He has most of the Liberal caucus onside. Can anything stop Andrew Furey from becoming premier? – CBC.ca

It was a clear show of force. As Andrew Furey signed his nomination papers it wasn't just his family at his side. Standing around him were more than a dozen MHAs, cabinet ministers and MPs. You couldn't even fit them all into the photo.

The message: he has a lot of Liberals behind him literally.

He's starting the Liberal leadership race with a big head start, but it's one that's been a decade in the making.Take someone like Avalon MP Ken McDonald.

It was a phone call from Furey that encouraged him to run in 2015, and Furey helped get him re-elected last year.

"Of course I'm going to support him," said McDonald at Furey's Tuesday night launch.

McDonald isn't the only one who owes Furey.

Furey's father is George Furey, Speaker of the Senate and longtime Liberal backroom organizer with a vast network in the Liberal party, in and outside the province. His uncle Chuck was a Liberal MHA and cabinet minister for 15 years.

But for a decade the younger Furey has been doing his own work inside the party.

In 2011, he headed up the provincial arm of the Liberal's "Laurier Club," which brings together the biggest party donors.

He co-chaired the federal election in this province in 2015 and again in 2019.

He was on the provincial party executive heading into the 2015 campaign.

And he's knocked on a lot of doors. When MHA Pam Parsons tweeted out her support of Furey she included a shot of him campaigning with her in last year's provincial election.

Now she's returning the favour.

On Friday she was out with him in her district, this time signing up party members to support his leadership.

And that's where the real benefits come in.

To win the leadership race, you have to sign up members. So far there are only 2,000 Liberal supporters on the list.

Having MHAs and cabinet ministers on board doesn't just help your profile, it gives you access to a network of volunteers across the province, people who will knock on doors, recruit new members.

It's not just the public faces of the party that are behind Furey; one of Dwight Ball's top advisors has taken a leave of absence to help Furey's campaign.

John Abbott, by comparison, is a party outsider. He doesn't have a single current MHA or MP endorsing him. He only had two Liberal MHAs show up to kick the tires

He said he'll have less money to spend than his competitor, but he's banking on one thing Furey doesn't have: experience actually governing.

Abbott has worked as a bureaucrat inside government, and he insists he'll be more equipped to hit the ground running if he wins.

He's also hoping to woo members with a focus on policy. His launch speech outlined improving health outcomes, ethics, environment and balanced budgets.

Contrast that with Furey's speech that relied mostly on anecdotes and optimism.

Never before has someone in this province won the premier's job without being tested in an election first.

It almost happened with the PCs and Frank Coleman, who was set to move from being a business executive to being the premier after no one came forward to challenge him

He found out the hard way that the scrutiny that comes over your personal views (like his opposition to abortion) and business experience (and favours given to his former company you may remember it Humber Valley Paving).

He stepped down before ever making it up to the eighth floor of Confederation Building, citing family health issues.

No one wants another Coleman.

It's better for the Liberal party, and for the province, if whoever becomes premier does so after a full fair fight, not a coronation.

Continue reading here:

He has most of the Liberal caucus onside. Can anything stop Andrew Furey from becoming premier? - CBC.ca