Friday, March 24, 2006

I guess the media pundits didn’t feel the love

Watched the weekly press gallery pundits segment on Don Newman’s Politics broadcast tonight, and the media verdict on the King Ed event last night seems to be pretty negative. And it’s really quite silly, even annoying. No, just silly.

Susan Delacourt in particular is making much of the fact that few of the Martini hard core board members were there (with the exception, at least, of John Duffy), and so therefore nothing was accomplished toward unification, as this was just a gathering of Chretien Liberals in exile pushing their way back in.


It was the same spin on Mike Duffy’s media panel with Jane Taber and Lawrence Martin on his show tonight. It was all Chretienites, and Oh Board, Oh Board, where for art thou board? How can you heal with only one side, and so on.

I’m sorry, but that’s a load of crap. First off, I don’t know how many hard core Martinis were actually there, as I left my sheet of The Board mug shots at home. But, as much as I’d like to see Warren Kinsella and David Herle exchange hugs and kisses, it’s not really necessary.

It’s not necessary for the backroom boys to kiss and make up on tv for the party to heal. It would help, and I think that is hapenning, but it's importance is being overblown. The healing really needs to happen at the grassroots. And I think it is happening at the grassroots. And if the grassroots heal underneath the mucky mucks, the mucky mucks will either mend fences along with the party or be rendered irrelevant and powerless. After all, whatever power they have comes from the grassroots.

Look, no one expects everything to be magically fixed with one night of wine and cheese. But I think an important step was taken last night, and the media spin was out to lunch.

P.S. Duffy says Belinda Stronach wasn’t in Vancouver last night (and not at the King Ed) as previously reported, but was taking in a Canadiens/Maple Leafs hockey game at the Bell Centre instead. What-up with that? In case you're wondering, Montreal won 5-1.

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5 comments:

ottlib said...

There is nothing the media likes more than good old fashioned controversy and if that can come in the form of a civil war within a political party that is great.

Both Paul Martin and Jean Chretien are gone. The era of those two men within the Liberal Party is over.

There are probably a few stalwarts of those two gentlemen who have not accepted that yet but there are more within the main stream media who have not accepted it.

Remember the likes of Jane Taber and Susan Delacourt broke into the political reporting business when the conflict within the Liberal Party began. It is all they have ever known in their careers. They cannot fathom that it would actually change so they are going to keep seeing the conflict even when it is not there.

On a slightly unrelated note, the chance to really heal the the rift within the Liberal Party is one reason why I am happy the likes of Misters McKenna, Rock, Tobin and Manley are not in this race. All of them had ties to one of the factions and if they would have entered the race the media would have had an even harder time letting go of the rift.

New King of Kensington said...

The pundits are so entrenched in their ways they don't realize that they could probably be scrutinizing, oh, I don't know... the CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT but prefer instead to play "the Board didn't show up" at the Sheila Copps event in Toronto. Yep, that's what I need to know. I guess after some near 13 years of LibGov and sources, they just haven't shifted just yet. Or, optimistically, the pundits realize just how short the Tory interregnum could be and are continuing their longstanding "inside LPC" narrative.

S.K. said...

The media saw what was apparent last noght. I have already made this comment on Cerberus. They can see right through the rudeness and the chater over female speakers to the self interest that still motivates this party. They can't talk about the rudeness but it comes out in their spin on the event anyways. "Ambition in the air at Copps's farewell fete" G+M

Read between the lines. Liberals are still being rude to each other and are self interested and don't listen. Too bad people in attendance, including leadership candidates, couldn't have behaved themselves better.

It was a golden opportunity to show something different to the press. It didn't happen.

S.K. said...

Sorry two nights ago.

Anonymous said...

PMSH is so smart in stonewalling the media. It forces them to pick on LibDippers....I will enjoy the show.
wilson