One of Western Standard's subscribers here. I watched your Thursday evening livestream of the Conservative leadership debate. Excellent coverage by the way..I noticed you guys were thrown off about Patrick Brown's absence. To me it wasn't a surprise at all, so I wanted to send you (a brief version of) my theory. Basically, I don't think Brown is running with the intention of winning the leadership. Consider these 2 points:.- In 2015, Brown ran for the PC Party of Ontario leadership. He wasn't really taken seriously (I think he was only known as one of Harper's backbench MPs at the time), but he ended up blowing away Christine Elliott and Monte McNaughton in terms of new membership signups and shocked everyone by winning..- About 2 months ago, there was some speculation that Brown and Charest had a secret deal. As we know, Brown idolizes Charest. See the attached picture of a young Brown with the Charest poster on his wall. He also talks very favourably about Charest in his book "Takedown.".Brown has no chance of winning because he neither has support in Quebec nor the prairies. However, if he can sell memberships (in Ontario) primarily for the progressive side of the party, that will give his hero Charest enough support in central Canada (Brown's supporters in Ontario combined with Charest's in Quebec) to have a fighting chance. My bet is that sometime after the June 2 deadline is over, Brown drops out of the race and endorses Charest. If Ford doesn't form government again in Ontario, he may run for his old job as leader of the PCPO, or even for another term as mayor of Brampton..We'll see what happens, but that's my theory.
One of Western Standard's subscribers here. I watched your Thursday evening livestream of the Conservative leadership debate. Excellent coverage by the way..I noticed you guys were thrown off about Patrick Brown's absence. To me it wasn't a surprise at all, so I wanted to send you (a brief version of) my theory. Basically, I don't think Brown is running with the intention of winning the leadership. Consider these 2 points:.- In 2015, Brown ran for the PC Party of Ontario leadership. He wasn't really taken seriously (I think he was only known as one of Harper's backbench MPs at the time), but he ended up blowing away Christine Elliott and Monte McNaughton in terms of new membership signups and shocked everyone by winning..- About 2 months ago, there was some speculation that Brown and Charest had a secret deal. As we know, Brown idolizes Charest. See the attached picture of a young Brown with the Charest poster on his wall. He also talks very favourably about Charest in his book "Takedown.".Brown has no chance of winning because he neither has support in Quebec nor the prairies. However, if he can sell memberships (in Ontario) primarily for the progressive side of the party, that will give his hero Charest enough support in central Canada (Brown's supporters in Ontario combined with Charest's in Quebec) to have a fighting chance. My bet is that sometime after the June 2 deadline is over, Brown drops out of the race and endorses Charest. If Ford doesn't form government again in Ontario, he may run for his old job as leader of the PCPO, or even for another term as mayor of Brampton..We'll see what happens, but that's my theory.
