Well I got watch most of the speeches I admit I missed most of Iggy's because some guy wanted to watch Sportsnet news.
Anyways so this morning I go to Progressive Bloggers, or what I thought was Progressive Bloggers, cause it sure don't look like the old PB, it looks like Liberalblogger heaven. Don't they have a blog aggregator of their own? Yep they do.
And it's just as bad over at the Blogging Tories, though at least they have some blogging about the Alberta PC leadership race which uncoincidentally is having their final vote today and the usual
Enough with the live blogging and analysis of the Liberal race, is there nothing else going on in the universe that you could be discussing? Sheesh. It is after all for progressives not Liberal Party Hacks, though some confuse the two. Heck there wasn't this much coverage of the NDP convention on the PB.
So my assessment of last night. Yes, yes I know I am contraciting what I said above, but well hell I just had to say it. I will also be blogging on the Tory race as I have been doing. I at least maintain some balance.
Well an inordinate amount of bloggers at PB seem overjoyed with Dion. Huh? Dion and the Belmonts maybe but Stephanie Dion, please gimme a break. First he still has to learn English. A Liberal leader after all should be bilingual, at least that what all the pundits and hacks are criticizing Gerard Kennedy for.Dion gave three quarters of his speech in French, he opened in French and then somewhere after about ten minutes realized he should speak English. Maybe because he saw the quizzical looks on folks faces that didn't undersstand him. He did have a funny zinger though, " there is more culture in yogurt than in the Conservative Party".
And he on the road to Damascus Dion has found the faith, he too now opposes the war in Afghanistan. A shameless attempt to copy Kennedy's stance on the issue, the only candidate who has consistently opposed the Conservatives Afghanistan mission.
He was and is the loser in this race, right behind Iggy. He had 25 minutes for his speech like everyone else, and he blew it. He was cut off, ala the Academy Awards, and failed to get out his all important punchline that he could beat the Harper. Lucky for him his speech was provided to the media so CBC's Don Newman could fill us in on the missing punchline. Thanks Don.
Big opps that. Missing your punchline, going over your alloted time. So he goes off stage in a huff, the media scrums him, and he ignores them scowling , which did not look pretty. Uh oh Mr. Dion is pissed off. And it shows. On national TV.
And the voting results, well neck and neck with Kennedy. Still. Oh sure you can say he has .1 more votes than Kennedy, but he needed more than that.
And Iggy, well Iggy like his Alberta counterpart, Jim Dinning, has nothing to cheer about this morning. He is the biggest loser, and it was his to lose. And he got exactly the same amount of votes as Dinning did last weekend. It was like Deja Vu.
Michael Ignatieff, the long-time front-runner in the Liberal leadership race, was stuck at a disappointing 29 per cent in the all-important first round of balloting last night. It's below the 30 per cent he was supposed to have already and well below the 35 per cent mark he needed to show winning-potential momentum.
Michael Ignatieff: 1,412 votes, 29.3 per cent * Bob Rae: 977 votes, 20.3 per cent * Stephane Dion: 856 votes, 17.8 per cent * Gerard Kennedy: 854 votes, 17.7 per cent * Ken Dryden: 238 votes, 4.9 per cent * Scott Brison: 192 votes, 4 per cent * Joe Volpe: 156 votes, 3.2 per cent * Martha Hall Findlay: 130 votes, 2.7 per centI
As I said the similarity between the Alberta PC race and the Liberal Race is more than mere coincidence. Both have back room boys in the lead, while the grass roots rejects them. Its an anybody but....Iggy/Dinning....race today in Montreal and Alberta.
Now who came out ahead.
Well Gerard Kennedy, and Bob Rae. Kennedy reminded folks that the Convention was about reforming and rebuilding the party. Too late for that though, since the delegates were too busy getting pissed up and exchaning Iggy Thongs to bother attending the resolution workshops or sessions on the floor.Kennedy is the only candidate with Western roots he reminded folks. Mentioning Edmonton, the Pas, etc. Note to Gerard, it's the 'North' Saskatchewan river, not Saskatchewan river that runs through Edmonton. Been out of town to long bud.
Like a scion of thenamesake Kennedy clan he had his horde of true believers around him chanting on cue GK, GK, like it was 1968 and he was that other Kennedy, Bobby! Bobby!.
And speaking of Bob's, Bob Rae did what he does best, no teleprompter, just him and mike. It was stand up comedy night. Take on a skeptical crowd and try and sell yourself. He began with apologizing for having been an NDP'er. Now he has seen the light and become a true Red.....Liberal.What the hell is with his need to gum his words? That strange cud like chewing motion he makes. Don't his dentures fit? The folks overlooked that as he invoked the names of the greats in the room, Turner, Chretien, Martin, and unlike sourpuss Dion he literally flew off the stage to embrace them all, shocking a staid Chretien, and making him smile. Dat's my boy..
So today its Kennedy and Rae's to win and Iggy and Dion's to lose. Four ballots for sure.
And in Alberta it doesn't look good for Dinning despite his being a Saggitarius like me. Steady Eddie is a Taurus, figures, he has the personality type. And as they say slow and steady wins the race.