Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Cariboo Chilcotin

This riding was previously Cariboo South. The changes are that the riding gets all of Williams Lake from Cariboo North but loses everything from 70 mile south.

The changes are not dramatic enough to make a major change to the 2005 outcomes. The results in 2005 were wafer thin for Charlie Wyse of the NDP. In 2005 he faced incumbent Liberal Walt Cobb, the former mayor of Williams Lake. Walt was not as popular as I had thought and his heart did not seem to be in the 2005 election.

This time around Charlie Wyse faces long time popular mayor of 100 Mile House Donna Barnett. She was mayor for 17 years. Donna has been one of the strongest voices for rural BC for many years and brings with her a loyal set of supporters from around BC. Walt Cobb is her campaign manager.

This rising is one that I am not going to able to predict at this time, all I will say is that the selection of Barnett effectively erases any incumbency bounce for Wyse. Will a lot of people that stayed home in 2005 come out and vote for the Liberals?

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