Along with others, my pals Jane and Linda have stories out this morning about the Liberal defeat, here and here, respectively. (I note that there’s one name that is common to both stories.)
There’s five points I’d make about this crap. Take them for what they’re worth.
1. The country utterly repudiated us federal Liberals – and not just the leader, either. All of us. Self-justifications and anonymously-sourced back-biting, post-apocalypse, are as destructive as they are transparent. It’s the sort of behaviour that got us where we are, and it’s behaviour that’s been getting worse since the leadership wars of the past decade or so. And I say that as one of the warriors, too. It has to stop.
2. This one ain’t a temporary setback, Liberals. It’s a decade or more in the wilderness; perhaps it was an actual death warrant, like the one sent to the Bloc, but not (yet) as comprehensive. Canadians don’t like how we did business. Case in point: “How can I trust them to run the country, when they can’t even act unified and/or disciplined, for more than ten minutes at a time?”
3. Regulars, here, know that I favour unifying progressives – but they also know that, with the NDP as strong as it is, I think Jack Layton would be crazy to give us even a moment of his time. He doesn’t need us to do what he wants to do. So, for the next while, Liberals need to focus on riding-by-riding rebuilding. Post-election-subsidy, it’ll be hard, but it’s the Number One job. Whomever your interim leader is won’t be as nearly as interesting to the media or the public as you currently think it is. Near-total obscurity generally has that effect.
4. Obscurity, in circumstances like these, isn’t a totally bad thing. The country has said to us – very clearly – they want us to go away, for a long time, and get our shit together. I welcome the opportunity, personally. The only reason some media are still writing about us is habit. They’ll move on, soon enough, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
5. I haven’t repeated my little pledge since before the Liberal rout – so, in case you think I chose discretion over valour, I still intend to take a shot at a Liberal nomination somewhere in the Toronto area. Call me crazy (and plenty do), but I think it would be fun to try one more time.
Anyway, that’s what I think after reading the morning papers. Now, it’s off to a wedding that’ll be attended by lots of Liberals, and then it’s up to Ottawa to give a speech about politics. Have a great day.
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