I suppose it finally had to happen. After weeks of denial....and searching for the pony in the horseshit...the awful truth about Stephane Dion seems to be settling in.
Now I know that Dion isn't the only reason the Liberals are sinking.
But I agree with Gordon Gibson when he says what EVERYONE knows...that Dion is now the BIGGEST problem.
What is this "one serious problem"? It is simply this: Stéphane Dion is the least effective Liberal leader, no contest, for at least 100 years.
Not because Dion isn't a decent and smart man. But because he's such a lousy politician.
If I needed any more proof of that...and I don't....a recent interview with Daniel Lessard, French Canada's Don Newman, only reminded me of just how lousy he really is.
Dion had managed to hold his own quite nicely for most of the interview...by linking Stephen Harper to George Bush whenever he could. Until the very last question.
Lessard asked him about Jean Chretien's book and his statement that Quebecers wouldn't have been able to separate if the YES side had won the referendum by only a small margin.
Dion should have replied by saying that if Quebecers had really wanted to separate nobody would have been able to hold them back. But that was ANCIENT history...time had moved on. And so had he. Quebecers had now been officially recognized as a nation he was PROUD to belong to. And he was just focused on doing what he could do to make the story of the Great French Nation in North America even MORE amazing...blah blah blah...
Instead he put on his wacky professor and Captain Canada hat and went on and on about how you couldn't destroy a country with those kind of numbers...and how the courts had upheld this and that. I believe he mumbled something about the Balkans at one point.... and blah blah blah. Reminding Quebecers why they HATE him so much, and blowing any brownie points he may have scored before.
So yes...I do agree that Dion is absolutely hopeless. And that he HAS to go. I just don't agree with Gibson on the question of when and how.
Especially not this how...
So, the easiest way to get rid of Mr. Dion as leader is have him lose an election. No problem, no blood on any Liberal hands and the voters are supreme. Only a few dozen remaining Liberal seats after that wipeout, you say? Proves the point. At least rebuilding could then begin.
Only an old wanker could suggest that deliberately losing an election...and giving Stephen Harper a mandate to destroy this country...is ok if it saves the Liberal Party... by destroying it first. Huh?
As for the timing ......I believe the time is NOW.
Dion should resign as soon as possible and the Deputy Leader Ignatieff should take over and lead the Liberals into the next election.
With the agreement that AFTER the election there would be a full leadership review and if necessary a new leadership contest.
Remember I'm not a Liberal or an Ignatieff supporter either. But his arrival at such a dramatic moment would electrify the Liberals and other Canadians...just like the arrival of Lucien Bouchard re-energized the YES side during the last Quebec referendum.
Harper's plans for a quick blitzkrieg would be stymied as he paused to figure out the shifting ground. His whole campaign strategy aimed at Dion would have to be completely revamped.
The only thing he could hope for would be another minority government....and that would just KILL him.
It would of course be a bitter pill for a man like Stephane Dion to swallow.
He'd have to admit defeat. And he is far too proud to be pushed out. So he'd have to make the big decision and choose between his sinking political career and his country.
Be brutally honest with himself and tell Canadians that he tried his best.. but he FAILED. That he finally realized that just having good ideas in politics isn't the same as being a good politician....and being able to communicate them to people.
How he'd like to have a chance to change all that. But he can't afford to take that chance because Stephen Harper is such a menace to Canada that the country can't risk failure.
So he's going to ask others to try to deliver the message that he couldn't because saving Canada is all that counts ...and that's all he ever wanted to do...blah blah blah...
It would be so painful and so hard for Dion I'm not optimistic he could ever bring himself to do that. And I would feel sorry for him. But if he really wants to be remembered as a real Captain Canada.
Instead of the loser who dragged his country down with him.
Now is his big chance....
No comments:
Post a Comment