DAY 17 – 73 LEFT TO GO
Jim Watson is going to have to use every ounce of political skill he has, and maybe then some, to grab the top prize in the 2010 mayoral election in Ottawa.
I did a quick calculation and the90-day review of the ECO fee-asco will land it back in the news the week of October 11th, roughly two weeks before the municipal election date. This will once again tie Watson with the unpopular McGuinty government right when he should be focusing on his strengths and convincing voters he’s the right man to be Mayor of Ottawa.
Watson will already be fighting to keep his votes on the left with the addition on Clive Doucet to the race. And by mid-October, Watson will have clearly defined his vision of Ottawa for 2014 which is based on property tax rate caps of 2.5%. But when the new, revised ECO tax scheme is released in October, will “committed” voters still stick with him when reminded that he also sat around the table when the Liberal government, in 2004, broke its promise of no tax increases and introduced the health tax and was around the table when the HST was approved?
Fortunately for Watson, McGuinty is also well known for changing plans on the fly so it would not surprise me to see the ECO review drag on past the municipal election date which will help Watson in Ottawa and help some other potential mayoral candidates in other Ontario cities. But if the ECO Fee review comes out right before the election as currently scheduled, only Watson’s political finesse will allow him become Mayor of Ottawa.
Sorry Finesse will not get Jimm Watson out of this mess he will be held accountable to the people of Ottawa for his 6 yr involvement with the prov Liberals he was part of everyone of the boondoggles
Jim Watson came to our condo apartment yesterday to knock on doors
along with his young enthousiastic campaign crowd, it is very impressive to meet Jim (he has gotten a bit older looking) I had a few butterfies in my stomach, he is of course an ex-mayor of popular fame, an MPP of some fame, he has my vote 100%
he knows municipal politics backward and he knows how to bring council on board, comments against him about his provincial politics are not fair, when he says he will give the citizens of Ottawa 100% of himself I believe him because he has always done it and he will continue to do so. He has broken away from McGuinty, please quit hanging him for it, get the other guys who are still in there. As I talked to Jim at my door I asked him if he knew Blake Batson and did he read his blog, he said he did but mentions that “Blake was not always fair in his comments” but in retrospect he mentioned that he perceives “Blake as a very intelligent young man.” Boy I am glad he made that last statement, because I would have had to choose another candidate. Good luck Jim
Leave your response!
Tags
Randall Denley Larry O'Brien Ottawa Citizen Alex Cullen Tim Hudak CFRA Tim Tierney Mathieu Fleury Ottawa Sun HST City Hall Ottawa Maria McRae Jim Watson Michael Ignatieff Stephen Harper Rob Snow OC Transpo Peter Hume Dalton McGuintyGuest Bloggers
Recent Comments