Opposition New Democrat Leader Carole James did her best to shrug-off Premier Gordon Campbell's surprise resignation, but others are suggesting she may have lost her meal ticket to political power after two consecutive election losses.
James has spent years portraying Campbell as the face and voice of the B.C. Liberals, but minutes after Campbell announced his resignation last week, she called a news conference and barely mentioned his name.
"I'm ready for whoever they put up," James said. "I've said all along that I expected that the premier would step down. I expected that I'd be coming up against someone else in the next election."
She denied that years of NDP strategy to focus Opposition attention on Campbell, rather than his party, flew out the window with his surprise resignation.
But political scientists say James needs to switch gears from Campbell-basher to premier-in-waiting if she wants to win favour with B.C. voters who tend to lean towards business-friendly candidates.
"It's not enough for James and the NDP to think they can win by default," said University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff. "They have to win with a sense that they are a govenrment in waiting with forward-thinking initiatives of their own."
Ruff said the current political climate with Campbell resigning and the Liberals low in the polls and looking for a new leader is reminiscent of the late 1980s when former Social Credit premier Bill Bennett resigned and Bill Vander Zalm took over as leader.
He said the New Democrats, led by Bob Skelly, had been targeting Bennett's tough restraint policies and were smelling victory, but Bennett quit and Vander Zalm briefly injected new life into the party, winning the next election.
"The NDP were all poised to defeat Bill Bennett, and, instead, were faced with Vander Zalm," said Ruff.
Campbell, who was facing single-digit polling numbers and public furor over the harmonized sales tax, said he will remain premier until the Liberals hold a convention and elect a new leader.
A convention date has not been set, but must be held within the next seven months.
No candidates have officially declared their candidacy, but Campbell cabinet ministers George Abbott, Kevin Falcon, Rich Coleman and Mike de Jong are believed to be interested in running for the job.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is being touted as a potential candidate from outside of the current Liberal government.
Prof. Kennedy Stewart of Simon Fraser University's school of public policy said Campbell's resignation forces James to show British Columbians she has what it takes to lead the province.
"It is a nightmare for Carole James," he said. "There's going to be tremendous pressure on James to pick up her game, because she's risen up to power opposing two taxes, the carbon tax and the HST."
The Liberals introduced the carbon tax in July 2008 as part of the government's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2020. The 12-per-cent HST, which combines the federal five-per-cent GST and the former seven-per-cent provincial sales tax, took effect last July.
James, who often went out of her way to make sure she attacked Gordon Campbell, not the Liberals, took only minutes to shift targets after Campbell resigned.
"We have the highest rate of child poverty, the lowest minimum wage in the country, but the highest cost of living and the economy is struggling," she said. "The B.C. Liberals' record speaks for itself. Every one of those B.C. Liberals stood up when it came to the HST and supported bringing it in."
Ruff said he expects James to be leading the New Democrats into the 2013 election even though there have been public concerns about her leadership.
Quesnel New Democrat Bob Simpson was expelled from the NDP caucus for publicly criticizing a policy speech James delivered to municipal leaders in September. He later said he didn't believe she had what it took to become premier.
"James's strength come from the fact that there's no alternative," said Ruff. "There's doesn't seem to be a Crown prince or Crown princess in the wings. That's really the strongest part of her position."
But Ruff also warned the Liberals that Campbell may have left them stuck in the political ditch with his plans to stay in office for up to six months until a new leader is chosen.
Campbell will continue to exercise power as the government prepares for a new budget and legislative session in February, he said.
"Although he's resigned, he hasn't gone," said Ruff. "He's still trying to keep control of the situation. That's problematic for public policy over the next six months."
Stewart said Campbell's decision to stay on as leader allows the party to organize a leadership convention and prepare for an orderly transition of power.
If the party machine can set a convention date sooner than later, that may allow for Campbell to leave at an earlier date and allow the Liberals to start rebuilding, he said.
Stewart said an early convention date favours a candidate from within the current Liberal ranks, while a late spring date favours an outside candidate.
