CalgaryGrit: The Big Ten

Friday, April 28, 2006

The Big Ten

With Ken Dryden's announcement, we now have the group of ten who will form the main contenders in the Liberal leadership race (baring surprises...c'mon Hedy!).

Campbell Clark had a good run down of the candidates here. And, despite claims that the "big names" didn't want to run, there really is something for everyone in this field. There's no dauphin in this race and anyone who tells you they know who will win this thing is full of themselves (that's your cue Toronto Liberal!). Instead, we have ten candidates from incredibly diverse backgrounds, with very different positives and negatives. A lot of them are unknown and, looking back at my leadership speculation from last summer, it's pretty obvious that few of them were on my, or anybody else's, radar screen a few months ago.

So let the race begin! While it's far too early to judge how the candidates are faring, this would be my assessment of first ballot support at this point:

1. Michael Ignatieff
2. Gerard Kennedy
3. Bob Rae
4. Stephane Dion
5. Joe Volpe
6. Scott Brison
7. Ken Dryden
8. Maurizio Bevilacqua
9. Martha Hall Findlay
10. Carolyn Bennett

But a lot can change between now and December. Should be fun.

Update: Ken Dryden gets on HNiC tonight, thereby giving him an infinitely larger audience for his launch than all the other nine put together.

55 Comments:

Using a mix of powerful black magic and voodoo, I'm sure Joe Volpe will win on the first ballot.

Right?

By Anonymous, at 5:13 p.m.
10 candidates, and how many from the GTA? 8! How many are men? 8! How many are white (including Italian)? 8!

Has the Liberal Party of Canada retreated completely into its GTA stronghold? Where is the representation of the West? or even Atlantic Canada? And what about women and the exploding immigrant communities?

You know, if the CPC was holding a race in which 8/10 leadership contenders where white males, there would definitely be a lot of criticism of this lack of representative diversity. Now I am the first to put value on merit, not race/gender/language, but it does strike me as typically hypocritical that the Lib party doesn't get criticized for this any more than the CPC gets credit for having a gender, ethnic and language diversity not found in any other caucus.

By Hasty, at 5:21 p.m.
oops, when I said how many are white? The correct answer isn't 8... it's 10!

By Hasty, at 5:23 p.m.
Italians are not white!

If you claim the WOPS are white, the next thing you are going to be saying is that the Irish get to count as white men too!

I'm taking a stand and ending this extremism right now!

By Anonymous, at 5:27 p.m.
19th century liberal,

'bout time someone took a stand against neo-liberalism.

By Anonymous, at 5:30 p.m.
Hasty's right ~ how dare the Liberal Party not champion the right of a woman's place in the kitchen, to bake bread and stuff. Oh, we Conservasaurus' don't mind mixing them in the business world as long as they've got bigger balls then the men. Our party is as diversified as they come, because after all, we all look the same under a white sheet!
What an imbecile!

By Anonymous, at 5:36 p.m.
CG,

As for your increadibly diverse crew fighting to lead the BlocOntario, you seem to have picked Ignatieff, Kennedy, Rae, and Dion as the finalists.

Do you think any of the others has a serious shot at it?

By Anonymous, at 5:37 p.m.
At last the LPC has been exposed!!! Suggested rename..The Greater Toronto Area Party...yea G-TAP. It has a kind of hip ring to it, you know sort of cool in a snoop dog sort of way. That should help to get out the suburban/rural support. BTW I hear Snoop and the boys are available for the convention, (provided G-TAP posts their bail but given the problems faced by recent LPC members navigating the criminal justice system should be a breeze) just keep them away from the whiskey in the duty free shop or we may have the horrible prospect of Ken Dryden doing karaoke to entertain the conventioneers.

Syncro

By syncrodox, at 5:53 p.m.
Bob Rae is Jewish, if that helps the diversity any.

By Anonymous, at 6:13 p.m.
Hasty and how many of your parties leaders have been from Alberta?

ummm yah.... all 3 of them.

Come back when Reform has a non-albertian leader.

By Anonymous, at 6:17 p.m.
OT but Huge:

The Liberals in the softwood deal last year, were hoping for the return of 3.5 Billion.

