— Musings —11.01.2011 12:00 AM
In today’s Sun: the Harper Kill Machine finds a new target
And, being sane, you haven’t paid any attention to the federal NDP’s leadership contest.
Who can blame you? The New Democrats seemingly have more leadership candidates than they do caucus members. The race is boring. Most of the contestants are nobodies, and that’s putting it nicely. And all of them, to a one, lack Jack Layton’s charisma. So why bother to pay attention?
Well, if you don’t, rest assured: The Conservative Research Group (CRG) will happily do it for you.
The CRG is the innocuous-sounding appellation for the dozens of neatly barbered young Conservatives who toil in a government office building on Queen Street in downtown Ottawa. They’ve been around since 2006, when Conservative Leader Stephen Harper set up the office under the tutelage of his capable communications director-to-be, Sandra Buckler.
From the start, CRG apparatchiks have done a good job. They are swift, they are deadly, and they are relentless. Most notably, they made miserable the lives of successive Liberal leaders — Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff in particular.
And, now, the CRG are getting to work on the many folks vying for the NDP leadership.
Why pay attention to the NDP leadership race? IDK, maybe we want to know who the potential winners are, and thus who the next leader of the opposition and, quite possibly, next prime minister will be, and where they want to take the party and nation? I will concede though, It’s maybe a tad boring, and I’d appreciate something as simple as a platform release from the eight candidates. Does this mean that i am one of your regular loons Warren? I’ve always believed you have to be at least a little crazy to become involved politics, so looks like I might be set
Oh, in terms there being as many candidates as caucus members, there are currently 102 NDP MPs, down one from the election due to Layton’s death. After the 2006 election, there were 103 liberals. How many liberals ran in the race which selected dion? Nine, as opposed to eight in this race. I can’t recall excessive complaints from ’06 regarding the crowded field relative to caucus size, but I just wondered if Warren is expressing selective dismissiveness here
Actually, there was eleven. But who’s counting. Bennett, Fry, Bevilacqua, Findlay, Dryden, Brison, Volpe, Rae, Dion, Kennedy, Ignatieff.
Like!
Maybe Warren meant they had more leadership candidates than the Liberals have in their caucus? That is close to being true.
I discounted Bennett, Fry, and Bevilacqua for dropping out before the convention, but in that case I should rectify that I was still off by one, which makes the figures for each race all the more similar, eight candidates each, 103 libs, 102 NDPers
You were right to discount Fry. She was (and is) a joke.
“…(who the) next prime minister will be..” Is that just wishful thinking or do you know something we don’t? If so, do tell – please.
Well, they are the opposition, and the Liberals are effectively out of commission for the next electoral cycle. If/when the Conservatives suffer a decline in support, the NDP will be the natural beneficiaries. And if the outpouring of grief at the passing of Layton and an NDP commitment to his legacy can be correctly synergized, they will continue to grow and solidify their support base. It is conventional wisdom in the westminster system that the opposition is regarded as a government in waiting, and commentators are increasingly coming around to the fact that the NDP now inhabit this role.
I cannot even glance at the Sun comments anymore, let alone seriously read them. So deeply cringeworthy. There are no words…like watching people in the grip of psychopathic madness, babbling and smearing shit on the walls. All the people who have a grip on reality left a long time ago. I just can’t bear witness to it.