....

The (so-called) debates are done.

And the pundits are passing out scorecards like candy while they pretty much ignore the substance of the things.

But enough of all that for the moment....

Because it is now only two weeks until decision day which means that the time has come to start focusing on the local ground games.

After all, in some places at least, the dynamics of what's going down in the ridings themselves still matter.

And no riding demonstrates that Tip O'Neillism more clearly than Abbotsford South, I reckon.

Interestingly, the Cummins Cons have cleared the far right-sided decks for longtime MLA, but first time independent, John van Dongen.

So....

What does Rich Coleman's man in Abbotsford South, the guy who was anointed by the BC Liberals as they were simultaneously suckering and dropping Moe Gill into the river through the secret trap-door in the floor of the local Cactus Club, Mr. Darryl Plecas have to say about all that?

Well, Christina Toth, in the Abbotsford Times, has that story:

...B.C. Liberal candidate Darryl Plecas derided the B.C. Conservatives' generosity, labeling them as an extreme right-wing group that has been plagued by problems since they were formed.

"They have positions that tend to be exclusive. I don't put any value on the B.C. Conservatives because I don't see them representing conservative values in Abbotsford South very well," he said Monday.

"They've demonstrated they don't get along with anybody. It's a collection of disgruntled people."

Plecas added he was disappointed the Conservatives would undermine the Liberals' chances this way, "knowing how important it is to keep a free enterprise party" in power and to keep the New Democrats from forming government...

Gosh.

As much as I disgree with just about everything Mr. Cummins and Co. stand for, I had no idea that it was there duty to elect Darryl Plecas.

Anyway....

The upshot is that, even if Plecas and van Dongen split a lot of soft centrist votes, I think it will be hard for Dipper Lukvinder Jhaj to come up the middle given that she is the new to the riding and, while she did OK in as a candidate 2009 in Boundary Similkameen, back then there was some real splitting going down between the Con and since dumped 'n smeared BCLib John Slater in that riding.

So, we'll have to see some real hard numbers to know for sure, but I think that van Dongen has a decent chance here of helping to make that independent caucus happen when next the legislature sits.


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Just a note on the ground game in Upper West Cremeville....Couldn't help but notice on my ride in this morning that it appears realtor Faith Wilson is now leading Ms. Clark in the 'Game of Signs'...As noted previously, while Peter Ladner apparently doesn't know it,  Mr. Eby is still very much the front-runner out there.


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