Half a billion less than Harper got.

So much for the Liberal "CPC Sold out" meme, huh?

Link:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051118/martin_bush_protectionism_051118/20051118

By Anonymous, at 6:19 p.m.
link here:

http://tinyurl.com/mke9h

By Anonymous, at 6:24 p.m.
I think Dryden might have the ability to sneak up if things break well for him. Along with the top 4 I listed, I don't really see anyone else with a chance to win (maybe Brison, but the e-mail sure hurt him...).

By calgarygrit, at 6:46 p.m.
Anonymous,
My party's only ever had one leader, and yes he's from Calgary (but I don't hold that against him).

Of the legacy parties' leaders, 50% of them were from Nova Scotia!

Looking at the last handfull of leaders in the legacy parties, we have:
BC = 1 (she was also a woman, thats gotta be worth some bonus points)

Alberta = 4

Quebec = 2

Nova Scotia = 1

That's a lot more representative than the Liberals, who have had:
BC = 1
Quebec = 3

By Hasty, at 6:46 p.m.
Why is MHF ahead of Bennett?

By Anonymous, at 7:06 p.m.
CG, you're not normally known for spin, but I wonder if you're practicing it here (not an accusation, just a question).

Harper's team floated the rumour Day was in the lead during the CPC leadership, to stampede delegates to Harper.

Does the perception Ignatieff is the front-runner not help Kennedy and perhaps Dion? Like Day, Ignatieff does to a degree have a polarizing effect on possible supporters, not to mention past views that might appear controversial to the mainstream. If delegates fear this, Kennedy is the man to stop him.

Is Ignatieff the Liberal Stockwell Day?

By Simon Pole, at 7:24 p.m.
1. Michael Ignatieff-Jack Layton's dream candidate.
2. Gerard Kennedy-Seems like an exciting guy to the kind of young Canadians who read Hansard.
3. Bob Rae-Stephen Harper's dream candidate.
4. Stephane Dion-Best man for the job. Won't win.
5. Joe Volpe-Well someone had to represent the allophones.
6. Scott Brison-About to find out how low his standing in the Libreal party really is.
7. Ken Dryden-Coasting on nostalgia and minor celebrity.
8. Maurizio Bevilacqua-Frank McKenna couldn't make it,so...
9. Martha Hall Findlay-Thank you for running.
10. Carolyn Bennett-Finally,a candidate to represent the long ignored upper middle class of Toronto.

By Anonymous, at 7:53 p.m.
The Bloc Torrana ?? The rest of Canada will pass on this list of wannbe's & has beens.

Just like the Leafs, nice team but complete losers.

tine for some reality and this bunch won't deliver

By Anonymous, at 8:38 p.m.
Ha ha.. Dryden's getting free publicity on his leadership run with Ron Maclean on HNIC.

Not that I'm a Dryden supporter.. I just find it funny he's getting free publicity under the guise of having him on a Montreal game.

By Oxford County Liberals, at 8:54 p.m.
CG,

While I'm confidant that the Hon. Joe Volpe is well on his way to becoming the Rt. Hon Joe Volpe, I've never said it was a gurantee, I just said that Western pricks like you and your online groupies should stop taking cheap shots at Mr. Volpe becasue he is going to do very, very well in this leadership race and surprise all the fake "liberals" out in the hinterlands that write him off as a fringe candidate.

And to all the haters that are bitching about all the candidates from the greater Toronto area, I have news for you all: The Liberal Parties Core is in and around Toronto. It's not Calgary, It's not Vancouver, It's not Winnipeg or Halifax or other minor cities, the Libreal Party has it's core of support right in the heart of Ontario where the vast majority of Canadians live.

Nothing was stoping some Albertian or Manitoban from running, but they knew that that all the Liberal members that actually vote for the leader live right here in Toronto.

By Anonymous, at 9:05 p.m.
Toronto Liberal:

In light of your well thought out and articulate post I withdraw my previous suggestion and propose a new name for your "national" party.

How about the G-TAR Party. I bet you can guess what the R stands for. Being on the outside sucks eh?

