I recently spoke with a very intelligent and sophisticated man, a former Cabinet minister, who told me he voted for Tim Hudak in the last Provincial election. I said "I thought you lived in Toronto" and he said, "well, if you want to be picky - I voted for the Hudak guy in my Riding".
In Quebec in the last Federal election it seems obvious many voters voted for Jack Layton and paid no attention to who was their local MP.
So does this mean all we need is a really good Leader and we'll win the next Federal election?
No.
In fact, a mad focus on the "Leader" is a sin we in the Liberal Party are peculiarly susceptible to. Jack Layton was the public face of a brand -- granted one he largely built -- and Tim Hudak is the same thing. Put otherwise, the NDP is bigger than Jack Layton. Absent the Party behind him, Jack Layton would have not won a seat in Quebec.
And so we need to built the Party for the Leader to represent as opposed to finding the Leader to build the Party.
This means, for example, that Communications and Policy must come from the Party and be consistent and long term -- Leaders come and go and they should neither set Policy nor be the origin of all Communications lest everything has to start anew with a new Leader. Our Riding Associations and PTAs must be strong regardless of, and independent of, the Leader. The old line "the King is dead, long live the King" says the Leader is important but not the core of being. We need to, we must, get past seeing the Leader as the Party.
8 comments:
Well said. Strong, feisty and independent riding associations channeling ideas up the line and critiquing ideas and policies sent down the line for comment are essential for the party to become a living, effective voice for the millions of Canadians who support it, and even more importantly, for the millions of Canadians who feel isolated from their country's politics.
The leader is important, but a vibrant, passionate, committed and hard working party will change our democratic deficits.
We could all agree to that but this would require a set of principles and philosophy to build a party around.
There does not seem to be any such set, except the set of "holier than thou" social issues. But these types of things don't really bind people together in a way that will sustains simple, coherent messages to the public.
There should be something ("tax cuts don't pay for themselves") but there are far too many people who, failing to understand that money gives all organizations life blood, refuse to give proper weight to economic issues.
And so down the rabbit hole we go.
I'm with you in spirit, James. But based on my experience in the recent Federal election, I believe many, if not most people vote for the party leader.
Folks I know could not stand Ignatieff. Heck, I wasn't fond of him either. What was really disappointing though, was these same folks couldn't be bothered to vote.
And the whole "yeah, but if you don't vote~don't whine later" speech had no effect.
I
So? What can we do -- I grant you the Leader gets votes -- she or he is the face -- but surely the Leader can't be everything?
It seems Harper got in that way,...... the leader.... and so did Jack Layton. there are people who think they vote directly for the leader.
If someone had told you in 2003 that Stephen Harper would one day be the Prime Minister, you would have laughed at them. Similarly, if someone had told you when Layton became leader of the NDP that he would one day lead the opposition and be heralded as a great politician after his passing, you wouldn't have believed it.
Party leaders grow into their rolls and the public's perception of party leaders changes over time. The Liberal sin of the last decade has been changing leaders after each bump in the road. Who knows, even Dion might have won over the population over time.
We should pick a leader, a young vibrant leader, and stick with him or her through at least two elections.
By the way, Tim Hudak (who I can't stand) will be the next premier of Ontario.
Christian, those folks did vote - they voted the option not on the ballot paper: None of the above. You scrawl your X in that box when you sit on your hands and stay home. Hundreds of thousands of Liberals have voted this option in the past few elections, but the party did not get the message.
Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my website thus i got here to return the choose?
.I am trying to in finding things to improve
my site!I suppose its ok to make use of a few of your ideas!
!
my blog post chapter 13 bankruptcy florida
Post a Comment