Needless to say, the endorsements of Ed Broadbent and Francoise Boivin have made Brian Topp's leadership campaign launch a bit more of a splash than might have been expected.
But for those looking to declare the race over before it begins, let's remember that there's a huge difference between winning endorsements and earning the votes of members. And while Topp has nicely carved out a niche as the candidate of the Layton inner circle, Topp will have plenty of work to do in building his own public profile in order to reach the actual and potential members who will ultimately vote for the party's next leader.
I actually found that his refrain of "we are ALL 'Jack's people'" at his press conference, along with his blatant refusal to contrast himself with Mulcair (or any other potential candidate) in any way had the effect of painting him as something other than the candidate of the Layton inner circle.
ReplyDeleteGranted, the launch was managed to send a somewhat different message. But I'm not sure it does much to change the overall perception as to Topp's base of support.
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