Danny of the Dead

Don’t be surprised if you start hearing more of Danny Dumaresque in the weeks ahead as the former Liberal politician tries to raise his profile in anticipation of a by-election in The Straits-White Bay North.

The Other Danny is reputedly planning to turn up in Flower’s Cove for the Big Protest. That’s Step Two.  Step One was calling local radio shows.

The Liberal Party’s answer to Jim Morgan last tried for a seat in the 2007 general election.  He was defeated in Torngat Mountains by Patty Pottle and a gazillion personal phone calls from The Danny Hisself.

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Woodrow packs it in

John Woodrow has quit as the Liberal candidate in the deferred central Newfoundland election.

He didn't do it for the right reasons; he did so claiming as vocm.com put it that "he did not feel he had the support of the party executive or caucus."

The Advertiser has a more detailed version of the story:

Mr. Woodrow’s decision to withdraw from the race was also made following comments by provincial Liberal Party president Danny Dumaresque in the most recent edition of the weekly provincial newspaper, The Independent.

In the news story in question, Mr. Dumaresque stated, “Basically the people of the province have already cast their opinion and undoubtedly we would love to win it (the seat), but I don’t see it as a must-win at all as far as importance to the party is concerned.”

Dumaresque should be the next to go.

The result of the last election - which Dumaresque uses as an excuse in the central fight - rests in some measure on the head of the president. That to one side, even, Dumaresque should give up as party president since he signed endorsed Woodrow's candidacy without checking on the guy's history.

Instead of packing it in, Dumaresque seems to be quietly soliciting support for a run at the party leader's job. In light of the Woodrow mess, Dumaresque should have a very hard time convincing anyone he's the right guy to lead the party into the 2011 general election, that is, unless he plans to promise four more years on the opposition benches.

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March-ing toward oblivion

News that former ombudsman Fraser March might run for the Liberals in the next provincial general election should leave the party brass cold, especially in light of this story from Monday's Telegram.

Liberal Party president Danny Dumaresque is quoted in the Telegram saying, among other things, that polls don't bother him at all especially in light of the 1989 general election. He also claims there are a "number of prospective candidates of 'significant stature' who are coming forward for the next election".

Well, if Fraser March is an example of the candidates Dumaresque is turning up, better he focus his attention on something other than media calls. Apparently, the only thing Dumaresque has done so far is cause people to wonder who is actually leading the Liberals.

Normally, the party president is a back room job, a behind-the-scenes organizer. You know. The kind of thing a political party needs a scant five months before an election.

But Dumaresque appears on the airwaves and in the papers seemingly as often as party leader Gerry Reid. In the meantime, no star candidates have emerged. No prospects have been rumoured.

There's a convention coming up in June. So far little has been heard of it. Perhaps Dumaresque could have talked about that as another key step in the road to the fall election, rather than chat about the government's budget. Maybe there was something could have talked about instead of his skill at whistling past the graveyard.

Is March the sort of top notch candidate Dumaresque has in mind? Sadly, there isn't anybody else that Dumaresque has been able to offer up, so most voters will draw their own conclusions.

Bottom line is that Dumaresque talks a lot but his claims produce nothing good.

Results count.

Better for Danny Dumaresque to keep himself out of the news media. Better for him to stay in the back room and sort things out. Let results be the measure of his ability.

So far the combination of Dumaresque's unsubstantiated claims and stories like the March one make people wonder why we are even bothering to have an election in the fall anyway.

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