Todd Smith Steps Up to Bat

Todd Smith announces his candidacy for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the provincial riding of Prince Edward - Hastings (photo by James Phieffer for jamesphieffer.com)

By officially declaring Wednesday afternoon his intention to seek the nomination for the Ontario Progressive Conservative nomination in Prince Edward – Hastings, Todd Smith ended a period of rumour and debate that had surrounded the nomination for the last couple of weeks.

While the lack of enthusiasm surrounding the idea of past candidate Eric Den Ouden running was clear to anyone looking, the question still remained who would be the candidate – or would den Ouden end up with the nomination if by no other means than inertia, as the summer campaigning season approachesⁱ and the need to nominate someone became clear. And den Ouden had the fact he had sold a number of memberships working in his favour, as well as some support in the party and probably a not insignificant number of members who were unsure of where they stood on the issue due to a lack of information.

So a den Ouden candidacy was not outside the realm of conceivability. And then Mr. den Ouden decided to do something which maybe he saw as advancing his cause, but if so backfired severely, even as it forced the issue to a conclusion. He went public. He took an issue that was basically an internal matter (although by no means a secret one – he broke no confidentiality rules that I know of) and made it a very public one by going to the Intelligencer even as he sent messages seeking support to other members. By doing this, he alienated many of those who might have been on the fence – an inadvertent form of a scorched earth campaign. And the one thing a scorched earth campaign does is eliminate any possibility of a soft landing – he would either win, or he would be all but done as a person of eminence in the local party.

And he didn't win. He lost, and lost big, and in the process made it possible for new candidates to step forward without being overshadowed by his would-be candidacy. This is the situation that Todd Smith steps into, along with any other potential candidates. So where do we go from here?

Smith has stepped forward. Any other candidates have a short window to throw their names in, and on a date to be determined by the riding executive (probably within the next 4 weeks) the nomination meeting will be held. From there it will be a summer of light campaigning for the candidate leading up to the writ being dropped.

Now Chris Mallette in the Intelligencer offered the spectre of den Ouden running as an independent – as is his right. In light of how hard he fought for the nomination, I am a little sceptical of this taking place. As well, the idea of the potential fallout from an independent run will likely deter him from this course. Anyone who is worthy of the nomination will not, upon losing it, run against the person who won.

So back to Todd Smith. He's an intelligent, articulate candidate, someone who has a high profile in the community because of his involvement in it and because of his position with Quinte Broadcasting. He will be a quality candidate, and is someone who can unseat Dombrowsky. And that, after all, is what the object of the whole exercise is.

i)      See! Every type of conflict known to man has a season. The Bible tells of the spring being the season when men go to war – and when King David didn't, he ended up pulling a Schwarzenegger – and summer, the season of fairs and other gatherings, is the time when politicians press the flesh, kissing babies and shaking hands, and hopefully not confusing the two...