Oh, Roy’s camp is definitely trying to go after Linda. Have a look at the literature her campaign is passing out in this election–it’s really anti-NDP! And they’re also trying to make it sound like they actually have a chance to win by talking about “aggregate totals” over the past so and so many elections (without mentioning that their vote has been decreasing in Edmonton-Strathcona over five elections). Their clear goal is not to lose even more ground, period, no matter what that takes. If she didn’t attack Linda enough in the University debate, it’s only because she had her hands full just reading off her party’s policy, not because of any strategy.
I think it’s not really fair to call her a weak candidate all around, though. I think Roy is the candidate they could get, given the fact that they got less than 10,000 votes last time with a much higher-profile candidate. She’s still got plenty of credentials (they’re really playing up that Order of Canada) and has some clout within the party. And she’s female, which helped reach their leader’s goal of having lots of women to run for them. She just isn’t a good speaker. It could be a lot worse, believe me.
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