"There were also suggestions that an effort was underway to keep Dion out of the top three after the first ballot."I can't say I've ever agreed with the "delegate selection process" that has been traditionally used to elect leaders of political parties. One member, one vote makes a helluva lot of sense to me. I could never quite get the reason why people seem to like it.
"As a result, strategists from other camps have predicted that Ignatieff and Rae will shift support to Kennedy to keep him in third place because Kennedy poses less of a threat than Dion to leapfrog the two frontrunners and steal the victory."
I'm told it's supposed to be "more exciting" than a one-member one-vote system. If what you mean by exciting is the amazing ability of candidates to make shady back room deals that may or may not reflect the wishes of the membership then this is your leadership selection process.
Also I would like to point out that the Liberal's last leadership convention that used the delegate system was hardly exciting - it was a coronation.
And now Dion is conspirying to take out Ignatieff and Rae, and they in turn are conspiring to take out Dion by propping up Kennedy. Sounds like an "honest" and "accountable " Party to me.
Anyways on the eve of this, the end of what was a clown show that provided me with a lot of blogging material and more than a few laugs, I feel like I should say something noble, wise, prophetic and generally illuminating.
Yep - I got nothing.
But here's some predictions:
1. Joe Volpe will still scare the living daylights out of me even after this leadership race is over. I'm expecting some sort of tense moment with him when he gets turfed after the first ballot. That guy really needs to work on the way he comes across. In politics perception is everything. Fear is not the best thing to inspire in people - unless you plan on being supreme overlord of the Liberal Party.
2. Iggy will pontificate about something or other probably Quebec and bore us all like a good professor should. There's the possibility of some more "misunderstandings" coming out of him too in the last final hours.
3. Rae will talk about fiscal responsibility this weekend.
4. Kennedy will continue to be a nice guy and continue to be so even after this leadership race. He's like the Tony Clement of the Liberal Party as far as I'm concerned - everyone yerns somewhere inside of them for him to win but they all know he won't.
5. Dion will remind everyone of "sustainable development" and everyother codeword for socialist policies that he can think of. I think of him more as the "John Crosby" of the Liberal Party - everyone would vote for him, if they only thought he had a chance.
And finally I'm going to go out on a limb here and make one final leadership prediction. The next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada will be.... (drull roll please)
BOB RAE! He's a lefty. The NDP and the Greens are a real threat to the Liberals right now. They need someone like a Rae, a Dion, or Kennedy to retilt the party to the left after Martin's tenure made the party seem to go more to the right. Since Dion or Kennedy are gonners my money is on Rae after a "anyone but Iggy" campaign develops.
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Enlightened Utterings From the Clown Show Files
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