Liberal Leadership Race and Endorsement

I am partial to Gerard Kennedy...that's my endorsement.

Check here for Rae endorsement storyhere.

I sent his campaign some money in the summer and I have been impressed by his vision and his vigour. He has experience governing in the Ontario cabinet, and was a very respected and successful Minster of Education. There is a potential for star power and charisma here. By that I mean he has it and the rest of the country will catch on when he is thrust into the media.

I hope, should he be unsuccessful in upsetting Ignatieff and Rae, he stays and runs as a Liberal in the next federal election.

That said, I think the other top 4 candidates bring different things to the table:

Rae:
-Definitely the most policically experienced out of the bunch.
-Is the only candidate with executive experience as Premier of Ontario.
-Has been known to topple minority governments, see Joe Clark, and Frank Miller (not 100% on the latter).

Dion:
-Only one of the three who has federal cabinet experience.
-Can out-academic Ignatieff.

Ignatieff:
-Could get some star power if he learns how to stay on message.
-Very smart.
-Maybe focus Liberals on foreign policy more than others?

My prediction...?

At present I think it looks like the leadership is Rae's to lose. He has emerged as the Anti-Iggy and it seems like he could pull it off. He has the machine to do it.

A.L.

Rise Aaaggaain! Rise Again!... the Mary Ellen Carter Rise Again!

Full story here.

Great song and a nice, apropos reference to it in the article.

This is a big weekend for the Liberal party and it really could be a pivotal moment for us.

It is a long road toward renewal, but I think political parties learn and grow by doing. We're in good shape, and as I wrote before, there is a lot of good to come from spending some time in the political wilderness/penalty box.

OK, I am rambling.

A.L.

Absolutely DISGUSTING Republican Dirty Tricks - Criminal Even!

The Republicans are very scared, in fact they are resorting to old dirty tricks. Voter supression at its best.

Not only are they telling African American voters to stay home to avoid being arrested... but they are also phone banking robocalls which at first blush seem to be coming from the Democratic candidate in your area, but in fact are negative ads delivered directly to your phone courtesy of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

It's getting downright harassing....

See for yourself, Josh Marshall has done a bang up job on this issue at his blog, Talking Points Memo

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall:

"We've spoken a lot about these 'false-flag' GOP robo-calls and a lot of you have asked questions. So let me, as concisely as I can, explain what the complaints are about.

There are two basic issues about the calls. And to understand what the fuss is about, you need to understand the two together.

First, the calls themselves.

Most of the call's script is a fairly standard attack robocall, a series of Republican talking points aimed at the Democratic congressional in a particular district. Nothing particularly noteworthy. The key is the introduction. The lead into the call starts with the speaker saying 'I'm calling with information about' Dem candidate X. Then there's a short pause.

At this point, you know it's an annoying robocall, so a lot of people just hang up. If you hang up then, you think it's a call from the Democratic candidate.

Second, the repetition. And this part is the key. If you don't listen through the whole message, the machine keeps calling you back, often well in excess of half a dozen times with the same call. It only stops if you listen all the way through.

As you can imagine, that's driving a lot of people through the roof.

In other words, the Republicans behind the calls win either way. If you keep hanging up, you think you're being harassed by the campaign of the local Democratic House candidate. If you give up and listen all the way through, you hear the political attack. The true source of the call, the NRCC, the GOP House campaign committee, is only revealed at the end of the call.

(Federal regulations dictate calls be identified at the top of the call.)

Third, and for this there is as yet only anecdotal evidence, many of the calls seem to be going out overnight or during, say, a major sporting event in the given district.

These sorts of operations are supposed to glide under the radar, having maximum impact with minimal press attention.

And that's pretty much how it worked.

People only started catching on mid-late last week as Democratic campaign after campaign started fielding complaints from voters about robocalls their campaigns weren't even making. Even then, individual campaigns dealt with it mainly on their own. Only over the weekend did different people start putting the puzzle together.

It's impossible to say how many voters out there are pissed off because they think they're being phone-stalked by the local Democratic candidate. And there's no way to tell just what the effect will be at the ballot box. But the intention is clear: suppress the Democratic vote by harassing voters with repetitive phone calls and deceiving them about who it is that's calling them.

Remember, this is the same crew that pulled a not dissimilar phone scheme in 2002 which resulted in multiple felony convictions. This time they've just taken it nationwide. This is their strategy."

-- Josh Marshall

I couldn't say it better myself. Josh Marshall at Talkingpointsmemo.com has done a lot of work on this issue. I could not possibly do a better job than him.

A.L.

Sacre Bleu! They're spitting mad in Montreal too!

Long-time Tory angrily quits party over trusts

I guess this puts knots in the shorts of Montrealers too.

We need a Torontonian and a Vancouverite and we'll have a quartet.

Ibbitson thinks this will blow over for the Tories (subscription req'd), I am not so sure about that.

If Ibbitson were a scribe in the 1970's - early 80's he might have thought something called the NEP would blow over too.

I am not suggesting this income trust thing will rise to such proportions, but when you knee someone in the package and it hurts their wallet in a big way, they remember.

And seniors, vote.

A.L.