Are Quebecers naive and easily manipulated?

That’s what Premier Christine Fréchette and her entourage seem to believe.

As part of the ongoing offensive to purge our memories of the past eight years — of what many consider an incompetent governing administration that she now leads — the party officially changed its name recently to Équipe Christine Fréchette — Coalition Avenir Québec.

On its website, the CAQ brand is virtually invisible with Fréchette’s face everywhere. Don’t expect to see former premier François Legault, the party’s founder and only previous leader, anywhere on the hustings during the coming election campaign despite having given Fréchette the opportunity for her rise to prominence.

Will Fréchette be able to distinguish herself as a leader sufficiently enough to incarnate change and not be dragged down by the record of the governing party in which she was a key minister — and is still composed of many of the same individuals that were around the cabinet table?

So far during this pre-campaign period, benefiting from incumbency and an ability to........

© Montreal Gazette