Monday, October 20, 2008

No Justin Here...but how about me..

Here we go again but this time before liberals make a commitment they should wait until they see who is in the race. It should also be made easier this time to be a delegate and if so it might be easier to build a stronger National party. My guess is Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff are well underway with their campaigns but will have trouble getting past the post as Liberals are looking for some fresh blood. A few people like Gerard Kennedy and Martha Hall Findlay are probably accessing the situation but more than likely will have trouble raising the money so I doubt if we'll see them. There will be a big push for Frank McKenna and there will be lots of money behind him but there will be some questions about his French so we’ll have to wait and see. Speaking of French I'm sure Justin Trudeau will have a lot of media pressure on him to run but very little Liberal support as he has too little experience, but in the end I'll bet he won't run. There is a good chance that Dominic LeBlanc will take a run at it and if Frank doesn't go then Dominic will be a solid candidate that will do well. John Manley will certainly give it some consideration but for some reason I doubt if he'll give it a shot at this time. Others like Ujjal Dosanjh, Martin Cauchon, David McGuinty, Denis Coderre are probably considering it and may run but they wouldn't make it past the second ballot. For my part I'm hoping to support someone from the Atlantic Provinces even if I have to run myself….just kidding! In any event it will be exciting times for Liberals and I'm hoping everyone will be pleased with the outcome. Mr. Dion as usual did a very noble thing for the Party and I'm sure he is going to play a big part on how we go forward...
Dion says he’ll resign as Liberal leader
The Canadian Press
Stephane Dion says he will resign as Liberal leader, clearing the way for a leadership contest as the party struggles to recover from an election battering. Dion announced Monday that he will step down when party members elect a new chief, likely in May. The news comes less than a week after the party’s worst electoral showing since Confederation — a defeat Dion blames on Conservative money and misinformation. “On the election itself and our disappointing result, I fully accept my share of the responsibility,” Dion told a news conference. “The centrepiece of the Liberal platform was an income-tax cut — one of the largest cuts in Canadian history — all in the interest of fighting the climate-change crisis ... Yet the Conservatives were able, because of a massive financial advantage, to distort this policy into a tax increase.” Dion said the Liberal party must modernize its fundraising efforts and do what it can to ensure the next leader doesn’t fall victim to the Tory propaganda machine. “We must learn quickly from this experience and move on. The search for a new Liberal leader will be part of the process of renewing our party but it clearly will not, in itself, be sufficient. “We have to look beyond the issue of leadership to understand what happened in the recent campaign. And we must be willing to face up to uncomfortable realities — inconvenient truths, as perhaps some might call them — and begin to fix our problems so that we can, I hope and I am confident, form a Liberal government again for Canadians.” Dion is only the second Liberal leader in history to fail to became prime minister, joining Edward Blake who led the party in the 1880s. The once-mighty, self-described “natural governing party” is now likely to turn a previously scheduled policy convention, booked for May in Vancouver, into a leadership convention. The contest is almost certain to become another showdown between deputy leader Michael Ignatieff and former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae. They were the front-runners in the 2006 contest but so polarized the race that Dion was able to come up the middle to score a stunning come-from-behind victory. Both men, former university roommates, have kept their leadership machines warmed up and began quietly revving up their engines immediately after last Tuesday’s election. The Liberals were reduced to 76 seats, down from 103 in 2006. They captured just 26.2 per cent of the popular vote — two points less than the party’s disastrous showing under John Turner in 1984 and only four points ahead of its worst-ever showing in 1867. Liberals who fear another polarizing clash of titans are casting about for alternatives, including former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna and former deputy prime minister John Manley. Liberals close to McKenna say he’s very unlikely to take the plunge, but Manley has been coy about his intentions. Two other contenders from the 2006 contest could take another stab at the top job: former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy, the kingmaker who ensured Dion’s victory; and Toronto MP Martha Hall Findlay, who ran last in 2006. Other possible contenders include: New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, Montreal MP Denis Coderre, Ottawa MP David McGuinty, and Vancouver MP Ujjal Dosanjh. Liberal insiders have said Dion was bitterly disappointed by the election results. He and some of his tiny band of loyal supporters believed he deserved a second chance to reverse Liberal fortunes. But Dion was forced to accept that he simply could not win a mandatory, party-wide vote of confidence in his leadership, the results of which would have been announced at the May convention. He had neither the strong base of support nor the money required to win a leadership review campaign.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is getting painful.

Reminiscent of seeing a spade driven into a a fleshy 'Do Not Enter' zone. Ouuchh!

Best to turn your head from the horror of the utter mess.

loneislander said...

Manley's in.

Harper ran Dion's public image with ease -- it will be even easier if Ignatief wins.