Some 24 hours after the leadership race ended with an improbable Stephane Dion victory, and after four days of living, eating and breathing politics and the leadership nearly 24x7 it’s jolting to the system to be here in Las Vegas now, seemingly a world away.
The result did merit a 10 second clip in CNN though, so it wasn’t all just some crazy dream. Still, getting my head back into work mode is proving challenging. And missing the first question period Monday led by our new leader of the opposition, backed by our Liberal dream team, is really tough. It will be a sight to see.
A lot of good news on Sunday too. It seems Michael and Bob will both be running again, and that is great news. Both bring so much to the team, and together we are greater than the sum of our parts. While we’ve always know he was a savvy politician, Bob proved himself a class act with the way he dropped off the ballot Saturday night. It was a decision that shows he really is committed to growing the Liberal Party. And Michael. Classy isn’t strong enough to describe how he comported himself Saturday night. To take the hits he has taken, to have come so close, and yet, to be such a statesman…this was a Michael Ignatieff I hadn’t seen before.
And Gerard, Ken, Scott, Martha…remember when they called this a field of also-rans, of nobodies? Lamented the lack of big names? Not any longer. This is a dream team, and I can just picture them fanning-out across the country in the next campaign. We're going to need everyone, a united party, and I really feel the family coming together. Raw emotions will heal in time.
Speaking of the next campaign, positive polling numbers out today it seems. It’s no surprise, a post-convention bump is to be expected. Don’t read too much into this. What it does say though is that we’re starting from a good base. As Liberals got to know Stephane he grew on them, and I’m confident that Canadians will too.
It’s too early for me to look to seriously at the next campaign. While I very much like our chances, I know it will be a real battle. For now, I’ll just say let the NDP and Cons blow hot air, and let the pundits continue with their record of accuracy. Let them keep underestimating us. In the mean time, we’ve got work to do.
Monday, December 04, 2006
A day later
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7 comments:
First day in Question Period in the House - Harper congratulated Dion and even Duceppe congratulated Dion BUT Jack Layton didn't have the class to congratulate him and went directly into attack mode.
You don't suppose Say Anything Jack is little worried do you?
Jack Layton is a city councillor who doesn't have the good manners that real gentlemen have.
I too was impressed by the good manners of Kennedy - sticking to his word with alacrity, Rae, not endorsing anyone publicly and Ignatieff, unfamiliar with the "correct" terminolgy, but nevertheless moving the vote be declared unanimous.
Despite the pain of losing, they all behaved with class.... and made a far better impression - on me, anyway - by how they handled their loss, than they might have had they won.
One of the things that really gets me down - as an "old" person (heh heh) is the growing lack of civility in society. It leads to anger, depression and even violence.
WRT "old" - I heard on the local news here about an "elderly woman" who had been stabbed by some nasty guy. I was ready for it: she was only 60. Good grief!! Don't people know that 60 is the new 40 and that 40 was the new 30 twenty years ago??
We are not "old" yet!!!
The NDP should be worried if Michael Ignatieff doesn't run again.
If Iggy isn't there at Dion's right hand (perhaps in a high level portfolio like Foreign Affairs), then Dion's momentum as the progressive, grassroots candidate will carry through.
But if Iggy truly becomes a prominent face of the Liberals, you're going to get the torture and Iraq War attacks of this contest, but 10 fold, across the country.
If you listened to Dion on Cross Country Checkup yesterday (mp3 here) , you can hear people's hunger for true, selfless leadership. One older man from the prairies even started to cry on the phone with Dion.
I hope the praise for Ignatieff coming from all quarters is directed at his delegates, and does not represent the party's true belief in Ignatieff. Its time for clear-eyed reflection, not this indiscriminate "such a nice man" patting.
You better pray Iggy goes back to the USA.
And "the Wrestler" is claiming the US based "World Wrestling Entertainment" site as his/her home page?
Thanks for your insights.
Good-bye.
It just doesn't stop does it. Those who don't like Iggy don't even get their facts straight. Yes, he lived in the U.S. for "4 years" - Dryden lived in Colorado when in University. Yes, he's lived all over the world - but his family is in Canada and he's been in and out of Canada with family all those years.
Harper was for going into Iraq just because he felt we should support our allies. I saw films of Iggy when he was a correspondent and the stuff he saw we couldn't begin to imagine. He made the effort to talk to Chretien about how he came to his decision and understood it. Iggy can't be held responsible because Bush totally blew it. The torture issue is overdone as well - if you read the whole thing he "doesn't support torture".
People just want to get on a hate bandwagon and unfortunatly this is a sign of an angry person taking his inner anger out on someone else - go get help Wrestler. The name says it all doesn't it.
Iggy lost - it's over and time to "move on".
Iggy does represent a challenge. His strength is in foreign affairs, but it is also his greatest weakness. If Dion were asking my advice (yeah, that's gonna happen!) I would suggest finding a place for him where he can shine on a purely domestic portfolio.
Some pundit - I forget which one - pointed out Iggy's obvious superiority to the present minister, and that's true. But no matter which ministry we're discussing, we all know the only minister is Stephen Harper.
Sorry I didn't know you were in Vegas at the same time I was - I would've been happy to buy you a beer to celebrate your guy's win.
I'm in favour of OMOV, but there's nothing like your candidate coming out on top at a delegated convention.
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