Syncro

By syncrodox, at 9:19 p.m.
Simon Pole; I don't think it's spin to say Ignatieff is the front-runner.

In fact, I think it would be very difficult to find any single blog, media source, or individual out there who would pick anyone else as the "leader" at this point.

Obviously he's nowhere even remotely close to a first ballot win, but I think it's a pretty fair analysis to put Iggy in first at this point.

By calgarygrit, at 9:47 p.m.
April 28 Forecast: Kennedy will be lucky if he is in the top 5.

While other Trent University hockey players went on to get a degree after the hockey program was scrapped Kennedy did not.

Dryden got a degree after his hockey days but Kennedy did not.

Go Ken. Go Ken.

By Anonymous, at 9:59 p.m.
Hedy is supporting Iggy.

By Anonymous, at 10:50 p.m.
Ken Dryden was a goalie and an excellent one at that and pucks were bouncing off him like bullets off Superman and he stood tall. He stood in his crease and stood his ground but that’s it. What we need is a playmaker a forward player a guy like Gerard Kennedy. He knows how to handle the puck, how to make plays and how to skate through defence and score goals. He can check, he can fight and go in corners and dig the puck. Now with GK as PM and KD as DPM what a team, what a one-two punch for the Liberals, Conservatives better get their PMH with his hockey book to sharpen his skates because we’ll show him whose master in the House.
GO GK GO! GO GK GO! GO GK GO!

By Anonymous, at 11:09 p.m.
Sandra,

Only one word to describe your presence on the blog:

pathetic.

You are dreaming if you think Dryden will finish ahead of Kennedy. Your candidate has been in politics for only 3 years and other than being one of many that worked on a childcare agreement, what has he done????

Smearing is not going to help your candidate for a 2nd ballot.

By Anonymous, at 11:13 p.m.
Has the Liberal Party of Canada retreated completely into its GTA stronghold? Where is the representation of the West? or even Atlantic Canada? And what about women and the exploding immigrant communities?

As one of Scott Brison's constituents, I can assure you that my riding is located in Atlantic Canada. I suppose, if we really need the West to be represented, Hedy Fry could be enlisted.

In any case, I don't see the Toronto-weighted race to be much of a problem. With a delegated convention, candidates will have to win support around the country, and without the possibility of signing up lots of instant members... which in fact bodes quite well for this being a strong democratic process.

I'll toss out some predictions:

1) Rae won't win. He has way too much baggage, and many long-time Liberals (e.g., David Peterson) will oppose him vehemently, such that I can easily imagine an anti-Rae ticket forming after the first ballot. (Of course, if he did win, I can just imagine the headlines: "Liberals make it a Rae Day.")

2) Kennedy won't win. His lack of a completed degree is a problem, regardless of the merit of running the Daily Bread. I also don't think he is sufficiently experienced or well-known in the party, though it's possible he could emerge as a dark horse or kingmaker.

3) Brison doesn't have a chance in hell. Income trust anyone? He's a pleasant enough guy, but he's a lightweight in the grand scheme of things and not leadership material. Perhaps with more experience he will be. His rather recent Liberal affiliation is something of an issue too (which is to say, potentially a big one).

4) The winner will be one of Ignatieff, Dion, or Dryden, though I'd lean to one of the first two. It's not really possible to say which will emerge triumphant, since we really don't have a good idea of what will happen for them on second and subsequent ballots. And, of course, Volpe, Findlay, Bennett, and Bevilacqua lack national profiles, and probably won't be able to develop them either. Assuming they remain in the race to the end, they're supporters could be valuable to other candidates.

By JG, at 11:21 p.m.
I read today that John McCallum is thinking of running.

He'd be a pretty good candidate and would finish in the top three in my opinion. He's from Montreal and speaks French well.

I still think Kennedy's lack of an education will hurt if he ever becomes a serious candidate beyond the confines of the Liberal groupies.

By Anonymous, at 11:37 p.m.
What distinguishes Bob Rae is that he is a politician. He knows how to campaign and how to give a speech people will listen to. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't (i.e. Iggy, Kennedy, and Dryden). The baggage of the others is yet to come, and that will cause more problems than Rae's baggage, which is in the past.

