Pallister's Manitoba

During the last provincial election, Pallister won.  I remember the advertising.  It was mostly about Pallister's Manitoba.  He won easily only because he was capitalizing on the winds of change.  Selinger had a long period of governance and Manitoban's wanted something different. 

An election is happening again and Brian Pallister is capitalizing on his personal popularity again and is urging us to re-elect him.  I wonder how he knows that he is popular?  Seriously, he spends more time away from Manitoba than in Manitoba, so why does he think he is so popular personally?  And, so far, his ads prominently feature his wife, Esther.  Is this because she holds the cell phone when they are on vacation?  This makes her pivotal in government.  We all know that he loves Esther but when did loving your wife become something to capitalize upon in an election. 

The tv commercials that I have seen have featured Pallister with "ordinary Manitobans" of all demographics.  The only recognizable person appearing with him is his wife. 

This is the leadership style of Pallister.  He refuses to let any of her Ministers shine.  I can name two Ministers off the top of my head.  Ok, now that I think, I can name three.  He surrounds himself with people who are not strong and do not challenge him.  He keeps the spotlight for himself. 

Pallister's style of leadership is in direct contrast with Selinger.  Selinger allowed his Ministers to shine, to grow, to develop their skills.  This led to his downfall.  This led to four members questioning his leadership, yet, they owed their popularity to Selinger giving them a chance to shine.  Selinger managed to survive the challenge to his leadership but he never rebounded from this to the public. 

Pallister will never allow such an uprising because he doesn't allow anyone else to shine.  It will also be his inevitable downfall.  The question is can he win one more election with this leadership strategy? 

This election is as much as referendum on his leadership as anything else. 

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