No one could say it better than Ronald Reagan whose presidency was dotted with strokes of verbal brilliance the likes of which we have not seen since. Reagan, “the great communicator” relied on the perfect phrase or quip to propel him into the Oval Office and guide his legislative agenda to completion.

Tonight is the eve of the Ontario PC Party’s Annual General Meeting; it’s an event that is typically a happy time where various candidates vying to represent the party’s internal offices go out of their way to put on one of the best weekend-long parties of the year (for those who think that we do important stuff like policy development and outreach, um, we do that to…kinda!). This year’s event is a bit more serious though and has a bit more of a dampener on it as half of the party’s base will emerge from this weekend unhappy with a crucial vote’s result either installing John Tory as chief of the party for the next three-and-a-half years or preparing the way for a new generation of leadership to step up to the plate.

It’s been no secret to most readers here that I have been against Tory’s leadership even before he met his inevitable smiting on October 10th. I’m not alone either as various MPPs, candidates, Blogging Tories and other assorted PC Party members led an unprecedented rebellion against Tory’s style or campaigning and leading while the campaign was going on. Some of those have faded back into submission since Tory’s announcement of fighting on for his job, but most have made it vocally clear that the man is a polarizing figure who cannot win against Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals.

Somewhat ironically, Tory’s campaign chose the slogan “Leadership Matters” which brings me back to Reagan. To me, the slogan is an excellent benchmark by which the party should evaluate Tory; specifically, we have to decide on Saturday whether Tory is a small-l leader and whether his work mattered (for good or ill). For any undecided delegate who reads this over the next 2.5 days, I borrow and paraphrase Reagan’s closing remarks during the 1980 presidential debate since it fits so well:

“I think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago?
…
Is [the PC Party] as respected throughout the [province] as it was [in 2004]? Do you feel that our [political] security is as safe, that we’re as strong as we were four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don’t agree, if you don’t think that this course that we’ve been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have.

History tells us that the PC Party is the natural governing party of this great province because it knew how to seize the spirit of the day. It was creative, it was visionary and it was inspiring…as were its leaders. I think we all know, if we reflect deeply, that Mr. Tory — for all his merits — does not inspire the people of Ontario. Unlike Dalton McGuinty or Mike Harris, Mr. Tory is not viewed by your average Ontarian as just not being ready for the job but as someone who is unable to explain just where he wants to take Ontario…and that scares them! We, ourselves, should not be afraid to do what needs to be done and do what the party’s constitution recognizes as a very real and sometimes necessary decision. With the McGuinty government locked in to power for another three years, we have an opportunity right now to unite the party’s warring factions, mend broken bridges with different voting blocks in the province and prepare for an upcoming campaign with a fresh leader, fresh ideas and a fresh team. Under such a leader there would be no doubt about the leadership qualities that our party would have; the ability to inspire, to motivate and to encourage trust. This is the kind of person we need to lead us into the next campaign, and as I said back at the end of January, we have at least 10 great names in our ranks who are ready to assume the position!