With less than two weeks left in the campaign, the B.C. NDP leadership race has so far been marked by how little the three leading contenders disagree on.
And judging by their policy platforms and public pronouncements, it would seem that advisers for Mike Farnworth, John Horgan and Adrian Dix have recommended that their candidates drive an agenda that will appeal to that critical voter in the amorphous middle of the political spectrum.
"It's another NDP love-in," Mr. Horgan is fond of saying at leadership events where the candidates seldom diverge in any meaningful way on the course of action they would take on any number of fronts.
If there has been a surprise so far it's been Mr. Dix, who is usually portrayed in the media as the radical lefty of the group. But a closer examination of his policies fails to reveal a hardened ideologue. It's difficult to imagine there are many British Columbians who would argue with his plans to eliminate the HST, support innovation and investment as a means of growing a green economy, impose tougher pollution standards and use the carbon tax to build more public transit.
There are also lots of references to "family" sprinkled throughout his policy documents, as well as repeated calls and measures to offer those most in need a hand up.
Even Mr. Dix's vow to roll back corporate income taxes doesn't seem as radical in light of federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's recent undertaking to do the same thing.
Still, Mr. Dix is undoubtedly the candidate that B.C. Premier Christy Clark would most like to face in an election. While many of Mr. Dix's policies would be palatable to that vast swath of middle-class voters, there would still seem to be pockets of opportunity in his platform for the leader of a centre-right party to exploit.
Mr. Dix, for instance, would arguably put more control of what goes on in the classroom in the hands of the B.C. Teachers' Federation, particularly as it pertains to classroom size. You could imagine this idea being used by the Liberal Premier to demonstrate her erstwhile opponent's slavish deference to public-sector unions.
On the other hand, there might be enough in Mr. Dix's platform to both energize the NDP core - those New Democrats tacking towards the ideological far left - while at the same time catering to those voters in the middle that both the NDP and Liberals so desperately covet.
Former Tory MP John Cummins, soon to be officially named as leader of the B.C. Conservative Party, would certainly prefer the NDP select a candidate perceived to be less ideologically strident than Mr. Dix. Why? Because Mr. Cummins's base of arch-conservatives might be less willing to risk putting into power someone who will be demonized by the Liberals as a captive of unions and a leader who will spark the flight of capital from the province.
Far better for Mr. Cummins that the next NDP leader and prospective premier be Mr. Farnworth or Mr. Horgan, who would likely be seen as safer, more moderate alternatives.
For now, at least, the NDP contest would seem to be a battle between Mr. Dix and Mr. Farnworth, two men who agree on many public policy matters but offer notably different leadership styles.
Mr. Dix is hard-working and intellectually formidable, with a ravenous craving for change. In many respects, he is a knockoff of his political mentor Glen Clark, the former NDP premier who is now president of the Jim Pattison Group and outside adviser to the Dix campaign. But Mr. Dix can come across as someone in a hurry to get things done, a noble idea in theory but a strategy that can sometimes lead to rushed, flawed decision-making. (See Mr. Clark's time as premier.)
That said, Mr. Dix's desire to right the perceived wrongs of the Liberal government as quickly as possible would likely appeal to the NDP base he is also targeting.
One imagines Mike Farnworth taking a slower, more methodical approach towards governing, with lots of consultation and overtures to a vast array of stakeholder groups. It's a style that some New Democrats might find frustrating but would be more appealing to progressive voters who have voted Liberal in the past but may be willing to go for change and the NDP this time around.
Whatever happens, the NDP campaign will produce the strongest leader the party has had in some time. And a worthy opponent of the governing Liberals.
Gary Mason