Leadership 2009 - Week in Review, March 1

Last week, I held off on doing a Week in Review for lack of any surprising developments. And I was set to do the same this week...except that we've now reached the point where the lack of news from one camp looks to make for some noteworthy news itself.

By way of comparison, three of the leadership candidates have put together regular public updates over the month of February: Dwain Lingenfelter with a steady stream of publicity based largely on his injecting himself into the issue of SaskEnergy rates, and Ryan Meili and Yens Pedersen through their websites which have featured regular blog updates and other developing content as the campaign progresses.

And then there's Deb Higgins. One would expect the apparent top challenger to Lingenfelter - not to mention the only leadership contestant now in the Legislature - to have a fairly consistent public presence during the course of a leadership race. But Higgins' website and Facebook page feature a grand total of zero announcements since her entry into the contest. And her news presence looks far more consistent with that of any MLA rather than somebody who's ramping up a leadership campaign.

Of course, as I've noted before, much of the work associated with the leadership race will be done behind the scenes. And it could be that Higgins' plan is to count on her being well-enough known already to be able to focus solely on persuading current members and reaching out to new ones outside of the public eye.

But I'd have to think that Higgins' efforts will be a lot more difficult if anybody trying to compare her to the other candidates in terms of policy positions or personal interest runs into a dead end instead. And particularly considering the results of the NDP's leadership race in 2001, there shouldn't be much doubt that a candidate with cabinet and legislative experience can't count on that outweighing the organization of others with less political history.

Hopefully Higgins' campaign will realize and react to that possibility in the near future. But if not, then there's a real danger that the seeming top contender might instead end up at the back of the pack heading into the convention.