Nash encouraged by polls, NDP membership soars

Kamloops Daily News:

A week before New Democrats start voting, candidate Peggy Nash remains confident she can beat six others to become the new leader of the official Opposition.

“There were two polls released last week that show me in No. 2 position, and that’s likely to grow with a little support,” Nash said on a visit to Kamloops on Tuesday.

Both of those polls were internal, produced by the camps of fellow candidates Thomas Mulcair and Paul Dewar.

Mulcair’s poll showed Nash trailing him in first place by 14 percentage points. Nash was the favoured second choice at 25 per cent. Dewar’s poll also suggested Mulcair is leading, but indicated Nash might give him a run for his money. Given a second choice, Nash is slightly behind Dewar in first place.

Naturally the poll results are widely disputed. Either way, pundits say Nash, a seasoned labour negotiator before she entered politics in 2006, is not to be underestimated.

“We need to build in Quebec and we need to break through in the rest of Canada,” she said on the steps of City Hall. “I’ve been gaining tremendous support in the province of Quebec, but what we need to do is also work with Ontario and we need to build in the West. I don’t think only one group is important in selecting a leader.”

Since the outcome is unlikely to be decided on the first ballot, it’s conceivable Nash could come up the middle and win, gaining momentum from a ballot rivalry between Mulcair and Topp.

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