Thursday, April 16, 2009

Nettie results

One more interesting note from tonight's Saskatchewan NDP leadership debate: while it hasn't yet shown up in the media, another major endorsement looks to have fallen into place with Nettie Wiebe offering her support to Ryan Meili. Which looks to be a particularly interesting development for two reasons.

First, with Lorne Calvert figuring to stay neutral and Chris Axworthy long gone from the party, Wiebe is the top finisher in the 2001 leadership race who figures to endorse anybody in this year's contest. And to the extent her base is still in place (which seems entirely likely considering her involvement in federal politics in recent years), it would seem to have the potential to radically reshape the first ballot results if Wiebe's supporters follow her endorsement.

Second, from an outside perspective Wiebe seemed like the most likely prominent figure to send an endorsement Yens Pedersen's way due to their common involvement in the National Farmers Union. (Indeed, the Google tells me there's at least one endorsement from Pedersen's site for the 2007 election which was based on NFU involvement - though sadly the Wayback Machine hasn't preserved the name of the speaker.) Which means that in addition to offering another boost to Meili's momentum, Wiebe's endorsement may effectively close the door on Pedersen's likelihood of building a similar trend.

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