Christy Clark said, “He ran because he believed it was important to represent an alternative to British Columbia”

BC Conservatives, and those leaning towards support of them, should be pleased with the results of a survey compiled by Hamish Marshall of Abingdon Research.

First to the conclusion … it states that the BC Liberal election coalition is fragile – and more importantly, nearly half of BC Liberals voters only support them because there is no other alternative.

It also goes on to say that should the BC Conservatives become that alternative, they could capture 20% of BC Liberal voters.

What scenario would see that most likely to happen??  It would be the election of Christy Clark as leader of the BC Liberals tomorrow, because she is seen as being too close to the Michael Ignatieff federal Liberals by nearly one in four federal Conservatives who make up two thirds of BC Liberal voters.

This would lead me to believe that THE ONLY reason that federal and small ‘c’ conservatives are in the BC Liberal Party is because they have felt that they had no provincial political alternative.

Here is another interesting item from the survey.  When all voters (not just Liberal voters) were asked the question, “If Christy Clark was elected the new leader of the BC Liberals, how strongly would you consider voting for the BC Conservative Party?”

• 22% said they possibly would … 9% said they strongly would … and 6% said they definitely would

Now remember … these numbers are from ALL voters and NOT from just from Liberals ... or the + 10% of people the BC Conservatives can currently count on to cast a vote for them.

These numbers, which I have been mentioning, obviously represent a number of possible scenarios … but here is the important thing to note:

The BC Conservative party currently does not have a leader; however right in the middle of their (Liberal) leadership race when they are getting maximum media exposure, BC Conservatives can claim to have no less than 10 to 15% of the vote --- and possibly upwards of 35% or more!

BC Conservatives have been presenting a credible option during the past year and a half, and more and more BC voters are looking to see what direction they will continue on.

I believe that if they can continue to clearly articulate their position and policies on government accountability – fiscal accountability – and providing government that is accountable to the voters – British Columbians will continue moving to them; and NOT because they have NO other choice!

Do British Columbians deserve to have a choice on the ballot that they can identify with? 

Christy Clark seems to think so as you can clearly see from what she had to say about her own father being a candidate for office:  

"He ran as a candidate when he knew absolutely for certain that he would be defeated … he ran because he believed it was important to represent an alternative to British Columbia … even if you don't win, you sometimes can make a difference … like my father who clung so stubbornly to the belief that there needed to be an alternative in British Columbia."

With the right leader in place, BC Conservative candidates won’t be running knowing for certain they will be defeated, as Christy Clark's father did.  They will be running in every riding across the province to win --- and to become elected “representatives” who will be “accountable” to their constituents.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative --- and some from Christy Clark as well.