You can tell it was a slow news day when the big news story was that Kevin O'Leary had put together an exploratory team to advise him on his potential bit for the leadership of the Conservative party. Tied to that story was one showing him waving a spatula around. Talk about free news coverage!
To give him credit though, he has been good at getting free coverage as he continues to play the media with his maybe I will, maybe I won't lines about joining the Conservative leadership race.
I was asked if O'Leary could beat Trudeau and my answer was "possibly." But, so could three or four other leadership candidates. The way the Liberals have handled the "cash for access" scandal is symptomatic of what is wrong with both their leader and the party. Their management of this issue has been particularly bad and it is the type of issues that voters remember. There is plenty of time for many more such incidents to catch up to them and this one still has quite a few legs to it.
Obviously O'Leary's action is interesting, but it is only the first step to actually doing something, the first step to moving beyond blowing smoke and hot air.
Add in all of the election promises that Trudeau and the Liberals made to so many people that it will be impossible to meet all of those expectations. That will make for a large unhappy voter pool. Added to that will be all of the economic issues that we will be facing by 2019.
This includes the amount of our country's debt, all of which he will be leaving for our kids and grandchildren to pay off. Don't forget, by the time 2019 rolls around, we will all have been paying for his carbon tax long enough for us to know how much it hurts both our own pocketbooks and the economy. Trudeau is definitely beatable.
Obviously O'Leary's action is interesting, but it is only the first step to actually doing something, the first step to moving beyond blowing smoke and hot air. Hopefully his action will clean out a few of the present contenders and force some of the leadership wannabes (whose egos exceed their abilities) to the sidelines. At that point we will see a genuine leadership race start.
O'Leary's line is that he wants to hear from Canadians, so I will offer him some free advice.
- Believe only 10 per cent of what you are being told about your ability to win.
- Assume most of what you hear is BS until proven otherwise.
- Remember that a lot of supporters are beside you for a reason and it will often benefit them more than you.
- Start showing Canadians that you are focused on more than just the economy and money. You are one dimensional right now.
- Find a couple of advisers who are not afraid to tell you the truth, no matter how much you might not like it.
- Build a highly competent communications team and issues management team; because if the last few months are an example of how you will operate, you will need every one of them.
- Get rid of the spatula. It is a dumb idea that ranks right up there with the cash register we heard ringing with Harper in the last election.
- Enjoy the ride, political life is like a roller coaster with more ups and downs than you can ever imagine.
There you go some free advice which Kevin O'Leary can take or leave.
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