Dear Editor:
The pollsters, and even the New Democrats, did not take into account the advantages of incumbency, while Christy Clark's Liberals were all too cognizant of its disadvantages. The NDP took the highroad, campaigning as though victory was assured, while the Liberals made the election less about polarizing issues like the HST, but rather economic sustainability.
In keeping with the theme of "Strong Economy, Secure Tomorrow," Clark was clearly making note that her team was the better managers of the provinces finances.
It certainly helped the Liberal campaign that Adrian Dix was an NDP insider and a key figure in the scandal-plagued NDP administration of former premier Glen Clark.
The NDP campaign seemed content to roll into election night believing the polls that they failed to highlight the failures and controversies of the 12-year-old Liberal government.
Unfortunately for Dix and the NDP, they failed to understand that the Liberal surge in the closing days of the campaign was a result of the Liberal advertising offensive to which the NDP had no response. It certainly didn't help the NDP that they failed to define what their "Change for the Better" campaign slogan meant - there was no sound bite, no tweet-able explanation as to what "change" an Dix-led NDP government would bring to British Columbia.
The Liberals, driven by their desire for political survival, had a good deal of their base turn out at the polls.
Patrick Vaillancourt, New Westminster
