I leave Vancouver with a sense of let down -- always the way after an exciting adventure that has long been anticipated.
Politics is exciting.
It is very seductive -- especially the moments of victory. It is at those times, when everything comes together, that politics does seem, as the Romans would have it, the highest good.
But those moments of victory do not come easily. Politics is not just packed convention centres.
In fact, politics is grubby Church basements and offices in second string law firms. Votes are won one by one. Alliances are not formed by grand intellectual constructs but by quiet face to face meetings over a beer. Meetings where people speak about themselves and why they care about this or that. And strength comes from the friends so formed.
Politics is retail not wholesale.
I think this struck me as I was cutting blocks of cheese for a hospitality suite. I had plans and a policy -- all of which I wanted to tell the world -- but to tell my story I had to dice cheese and put the cubes on paper plates next to whole wheat crackers all bought from Costco.
Step by step, one by one, tous ensemble!!!
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
3 comments:
> Politics is retail not wholesale.
Politics is sales. That's why it's so distasteful.
(btw do you ever read your comments? Just wondering.)
The cheese was great. Didn't get a chance to partake in the wine...
To that last comment. Actually politics is what sales has become. When I connect with people politically, I do so with a sincere desire to explain why I personally feel so passionately about an issue - and why I think it is a "best fit" for Canada. I never try to "sell" anything. I do try to change the World - just a little bit each day, and at every doorstep.
Downes,
I do read em! You have a point but I don't see it as a shame that you have to convince people -- there is a difference between sales bs and sales where you explain the product. But I am babbling a touch!
Cheers
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