I’ve been covering B.C. politics for more than 30 years. In that time, the fundraisers for various parties have been part of the scene. But none of them has achieved the high profile or hostile public reaction that Bob Rennie has. (Back in the Gordon Campbell days, Marty Zlotnik used to be the chief fundraiser. People would talk to him occasionally, but he was never in the spotlight the way Rennie has been.)
Now he says he’s stepping back. (My story here.) He’s raised pots of money for the party, the Liberals are in good shape, and he’s going off to do other things.
There’s already been speculation on Twitter that his “resignation” is somehow connected to the New York Times story published last week about the unfettered campaign fundraising in B.C.
But Rennie has been talking about quitting the fundraiser job for a while, though I’d always understood that he was going to stop after the election. As I said on Twitter, I’d be more inclined to believe that, if there is any hidden agenda, this an agreement between him and the party to remove some of the fuel in the anti-developer fire that has been licking at the Liberals’ doorstep in the last two years, as people have grown more resentful about the local crazy high housing prices.