it would seem that carney has emerged as the runaway favourite, with chrystia freeland running at a distant second and karina gould as an also-run. there's some business guy running, too, apparently.

there's one more candidate.

is ruby dhalla a dark horse in the liberal leadership, given that they use preferential voting, she's a legitimate outsider, she's the only immigrant on the ballot and she knows how to leverage her appealing appearance?

she might be.

it does look like carney will win the most votes on the first ballot, and the expectation should be that he will win by the third round at the latest, but i wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being dhalla that gives him a run, rather than freeland.

the reality is that appearances are very important in politics. it's better to learn that at the start of your career than at the end of it. that's just real life.