Well, we're into another leadership convention. It will be in the "real" West (BC), an area where we need to do a lot of work. This will be good for the party.
Now, with only about 6 months left, we need to level the playing field for all leadership hopefuls. We DO NOT want some great candidate to not run because the "others" are so far ahead with fund-raising. We need to:
1) Control spending on leadership campaigns. Rather than big money ads, get the leaders out to meet the people.
2) See about getting more people to vote. Do we, just this time, go to a one-member, one-vote system - just to save us all on our precious funds we can spend during elections?
We need to handle the fundraising AND at least engaging all voters in every province. Harper established "beachheads" in Liberal territory - the cities, by engaging the "ethnic vote" - something no-one thought the Cons could, or wanted to do. We, on the other hand, took the "ethnics" for-granted (not bus-loading them to conventions, but with REAL policy), gave up on even engaging voters on the Prairies into thinking for themselves, and ended up where we are.
If we don't follow the American Democrat lead (50 States), lets at least follow Harpers: - win back the ethnic vote - a critical part to our keeping our cities - expand to the greater urban/suburban vote - show our faces and our brand in places like the Prairies Even rallies and public meetings in those centers help. Let's not kid ourselves, though, there are ridings in AB, and SK, which are not going to be anything but Con.
The bottom line, however, will be the bottom line: we need funds and volunteers. We need to engage members into a monthly donation plan. We need to have a "liberal" (note small "l") policy "skeleton" which reflects liberal policy basics - ways we feel on very general issues - that is available as speaking points AT ALL TIMES so would-be candidates and volunteers have something to go by, when someone asks, "what do Liberals stand for?"
