CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke is campaigning on the mainland today. He shared a photo of himself in New Ross standing in a roadside pothole that was approximately knee deep.

The residents of the CBRM will probably see a sense of irony if not considerable irritation with this photo. Recall that our local councillors called our latest budget "pathetic" when it came to the investment allocated for road repair.

He's away from his role as mayor and jumping into potholes for photo opportunities to help promote his PC leadership campaign.

While he's in that hole, what he's not doing is: working on our charter, or the port development, or economic development, or following up with the Auditor General on the audit request he forgot to send for several months. These are just a few examples. In such a challenged municipality, it really doesn't afford the time to moonlight for our mayor.

When I wrote about 15 signs Clarke's political career could be in trouble, I had no idea that a much better visual metaphor would be available just a few days later.

I'm not exactly sure of the campaign strategy that his team is using at this point, but I don't believe they fully considered how such a photo might be perceived back here at home in Cape Breton.

If he doesn't have strong support at home, how can he convince Conservative members that he's the right one to build support across the entire province?

Just yesterday, the chant among some of the 600+ protesters at the Equalization rally was: "Hey hey, ho ho, Cecil Clarke has got to go". With photos like this, it's easy to understand why his support at home has fallen off so sharply.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more