As for Dion, if he was a politician he would have found a way to manage the Quebec file without alienating that province. But that is what academics do... make the right policy decision while having a tin ear for how it sells.

Rae is in many ways more pragmatic than Kennedy, which makes Kennedy a better fit amongst the NDP ideologues than Rae. This is a bigger issue than the fact Kennedy is 3 courses short of his U of Alberta Canadian Studies degree. He could probably pick it up during summer school if he was willing to attend classes in Edmonton for two months full time.

Rae has the intelligence of an Ignatieff but is a proven pol. Ignatieff will be a non-starter with left-leaning voters and is a risky unknown for right-leaning voters.

That said, CG is right that Iggy is the front runner, and I say that based on Chantal Hebert's column on Quebec, which has Iggy as a strong player there.

- Scarborough Liberal

By Anonymous, at 11:53 p.m.
John Major was prime minister of Britain for 7 years and did not have one year of university education. Kennedy has four years of university education and everyone knows hundreds of thousands of Canadians in Edmonton and Toronto are grateful that he chose leading food banks instead of parking letters behind his name.

Oh, wait I forgot about the pathetic smear workers who are so worried about Kennedy that they come on to the blogs thinking they have a susbstantial issue that will sway Liberal voters.

Sorry, the real big issues will prevail and that is who has a favourable political record and political experience, who has little controversy, who is tied to the past in the party feuds, who has been actually living and contributing to Canada in recent years and who is a fresh face for a new start for the Party.

By Anonymous, at 12:10 a.m.
CS,

Please do not dismiss Ken's remarkable achievements:

As a six time Stanley Cup winning goaltender he learned the value of hard work, the team ethic and how effective people can be when they know there’s a reliable safety net backing them up.

As a member of Team Canada in 1972, Ken learned how much Canadians feel towards those who represent them.

As a law student engaged in a full time professional hockey career, Ken continued to develop his hard work ethic, his commitment to learning and his ability to balance competing priorities.

As a writer, Ken has taken the time to explore our Canadian characteristics, examined the life of an “average” Canadian and observed how children learn in class – not just skills, but to appreciate tolerance and differences too.

As a community leader, Ken learned from the remarkable example set by his parents and has worked with dozens of charitable causes over the years and most notably helped found “Martin’s Hope,” aided “Go kids Go!” with the Toronto Maple Leafs and founded the Ken Dryden Scholarships.

As a father and husband Ken knows first hand what’s really most important in the lives of Canadians – family.

As a politician, Ken led the creation of Canada’s first national system of early learning and child care and was honoured to work on behalf of all Canadians as a Cabinet Member.

Very well written. All from his website.

Ken's common folk talk and demeanor reminds me of another great Liberal prime minister who won three majorities in a row.

By Anonymous, at 12:32 a.m.
I think there will be some serious discussions directed at the Mother Corp for getting mixed up in the LPC leadership race. Leno's hosting of der Governator's announcement was at least acknowledged, for a friend, and aligned with the show. Oh, and a private company.

A state broadcaster bringing a candidate onto a playoff sports show for no apparent reason except political support... TOTAL BS. It shouldn't just be us ravening right wing hordes seeing something highly improper in this misuse of a broadcast. It would be questionable but allowable for someone like CTV to do it, but these guys seem to be trying to pick someone who would have a good chance of being their ultimate boss.

By Anonymous, at 12:57 a.m.
A couple of things -

I suspect that speculation about the "front runners" will run aground on the realities of the sales race. The race will be largely decided, and possibly be over, by the end of June, when the membership sales are ended. Two months from now. To have credibility a campaign should come up with a few hundred memberships per riding. If you get, say, 300 members per riding that means almost a hundred thousand memberships over less than nine weeks, 62 days, which is over 1600 memberships a day. Some of the candidates (Volpe and Bevilaqua and Ignatieff, in particular) have been organizing and selling for months or even years now. Selling memberships is not easy.

Alas - the sad fact that Toronto white males dominate the race is really a coincidence, but anyone can join the race. But women, non-whites, and so on have to want to join. You can't force a candidate. I don't know why we don't have a lot more diversity in the race, but people have been arguing about this for decades now, and nobody seems to have any bright ideas.

People going on about GK's lack of a degree are perhaps giving more importance to a degree than it warrants. (perhaps paying for your kids' tuition, straining to tell yourself it's all worth it as they spend 4 years stoned in raves?) At a certain point he felt a sense of mission, he saw something that had to be done and he thought he could do something about it. To his credit he stopped what he was doing and went out and did it. I think that is commendable, and if the whole race hinges on him being two courses short of a BA, I think that is a bit too shallow. We have seen university grads that can talk and talk and talk, but seem to be incapable of action or sound judgement.

Likewise criticism that focuses on other superficialities. Ken Dryden being a goalie is not a reason to dismiss him as a serious politician; I care more about what he stands for and what he hopes to accomplish in the office, and what his life has been about before politics.

On the other hand, those who are said to have experience on their side because they have been a career politician, without any other life experience or accomplishment, may not necessarily be the best choice just because they've been drawing a paycheck as an MP for their whole working life. I don't support him as it happens; but people like Ignatieff are certainly impressive for the fact that they've had a rich life outside of politics, and can bring some of that experience and accomplishment to the table.

By Anonymous, at 7:43 a.m.
Why does every blogger insist on omitting Ashley MacIsaac from their list of candidates?

By Captain Guyliner, at 8:52 a.m.
To the blogger ripping the Liberals for having 10 candidates, only 2 women, and all of them being white...

I seem to recall the Conservative leadership race had _3_ candidates, all of whom were white, so what's your point?

You don't have to be a person of colour or a woman to be tolerant - regardless of political affiliation.

By Shawn, at 9:19 a.m.
Ugh, the GTA comments are tiresome. Kennedy was born in the West, went to school in the West and worked in the West before moving to Ontario. So now he's a Toronto boy?

Stephane Dion and Scott Brison, two more Toronto boys!

Seriously though, this is a diverse country - and a huge number of people who live in Toronto are from other part's of the country.

Hey, did you know Stephen Harper is a Toronto boy?

By Shawn, at 9:24 a.m.
"When the conversation switched to French as a kind of test, Mr. Kennedy flunked. He's got some vocabulary, grammar, syntax and sense of the language, but he's hard to understand and certainly a long, long way from reasonable fluency. Unilingual English-speaking journalists might fall for the impression that Mr. Kennedy is bilingual. He is not."

Jeffery Simpson in the Globe and Mail on Kennedy. The article is quite negative on Kennedy in general.

By Anonymous, at 11:53 a.m.
Josh Gould has it right.

Everybody will melt away except for Iggy, Dryden, and Dion. This is very bad. Regardless which one of these three wins, the old Liberal baggage that none of them carries on purpose, will end up squarely on their backs. The Liberals will not be able to shake the "eastern blueblood" label.

The best thing that could happen is if Findlay or somebody off the radar screen can shake things up. This party needs some wilderness time... desperately.

Did you see Graham in the house of Thursday? Never been uglier. This party needs an identify, some of their OWN issues, and a leader.

Tom

By Anonymous, at 11:53 a.m.
Jeffrey Simpson on Kennedy in the Saturday Globe and Mail said the following:

"Mr. Kennedy stopped by The Globe's offices this week, and one thing was immediately clarified. His official biography says correctly he was educated at Trent University and the University of Alberta; he graduated from neither. He does not have a university degree, which is not the end of the world but looks rather odd in a contest against candidates with imposing academic firepower."

It does look odd indeed.

By Anonymous, at 12:17 p.m.
Nice try dissing me cs but your candidate is sorely deficient.

Kennedy: According to Scarborough Liberal is 3 courses short. Has he never heard of night school or summer classes or correspondence? 13 plus years in food banks and no time to finish 3 courses? 7 plus years in opposition and no time to walk 50 metres (from Queens Park) over to the University of Toronto?

Kennedy talks "International Canada". Anyone with half a brain knows that that would require people focused on postsecondary educations. Kennedy is not that.

Why did he drop out of Trent University to go to University of Alberta? Not because he values a university degree but because he wanted to play hockey.

Dryden: Wikopedia sums his commitment to university "Dryden was drafted fourteenth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft. Rather than play in Boston, Dryden pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree at Cornell University, where he also played hockey until his graduation in 1969" and "Dryden played from 1971 to 1979 (excluding the 1973-74 NHL season, when he retired to pursue the requirements for his law degree at McGill University)".

Dryden over Kennedy in December.

By Anonymous, at 12:26 p.m.
and the exploding immigrant communities?

Volpe and Bevilacqua are both immigrants.

I don't really care where a candidate is from, as long as they are qualified.

By IslandLiberal, at 3:15 p.m.
Sandra's presence and comments on this blog are not pathetic, CS.
She has a right to her opinion. I would rather she discuss her real concerns with Mr. Kennedy and that is his inablity to deliver to autistic parents, individual behavioural conditioning for their school aged children, as her daughter is autistic.

I would encourage Sandra to discuss this issue from the perspective of what the Federal Liberals in government or opposition can do for autistic children and their families across the country. This could be adressed under the Canada health act, or a daycare agreement, which could also provide relief to parents of autistic children.

An education minister cannot necesarily do eveything someone else promised in a campaign. Mr Kennedy or other leadership candidates might be interested in your input and welcome your idea, if you actually state your real concerns about Mr. Kennedy and the care and education of your child, rather than use the smokescreen of three courses short of a degree.

This doesn't put forward your real concerns, about education, health care and child care and eventually ,one assumes, care and quality of life for developmentally challenged adults, which should be welcomed in this leadership race by everyone.

By S.K., at 3:34 p.m.
Are any of you Grits bothered by how Ken Dryden is using his hockey fame to campaign for leadership? Shouldn't all the candidates get equal time on HNIC?

By Joanne (True Blue), at 3:51 p.m.
Synchro, 7:19pm

The new G-Tar party. Excellent! That would give me a leg up.

I'd be a shoo-in. Until I made my first big political guffaw, then it would be a shoo-out. TG

By TonyGuitar, at 4:35 p.m.
This may save someone*s bacon.

Credit cards on line

Full safety = avoid using the card on line.

But if you must use a card on line:=

[1] Lower the card ceiling to $500..lower if possible.

[2] Avoid free screen saver sites and offers.

[3] Avoid free virus scans unless, Telus or a site you know.

[4] Avoid Porn Sites. Most dangerous for Trojans & worms.

[5] Avoid music share sites like *Limewire*.

[6] Avoid Teen P2P chat sites.

[7] Never fill in app. Forms sent to you in Email. Phishing.

[8] Always red X zap Email selling drugs, Rolexes, software.

[9] Zap means do not click on *stop these Emails* just on X.

[10] Zap lottery win notices. Otherwise they win, you lose.

[11] Zap offers to help bank 2, 3, 5, 10 million for others.

A credit card was hi-jacked recently.

The card invoice listed a paysite $35.99 charge and 800 number.

The charge was fraudulent. Phoning the 800 number, the paysite informs of a charge to an *Adult* site membership. Never heard of it..[B….. On B…..]. Victims will know.

Not able to spell it out. Some young reader may go there and lose the family savings. Avoiding lawsuits here.

Two charges to the card… $400 - UK. Server and $380 Isreali server, were refused . Card had $300 open window.

To check the card validity, the crooks charged $35.99 to the
B….. on B….. web site. That did pay.

Theory: Crooks always prefer cash. Crooks paid themselves the $35.99. Ergo, they own the adult website the money was paid to.

Ok, Interpol… go get *em. You know where they hang out.

TG

By TonyGuitar, at 4:38 p.m.
CG, did you really have to turn off the anonymous comments.
I am a little surprised I thought some of the comments were hilarious. I did not think it was getting really bad, oh well

Dryden: Do not underestimate this guy. He is arguably one of the most accomplished Canadians there is. Succesfull at teh highest levels of Sport, Arts, Business, Law and politics. Whatever he has tried to do he has done and been steller at it. Perhaps it is to early to say that about politics but he made cabinet already which is more then most.
This guy is truly a great Canadian.
The worst attack or smear on him is that he is dull as dishwater, that can be fixed.
What impresses me is he is also humble.
Dryden is certainly in my top 3.
Iggy
Dion
Dryden

By Aristo, at 6:19 p.m.
IS this working or what?
I will be sad to see the end of the anonymous comments

By Aristo, at 6:29 p.m.
I have a question and I hope someone has the answer.
What are the regulations pertaining to amounts transfered between political parties?
I know provincial parties can and do transfer monies to federal parties and vice versa.
This obviously has to do with Harper raising money for a provincial conservative party from businesses. My understanding is there are no effective limits on such transfers. So if Harper is down east raising money from busineses what is stop the provincials from transfering it back to the feds?

By Aristo, at 7:54 p.m.
I've axed anonymous comments for the time being - they were getting a bit tiring...

Maybe in a week or so, I'll give them another go.

By calgarygrit, at 9:31 p.m.
Real Kennedy Facts,

I don't believe the Dryden team has the right to approve or disapprove of Sandra's comments.

Nor does it matter whether or not she is angry. Lots of people are angry when they vote.

Telling someone they need to be quiet about how they feel because of a second ballot vote is also crap, sorry. When the writ is dropped there is only one vote.

She is also not smearing Kennedy. He doesn't have a degree. That will be a deciding issue for some people. She is entitled to that opinion and can restate it a thousand times if she wants to between now and December. It is valid. If a candidate can not withstand valid Liberal criticism, they have no business in a general election.

This is not an anonymi saying Kennedy is pro-life, which has no basis in fact, and is as such, a smear.

You know people get angry, when they feel their loved ones have not been treated fairly by the health care system, education system, police, government etc. Liberals need to learn to deal with these concerns.

I would encourage Sandra to raise the education and care of autistic children as a leadership issue. It is the perfect time to discuss these and other issues and make them into policy on the convention floor.

As a Kennedy supporter, telling a mother, who's angry because of a lack of care for her child to be quiet and not voice her opinion, will not help Kennedy. Since she feels Mr. Kennedy has betrayed her child and you know him personally, berhaps you could set up a meeting for her.

Besides, since when do you speak for the Dryden camp? Let's be honest here people and let individuals talk about what's important to them without criticism.

Kennedy had better be able to do that, if he wants to be PM.

By S.K., at 10:52 p.m.
I guess Kennedy can always campaign to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the wall", after all the first line of 'we don't need no education' seems to fit his campaign.

By Chris, at 4:21 a.m.
A former hockey player as PM - talk about staying true to the brand.

By doggerelblogger, at 8:53 a.m.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Demosthenes, at 10:55 a.m.
Well, judging by the number of anti-Kennedy comments here, you can pretty easily tell who the frontrunner is.

Ok, look: Kennedy's lack of education is not going to be a significant factor, unless the party makes it one. Harper is running as a populist, and a lack of education is never a barrier to a battle of populists. Kakuei Tanaka practically owned Japan from the early 70's (both as PM and as behind-the-scenes power broker), for example, and that country is notoriously education-obsessed.

As for the education portfolio... I think his successful stewardship of the education ministry covers that problem. He might end up in a slapfight with Joe Volpe over education, considering Volpe's background as an educator, but let's be honest...they aren't going after the same delegate pools anyway. Volpe and Ignatieff are in direct competition, sure, but Kennedy's biggest problem is Rae, not "Joe who".

By Demosthenes, at 10:56 a.m.
Here are 5 you can strike off the list.

From the G&M May 13

"The five other candidates who completed the interview -- Maurizio Bevilacqua, Gerard Kennedy, Mr. Brison, Mr. Dryden and Ms. Bennett -- all rated below the level for bilingual certification."

By Down & Out in L A, at 8:57 a.m.

Friday, April 28, 2006

The Big Ten

55 Comments:

About

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About Me

Friday, April 28, 2006

The Big Ten

55 Comments:

About

Previous

About Me