Walking to the convention centre from the hotel this morning and the warm Montreal weather has left us. It’s not super cold, but there is a sprinkling of snow on the ground and the freezing rain has made the streets slick.
Inside the Palis des Congress however it’s springtime, with the leadership candidate speeches and first round ballot voting happening tonight. Renewal is in the air. Check back here tonight for live blogging of the speeches from the convention floor.
A few morning thoughts and notes:
*Didn’t do much partying last night. Left the convention centre and it was pouring rain, so I dropped my bags at the hotel, changed, and went over to the Dion party. Apparently they were passing out drink tickets, but I didn’t get any and after I was poured a cabernet the guy said $9. After downgrading to a $3 coke and not recognizing anyone in the room, I decided to hit the Subway for a late dinner and head back to the hotel.
*Iggy’s spontaneous, roving flash-mob (©Antonio) all just spontaneously bought whistles. Yes, whistles! Clearly, the momentum…blah blah…Michael will win….yada yada.
*This afternoon from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm is a series of speakers on “Liberal Perspectives.” Speakers to include Belinda Stronach, Marc Garneau, Sylvie Frechette and John Duffy. No live blogging of that, I’ll try to pay attention to the TV in the blogging room and make a post if there’s anything of interest said.
*Ran across former Environment Minister David Anderson this morning, he was being interviewed by Martin Stringer from CPAC. He’s sporting a Martha Hall Findlay button. A number of ex-officios and undeclared delegates seem to be parking their support with Martha earlier, gives her a symbolic boost and it gives them a little longer to see which way the winds are blowing before parking their support with one of the top candidates.
*Lloyd Axworthy is here, no sign of a campaign button on his shirt.
*The spin and rumours abound, both in the media, on the floor and in the blogger room. Polls say the sky is blue, polls say the sky is green. It’s fun, but it’s fruitless in the end. We’ll have the first ballot results tonight, and then we’ll see what’s happening. For what it’s worth I’m feeling very confident about Stephane Dion’s chances. For a guy that’s supposed to be in fourth his supporters have been as visible and enthusiastic here as Iggy, and more than Bob and Gerard. I’m hearing from sources in multiple camps that Stephane’s delegate turnout is very high , and the buzz about his second choice support is looking true. The proof will be in the pudding tonight; until then with a rumour and $5 you can buy some poutine.
*The Conservatives have invaded the blogger bat cave, with Stephen Taylor and Greg Staples setting up shop. They’ve been nice enough not to bother us about what bad, evil people we are. :)
Friday, December 01, 2006
It's winter in Montreal but it’s spring in the LPC
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3 comments:
I'm fairly certain that Lloyd Axworthy is supporting Bob Rae. Wikipedia says so, so it has to be true. (Interesting though, his two brothers are supporting Kennedy.)
That's cool that Sylvie Frechette is there. That's two Olympic Gold Medalists in two, two from 1992 no less.
Lloyd Axworthy, ah yes the architect of "Soft Power".
Can somebody remind him that soft power is like a soft d**k, you can't do anything with it either.
Somebody should get Lloyd a button then, I think.
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