Steve Ashton brings political baggage — and a real race — to NDP leadership contest

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2017 (3380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steve Ashton stood on the front steps of Concordia Hospital, rain streaking the lenses of his rimless glasses and pockmarking his corduroy sports coat, and surveyed his moment back in the spotlight.

Moments earlier, Ashton had finished making official his intention to seek the leadership of the Manitoba New Democratic Party for a third time. The news media gathered for the announcement had mostly petered out. The last remnants of two dozen supporters were still buzzing around with nervous energy.

As he lingered on the steps in the rain, Ashton talked about many things that had driven him to take another shot at the leadership.

He talked about being inspired by progressives such as Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. He ruminated about education, the environment and — as symbolized by Concordia — the austerity policies of the current Progressive Conservative government that will close and re-purpose some Winnipeg emergency rooms. Ashton claimed with great confidence that he was the man to make the NDP relevant again on all these issues.

That confidence was not just reserved for marquee political issues. Ashton was just as confident that when it came time to pick a new leader, New Democrats would not be deterred by the considerable political baggage he carried into this leadership race.

Ashton was a key player in the deconstruction of the NDP prior to the last election, during which he lost his own seat. Just prior to last year’s election, he fought former premier Greg Selinger for leadership of the party. Ashton authored several sticky scandals, including the Tiger Dam mess which caught him trying to circumvent tendering rules to get the province to buy $5 million of flood-fighting equipment from a personal and political friend.

As the rain began to come down harder, Ashton was asked if he could still say — with all that baggage accounted for — that he was the best option to lead the NDP into the next election. Without hesitation, he smiled and uttered what really should be his campaign slogan.

“It’s not about me.”

That is an unusual thing for a politician to say, particularly when that politician is seeking to lead a political party. Yes, issues are important. But in the end, a leadership contest ends when party members vote for an individual they think will lead them to electoral success.

That being said, if Ashton is to have any chance — and he is a true long shot at this point — he must actually convince people not to think about his political legacy, his blind and relentless ambition and the malleable ethics that have defined his previous leadership bids. Instead, he has to somehow get party members to focus on his ideas, not his performance.

You can see Ashton straining to keep wandering eyes away from his recent past. He said several times that his leadership campaign was “about looking forward, not in the rearview mirror.” Without defining what they were, Ashton also talked about how he has “learned lessons” from some of his past decisions.

At this moment in the history of the Manitoba NDP and the career of Ashton, that is going to be a tall order.

Even a year past the last provincial election, the NDP remains a party that has not shaken free from its failures. Memberships are down and fundraising is enormously challenged. The diminished caucus has struggled in its new opposition role, inflicting as much damage on itself as it has on the government benches.

It all adds up to a party that remains intimately associated with all the deficit financing, internal fighting, weak leadership and irrational policy initiatives that led to the NDP’s disastrous performance in the April 2016 election. If the party has any hope of making a comeback, it will have to come through the careful and deliberate stewardship of a new leader with a new approach to leadership.

MLA Wab Kinew, Ashton’s only rival for the leadership, has yet to prove he’s that kind of leader. Kinew is younger and does not carry the baggage from being a member of Selinger’s government. He is charismatic and confident in public settings, skills that give him a chance to excel at retail politics in a way that Selinger could not — and Ashton likely would not.

Of course, Kinew has his own baggage to worry about. Run-ins with the law and offensive social media posts and lyrics from some of his rap songs make him vulnerable to Tory attack ads. In fact, there is evidence that before he can gain support from the general public, he must still do more to earn the trust of women and LGBTTQ* party members who remember the sting of his earlier words.

In one respect, Ashton’s candidacy is a blessing. A contested leadership campaign is so much better than an acclamation. Ashton’s presence will spark debates, leadership forums and other trappings of a true race. If Kinew triumphs — and early signs are he is still much further ahead than Ashton in terms of membership sales — he will ultimately benefit from having been pushed by Ashton.

Those who know Ashton best will attest that he has lusted after the party leadership almost from the moment he entered politics nearly four decades ago. Throughout his career, he has been a constant presence in the ebb and flow of NDP leadership politics, even in those years when there wasn’t a leadership convention to enter.

If he is to have any success this time around, Ashton will have to tell party members something more inspiring than “it’s not about me.” A better campaign theme may have been identified by interim NDP Leader Flor Marcelino, who stood by Ashton’s side at Concordia Hospital for his official announcement.

Marcelino said that when she thinks of Ashton, she thinks of one quality in particular that defines him as a politician.

Perseverance.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca