On the off chance that somebody out there thinks I'm a stalking horse for some Canadian Liberal candidate (or Democratic one, or British Labour, or whatever) because I have issues with Iggy, let's break down some of the other candidates, shall we?
-Belinda Stronach: Please. The "I'm learning french" bit only worked once, and only because Harper was going to let Quebeckers have a bigger international voice. That ship has sailed, and the french thing is a significant problem. Even if it hadn't, she's been in the party for a comparative nanosecond. The anti-Liberal soundbites from the Conservative war room would be a torrent during the next Canadian election were she leader. Iggy may be a mistake: she would be a disaster. Period.
-Bob Rae: Two words: "Rae days". He might not be bad, but he's got baggage galore. The progressives might support him if he demonstrates progressive cred, but Ignatieff seems to be hoovering those up. It's bizarre, considering the Iraq thing, but there you go. Also, party shifter, and even if NDP-Liberal doesn't inspire quite as much anger among loyalists, it's still an issue.
-Scott Brison: see "Belinda" above, and add the words "income trust" to the pile. He doesn't have the "dumb" baggage, which makes sense, because I don't think Stronach is actually dumb. I just think that she and Brison need to spend more time as Liberals to prove themselves.
-Stephan Dion: Oddly enough, his problem is communicating in English, and as far as I know he's got baggage in Quebec just as Rae has baggage in Ontario. It's the English thing that concerns me more, though.
There are others, of course, but these seem to be the frontrunners. There are also a few that I either honestly know too little about (Dryden, Volpe) or who don't seem to really have a shot (Findlay, Godfrey) .
My point is just that I don't have a dog in this race, any more than I do stateside. (Admittedly, I kinda liked Dean, but he needed better media training.) I'm just really bothered by what I'm seeing from Ignatieff, and the free ride he's getting on some very important issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment