I renewed my membership so I could have a say in the leadership race. I support Steve Ashton. Here's why:
Ashton has proposed a referendum on the PST increase. Not only does this show a willingness to admit that the roll-out was a mistake, but it also shows confidence that he can make the argument in favour.
Ashton's conduct throughout this mess. He stood by the Premier until such time as a spot opened up, and when Ashton decided to move, he was upfront with the Premier and stepped aside from his Cabinet role honourably. This offers a middle ground between those who feel that Selinger should step down but are unimpressed with the way the Gang of Five handled it. I think there are enough people from both the Selinger and Oswald camps who could live with Ashton, and that certainly isn't the case should one of the other candidates win. Furthermore, Ashton has been very careful to not only call out the destructive behaviour of the Gang of 5, but he's done that (and conducted his whole campaign) without attacking his opponents in this race.
Ashton is quite familiar with this roller coaster. Not only was he around for the high points of 1981 and post-1999, he was also around in 1988 when the NDP was quite unpopular. He has that keen sense, and he understands very well how tough the next election is going to be for the party. I see Ashton as an elder with experience (both in government and opposition) and he has more than earned his stripes.
Ashton is an old-school NDPer. He is very approachable and listens well (hence his position on the referendum). My hope is that under Ashton the membership will be empowerd to give feedback other than "our Glorious Leader is the greatest thing since sliced bread." In fact, when I listened to him speak, he actually made me feel good about the Manitoba NDP and its accomplishments in government, despite the rather long list of issues I have with the direction of the party and this government.
Ashton represents a constituency outside of Winnipeg. For the most part, the political establishment in Manitoba fights over seats in Winnipeg while conceding the seats outside to whichever party happens to win them regularly. Ashton understands this, and he is very committed to keeping the NDP strong in the north and building it up in the rural south. It might not make a difference in the overall seat count, but it keeps the NDP competitive throughout the province, and prevents a situation like next door in Saskatchewan where the NDP conceded too much ground to the Saskatchewan Party and is now irrelevant.