Premier Gordon Campbell expressed his determination to have a "smooth and orderly transition" Wednesday.
But to what? To whom?
For 15 years, the B.C. Liberal Party has been a one-man show.
The membership and the executive gave Campbell leeway to run things pretty much as he saw fit. It was a huge advantage for a leader to have such absolute control. But with Campbell abruptly checking out, that could turn out to be a big disadvantage in the months ahead.
The B.C. Liberals without Campbell are an empty shell. For a party content to draft along in their leader's wake, Campbell's plan to resign is like a driver pulling off the road, turning off the car and throwing the keys in the ditch.
His resignation comes two weeks before a B.C. Liberal convention in Penticton, but it has since been cancelled. The party executive held a conference call last night and scrubbed that date and will pick a new date for a leadership convention on Saturday.
There was potential for an obvious display of displeasure in his performance, by way of the standard mail-in vote on endorsing him. Sources say he got an 84 per cent approval rating.
In any event, Campbell was getting lots of signals in private chats that it was time to go.
He was set to face down some unhappy MLAs at a caucus meeting Thursday. He told an earlier conference call of Liberals shortly after his resignation announcement that he was confident he could do so. But the point was, he'd have to do it again and again.
Campbell told the select group that he'd become a focal point for dissent, and felt his leadership was threatening Liberal unity. He recognized he was an impediment to the Liberal agenda, particularly the education plans that were unveiled last week. So he opted out.
Only last week he was announcing a major cabinet shuffle and delivering a forward-looking TV address. Seven days later, he's got one foot out the door.
Even with the premier's call for another convention to choose a new leader, it will take a few months to arrange.
So he'll act as caretaker until probably early next spring.
Most people have been shortening their assessment of Campbell's shelf life as premier since the initiative drive against the HST gained ground.
The next while will show if the Liberal party picked up the clues, and has the dexterity to mobilize and reformat itself in a hurry.
Around whom is the question.
There is a cadre of experienced cabinet ministers who are mulling leadership runs. George Abbott is affable and competent. He never takes himself too seriously. Maybe it's time to start.
Shirley Bond could take a flyer, on behalf of women and northerners.
Rich Coleman has built an impressive power base within the party. He will definitely be a kingmaker, if not the king.
Mike de Jong is a career pro in the attorney general's portfolio, which often produces contenders.
Kevin Falcon looks like he's been wanting this since elementary school. Mary Polak is equally as ambitious.
The problem they all face is that their chance of success in a general election is inversely proportional to their proximity to the HST decision. The further away the next Liberal leader is from the HST, the better their chances are.
So attention turns to outsiders. The bright shining hope was always Carole Taylor, but she's firmly taken herself out. Former minister Blair Lekstrom quit over how the HST was imposed, so he's got some credibility with the public and Liberal party members. But with caucus, not so much.
What the Liberals need is a superstar with no baggage. John Furlong's name will come up. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts has been a contender for months, whether she likes it or not.
Surely some ambitious business person somewhere in B.C. will see this as a career opportunity.
Whoever it is, they face a rebuilding effort that will start the same time demolition crews are collecting signatures to continue the tear-down job.
The Liberal franchise in B.C. once looked to have a dynastic hold on power that could have lasted for many more years. But that desperate gamble in the weeks after the 2009 election threw it all up in the air.
The wild frontier political days are back. And the best part of those old westerns was watching someone change horses on the fly.