Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 30, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba Did Murray Hurt or help liberals in City by Dan Lett t tuesday morning quarterbacks in the Manitoba Liberal Camp were having a Field Day yester Day just hours after watching the once mighty grit caucus reduced to three lonely seats in the Keystone province. And top of mind for liberals yester Day was the Impact that former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray made on the Campaign both in positive and Nega Tive terms. When the smoke cleared late Mon Day night it was perhaps not Surpris ing that both Murray and grit candidate Terry Duguid lost close Bat Les to the conservatives. Both men were Central characters in a protracted drama prior to the election that left them scrambling to organize campaigns at the last moment. For Murray his duties As Winnipeg mayor were the big glitch. After actively pursuing a Liberal nomination for More than three years Murray seemed to have a Clear Opportunity to replace outgoing Liberal my John har Vard in Charleswood St. James. But the City a budget schedule required Murray to be on the Job in analysis City Hall until mid May. The decision to honour his civic responsibilities May have been honorable but it left him Little More than a week to prepare for the political fight of his life. The collateral damage from Mur rays timetable was Felt All the Way Over in the East end of the City where former City councillor Terry Duguid was pining for the Liberal nomination in Kildonan St. Paul. Duguid was by All accounts a Star candidate although he received far less than Star treatment. After resign ing a six figure Job As head of Manitoba a clean environment commission in Early december 2003, Duguid was denied an Opportunity to confirm his nomination because the Central Liberal Campaign was holding open Kildonan St. Paul As a plan b destination for Murray. Liberal party sources confirmed there is lingering resentment in Many Corners about Murray a decision to jump into the race at the last moment and the decision of the Central Liberal Campaign to freeze Duguid a Nomina Tion while the party conducted an intolerably Long courtship of Murray. That whole situation Cost us one seat for sure Duguid a said a senior Liberal Campaign strategist. If Terry was in the Field one or two months ear Lier like he wanted i think he could have there was no solid evidence that Vot ers resented either direct nominations or Star candidates parachuted into rid Ings As was the Case with Murray. While Murray was beaten at the polls other Star candidates such As hockey legend Ken Dryden in Toronto and for Mer nip Premier Ujjala Dosanjh in Vancouver were elected convincingly. Murray would not make himself available for postmortem interviews yesterday. However Liberal sources indicate that Over the last week of the Campaign when it became apparent he was running behind the conservatives Murray sharply criticized the Provin Cial Liberal Campaign and in particular its co chair Reg Alcock. The relationship Between Murray and Alcock Treasury Board president and top Campaign organizer in Manitoba has Long been Stormy. In several High profile outbursts during the elec Tion Murray directly blamed Alcock for undermining his local Campaign and setting him up for defeat. Several Liberal insiders who had Access to Murray a Campaign offered a different View of Murray a defeat not ing that while the former mayor was a committed energetic campaigner he did not surround himself with experienced organizers and did not take direction Well from the Central Campaign. In a close election the Machin Ery to get the vote out is of Paramount importance and insiders stated Mur Ray was not up to the Challenge. Alcock yesterday rejected any suggestion he or anyone else from the Cen trial Campaign had tried to undermine Murray. That is just talk from people who Are trying to figure out what went wrong Alcock said. The fact is the Central Campaign did More than its Ever done to support candidates. Its a shame that he Mur Ray lost but we lost Good people All Over the country. We have to learn some lessons from this and go for his part Duguid would not blame the Murray courtship for this loss. In fact Duguid said his loss can be attributed to Many factors Only one of which was a late Start. Duguid said he suffered from rising nip fortunes and slips in the National Liberal Campaign Early in the election. And although he got up to Speed quickly there is a sense that a few More weeks could have made a difference on election Day Duguid said. The final tally showed that Duguid could have won if he had found just two extra votes in each of the Riding a 170 polls. As my father said if you give someone a 20-Yard head Start in a 100?Yard dash its hard to catch up he said. ;