"Where else would you go when you have an ax to grind?"

Thursday, September 21, 2006

No. 29 on the ice, No. 1 in the polls
Despite the fact that Liberal caucus members and party movers and shakers don't see him as a top tier candidate, a Liberal Party Poll of the people who really matter - Canadian Voters - seems to suggest that Ken Dryden is the Liberals best hope for attracting votes. He has the best name recognition, the least negative reaction (As I feared, Bob Rae has the most negative reaction) and the best chance of pulling crossover votes from the NDP and Conservatives. And he is the only one of the leadership candidates to call for an immediate and meaningful reexamination of Canada's role in the Afghanistan War.

And the next person who tells me he is too smart for the job or shouldn't be elected party leader because he can't speak in 8-second sound bites had best be prepared to be cleared from the crease with extreme predjudice.

I want the smartest guy for Prime Minister. I want the guy who thinks things through before he speaks instead of shooting from the lip with glib, meaningless sound bites. I want a party leader who will bring more voters into the party, not divide the electorate. I want a party leader, leader of the opposition and eventual Prime Minister who is committed to the idea of Canada, who understands the soul of the country and where our national priorities must be. I also want someone who can win the next election before the current crop of neocon ideologues do anymore damage.
I've read the stump speeches, the interviews, the platform and now this poll -- I'm convinced.
Ken Dryden is the right man for the job.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed 100%. I was ecstatic when I heard Dryden was running. (Of course, I'm a bit of a hockey fanatic, so he already had one point in his favour before I even got to know more about him.) I really hope he wins because I don't think Bob Rae could carry Ontario in an election. But Dryden? Yah, baby!

Rev.Paperboy said...

You are not wrong about Bob Rae. I like him and don't think he did a bad job as premier, but about 60 percent of voters in Ontario hate his guts -- his negative reaction numbers in the poll are almost equal his high positive reaction numbers. He'd get lots of NDP voters moving to the Liberals, but zero tories and he might scare off some more conservative Liberal voters. Rae would be a very polarizing leader, whereas Dryden would have the opposite effect--he's a social liberal and fiscal conservative and very much in tune with the values of the average Canadian. I think he'd pull a lot of votes away from the Conservatives and maybe help the Liberals win some seats in Praries and Alberta for a change.

scout said...

i really don't know enough about the lib candidates other then i sure wouldnt want to see ignateff in. dryden seems to be the more diplomatic of the bunch, and rae lost me with his support for israel.

it wouldn't be bad to have a goalie as liberal leader to tell the cons to puck off.