A private decision

Obvously Deb Higgins' leadership campaign will get a boost from today's news that former Finance Minister Andrew Thomson is in her corner. But buried beneath the Thomson announcement and a policy press conference whose subject doesn't seem to be available yet is a fairly surprising explanation as to why Higgins' campaign has seemed so quiet so far:

Higgins hasn't done much public work since announcing her candidacy.

She's (sic) contends this is an internal party campaign and in her opinion should be concentrated on the grassroots.

Now, it's true enough that the leadership race is theoretically an internal party contest. And of course any focus on the grassroots is a plus in principle.

But then, part of the process of grassroots renewal normally involves trying to reach beyond the current membership - which goes doubly in a race where the current membership list is a fraction of the size of the one which existed as of the last leadership race. And if Higgins' comment actually reflects her plans rather than a simple attempt to put her slow start in the past, then it's worth wondering whether any number of endorsements will end up being outweighed by a campaign that aims too low in the vote department.

Update: CBC's News at 6 reports on the actual policy announcement, being a plan to limit political donations by unions and corporations. Which is definitely a good idea, not to mention one which both her leadership competitors and the Wall government would figure to have trouble trying to argue against.