Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy might be fighting for second place in the national race, but he's the front-runner in the minds of Dufferin-Caledon delegates to the party's December finishline convention.

Mr. Kennedy appeared to have the support of former Liberal MP Murray Calder and former Liberal MPP Mavis Wilson, along with the rapt attention of about 35 other party faithfuls as he spoke last Wednesday in Mono Mills of issues ranging from early childhood education to Afghanistan.

The support was borne out by the delegate selection on the weekend, which saw seven of the riding's 14 committed to Mr. Kennedy, four to Bob Rae, two to Michael Ignatieff, and one to Ken Dryden.

But support from the local riding didn't tally with national results after the "super weekend" of delegate selection. On Monday, Mr. Ignatieff held about 30 per cent of the committed delegates, while Mr. Kennedy was hovering somewhere close to Mr. Rae and Stephane Dion, at around 20 per cent.

Although the national pundits Monday were saying Mr. Kennedy would face an insurmountable obstacle to leadership because of his weak showing in Quebec, where he garnered about one per cent of the delegates, Ms. Wilson Monday she was "delighted" with Mr. Kennedy's national showing.

"I'm very pleased. Gerard Kennedy is the best candidate; half of the delegates (at the local voting) were delighted." Ms. Wilson said she had become impressed with Mr. Kennedy's innovative skills when he was minister of education.

"Kennedy brought peace to the schools (by securing 'unheard of' four-year contracts). That wasn't a national issue, but just one of the creative things he did. (And) he arranged with tourism to (fund the) opening of the schools to the public at night, so the costs didn't come out of classroom funding. Nobody else had thought of doing that."

She said "a lot of politics is the art of listening; Kennedy does that well."

Last Wednesday, Mr. Kennedy demonstrated a commitment to education when he addressed the local gathering. He said education is important to Canada's future in the global economy, and early learning programs (ELP) are an important part of lifelong education.

"Kids benefit all their lives (from early learning programs). Why would Harper want to take that away?" He said there is an unacceptable divergence among provinces with respect to ELP; that most kids in Quebec have access to such programs, but only 11 per cent in Saskatchewan do.

Mr. Kennedy said he believes the federal government could co-operate with the provincial ministries of education at the elementary and pre-school levels as well as at post-secondary. "This country is held back by divisions. We need shared prosperity programs."

On Afghanistan, he said the war being waged there today bears no resemblance to the program envisioned by the Liberal government of Paul Martin. "Are we building a democratic society or occupying a troubled spot?"

He said Prime Minister Harper's priority is re-election. (While not denying that the Taliban insurgents must be defeated before that country can enjoy a peaceful rebuilding, Mr. Kennedy has said elsewhere that ways must be found to expand current reconstruction efforts.)

Leadership candidates who have spoken to the Dufferin- Caledon association have said this riding is on "everyone's radar."

Ms.Wilson said it is that for at least two reasons: First, it is sufficiently diverse as to represent all of Ontario. "It is Ontario," she said; Secondly, it appeared to have become a federal Liberal stronghold during Mr. Calder's tenure after 1993, until the last election.

And now, said Ms. Wilson, there has been an upsurge in Liberal support in the past year: association membership had increased in that time to more than 400 from the usual 100.

Riding association president Neil Orford urged his 420 members to be prepared for an early election. "All of us expect an election (soon)," he said.

"Dec. 1, 2 and 3 are important dates, but be concerned about Dec. 4." He said the year 2007 "will be an exciting time."