Monday, June 08, 2009

Maintaining the momentum

Most of the public speculation about Ryan Meili's plans in the wake of the NDP leadership race has focused on the prospect of his running in Saskatoon Riversdale. And we'll find out tomorrow whether that will happen. But it's worth noting that there's little indication that either Meili or his supporters will be focusing their efforts solely on winning him a seat in the Legislature.

Instead, Meili looks to be ideally positioned to play a key role in the NDP's policy renewal process - which needless to say is an area where he's already shown he can be effective. And in what may be even better news in the longer term, there are some rumblings that the principal players in the Meili campaign are looking to turn the base developed during the course of the leadership campaign into a permanent group which could serve as a focal point for progressive policy development and activism in Saskatchewan.

Of course, there's a long way to go in turning a one-time campaign into a fixture in Saskatchewan politics. But it's not hard to see how the combination of enthusiasm and effective organization shown by the Meili campaign could offer an ideal foundation on which to build - and both the NDP and the province could be far better off in the long run for the effort.

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