Thoughts on Dion
Although I’m not really one to banter on too much about politics, the recent Liberal leadership convention caught my attention. I didn’t have too many thoughts about it beforehand, aside from being anti-Rae, but I was still pretty surprised at the outcome. Watching Stephane Dion’s come from behind victory reminded me a bit of the coup that resulted in the IOC granting Sydney the Summer Olympics. For those of you who haven’t followed the convention, Dion barely squeaked into 3rd place on the leadership ballot, then leapfrogged the 2 leading candidates and then sealed the deal on the 4th ballot.The Sydney delegation pulled a similar stunt back in the day. They approached voting members of the IOC and essentially pitched the idea that, “Okay, we know we’re not your first choice. But do you think we’d be an acceptable second choice if your favorite gets knocked out?” They managed to gain enough support by focusing on the endgame rather than the first couple of rounds of voting. Slick move. And from an outsider’s perspective, we seem to see this again with Dion’s victory in the Liberal leadership race.
Far be it for me to try and tell the Liberals what to do with their party, but I’m hard-pressed to
believe that Dion can lead them to victory, even in a minority sense. I’ve no doubt that he’s a bright guy, but I can’t help but wonder how his grasp of English will play in the rest of Canada. Chretien had the benefit of a splintered Conservative opposition and a nostalgic connection to Trudeau. Dion seems to be less fluent than Chretien and doesn’t have the luxury of opponents in disarray.From what I’ve read, Dion was brought in shortly after the 1995 Referendum and worked on the Clarity Act, which has seen more than its share of bad press in his home province. So the Liberals may have just chosen a leader who can’t win in the West and who may have an uphill battle to carry Quebec. Mind you, plenty can happen over the course of the next several months, but I think that Dion is a stopgap leader, at best. Til next time…
Labels: politics, Stephane Dion
posted by Al B Here @ 11:42 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I think they missed out on that ideal combination of Liberal corruption and Bob Rae fiscal incompetence.
As a result of the campaign, Bob Rae is about $750,000 in debt apparently. Maybe now he'll have an appreciation for what Ontario went through while he was Premier.
Imagine the next Rae Family gathering where Bob's brother leans over the platter of turkey and says, "I can't believe you LOST. You're such an IDIOT! Why did I ever loan you that money?!" Good times.
Interviews with Conservatives on CBC yesterday had them saying that they felt they dodged a bullet, and that they would have been more fearful of a Bob Rae lead Liberal party.
Maybe Bob has mellowed out? I wasn't super keen on any of the candidates, personally. And why was Ken Dryden running? Weren't there any candidates from the glory days of the WWF (sorry, WWE)?
More fearful of Bob Rae? Congrats to the Conservatives on keeping straight faces when they said it. Liberal delegates from Ontario that were supporting Bobby-boy must have all been comatose when he was Premier. How that dolt isn't considered a complete pariah in Ontario is beyond me. And his report on education? Nothing like devaluing an undergraduate university degree to the point of being little more than an extension of high school. Why doesn't Ontario simply hand out degrees to anyone that votes?
And Ken Dryden? He did a pretty good job leading the Leafs to a Stanley Cup. Oops.
As for Dion, it can't be a good sign when the party leader is Francophone and still considered by many to be a liability in Quebec.
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