1595...Bob Chiarelli Is In; But Can He Win?

As I mentioned in Post 1579, the former hizzoner of Ottawa, Smiling Bob Chiarelli, is seeking the Liberal nomination to replace the former hizzoner of Ottawa, Jim Watson, as MPP in Ottawa West.

The Ottawa Sun's Susan Sherring not only has Mr. Chiarelli elected but she has him sitting at the big boy's table in Dalton McGuinty's cabinet upon winning the by-election.

My friend Blake Batson has his own view on the subject, from his blog http://www.blakebatson.ca/:

Bob for MPP but it may go PC

Posted by Blake in 2010 Municipal Election, Weekly PostsJan 19th, 2010 | one response

MPP Jim Watson running for Mayor and former Mayor Bob Chiarelli running for MPP. The old switcheroo…

It makes good sense though. Chiarelli has got a great resume and would fit nicely into Premier McGuinty’s cabinet. Although Chiarelli wouldn’t bring any new thinking or dynamism to the McGuinty government, he would bring unwavering support for the Premier and would be a good soldier.

The flip side of this election however, is should the PC’s nominate a good candidate and be able to win the riding from the Liberals, it will send shock waves through the provincial Liberal caucus and put the premier on the defensive, something he has avoided since taking over the government in 2003.

And this should be a likely scenario given the fact that the Liberals have just passed a largest tax hike in Ontario history (the HST), the economy is sputtering and the deficits are stratospheric. A strong PC candidate should be able to pull this off and become the next MPP for Ottawa West.

The upside for Bob Chiarelli, of course, is that if he loses the by-election in Ottawa West, he will still have plenty of time to still run for the Mayor of Ottawa.

The last line is an angle that I hadn't thought of. Had you?

WFDS