It took four ballots in a remarkable, nationwide exercise for Thomas Mulcair to have a decisive win.
It ended the way it began.The candidate stuck to the message. He never veered Never allowed himself to be distracted. Even in victory.
In so doing, he compelled others to do the same. He set the tone.
Was the convention dull? Without drama. Or betrayal. Was nothingrevealed of the seamy underbelly of politics?
Not by Thomas Mulcair.
Ed Broadbent's role in the last desperate attempt to keep control in the hands of organised labour, in central Canada will tarnish his legacy.
Brian Topp's name will be a footnote.
Peggy Nash,was betrayed by the party of love. She maintained her dignity. But she has tasted bitter fruit. Nothing will ever be the same.
Brian Topp was always an unlikely candidate. He delivered his speech like a public speaking contestant. Every glance, side-tilt of his head and modest shrug revealed a self-deprecating personality.
Why would anyone believe the idea of campaigning for leadership after a lifetime of being a back room organiser was his idea? He had never even contested a seat let alone been a winner.
If John Tory couldn't do it, he certainly couldn't. And John Tory certainly didn't.
Peggy Nash, a strong member of the caucus,a winner in her own right, in a strong Tory riding , was betrayed. By the party of love. That holds itself out to be the great equaliser
But none of it was Mulcair's doing. He stayed focused.
He ran a positive campaign. He wrested control. Time and circumstances were right . The triumph was not a fluke.
Neither did it have to take so long.
Everybody likes a winner. He will mould nicely into the role.
Those of us who love good drama. all the more so because it is real, may look forward to the enactment.
What we saw yesterday was finesse.
The plodding,heavy-footed domination and bullying in the Harper party will suffer severely in contrast.
The Liberal role, if it has one, is not yet defined.
Sunday, 25 March 2012
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1 comment:
This reads like the review of a Broadway play.
Jack Layton's huge success in the last election was a combination of three things: his personal message, his personality, and his brave fight; the final implosion of the Bloc Quebecois that was never going to be able to do anything on the national stage and hence its supporters in Quebec would see no return for their investment; the Liberal leader was a disgrace as a politician, which he never was and never could be - he should have stuck with academe.
The NDP can do nothing but lose seats in coming elections. Hopefully Harper's party will do likewise. The Liberal party is lost at sea in a great fog and it will take them years to reassemble.
So where does that leave us?
In between an arrogant majority, a socialist party that will have no choice but to become so centrist that it will be unrecognizable from its roots, and a party that will drift for years.
This is not a happy scenario.
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