Leadership Update
This week there was news on four possible contenders, so here is my view on each of their decisions.
Gerard Kennedy: I welcome his decision to run for the leadership. Being born in Manitoba, having lived in Alberta, and now living in Ontario, he certainly has a strong grasp of the different regions. He will especially be sensitive to Western Alienation. I also hope he runs in Parkdale-High Park so we can return this riding to the Liberals. However, he is a left leaning Liberal so being a Blue Liberal myself, I would have a tough time supporting him. Now obviously I need to see his actual policies, but I am pretty sure I won't be supporting him for the Liberal leadership. I also don't believe a larger and more intrusive federal government is the solution to our problems. In today's global competitive market, our tax rates must be competitive, regulations in line with competitors, and the size of our government shouldn't be too large. Besides many of our regulations, programs, and crown corporations are vastly out of date for the 21st century and must be changed to reflect the modern world
Bob Rae: He's joined the Liberal Party, but still haven't announced his decision to run. Anyways I summarize my position on him earlier.
Belinda Stronach: I am disappointed she choose not to run. Despite what some think of here, I believe she would be a very good leader. Her combination of fiscal conservatism combined with social liberalism is the kind of leadership we need today. She is from the 905 belt, which is a crucial swing area that often determines the winner. She is in touch with both woman's and urban issues and despite what the Tories say, I believe she was a major loss for them. However, I suspect her weak ability to speak French played a major role. Hopefully she will brush up on her French for the future Liberal leadership race, which hopefully won't come for several years
Michael Ignatieff: Glad to see he has entered the race. I read his speech on issues facing Canada and was very impressed. He is a very smart man with well thought out ideas. I think he would really raise the level of debate and create an election about ideas rather than mudslinging. Despite the fact some claim that he is unfit to be PM since he lived outside of Canada for 30 years, I believe this could be a good thing. By living in other countries it allows one to get a different perspective and see first hand what works and what doesn't.
Stephane Dion: Also pleased to see that he has entered the race. I will have to see his policies on the whole before giving my opinion, but based on his past portfolios he has done an outstanding job in each one. I was very impressed with his leadership on the National Unity file and his leadership in bringing in the Clarity Act. With the rise of separtism, we need someone who will come down hard on them. I felt Paul Martin was sometimes too soft on the separtists. He was also a competent environment minister who understood a strong economy and clean environment aren't opposites, if anything they go hand in hand. Certainly he would be a good candidate to re-build liberal support in Quebec.
I haven't joined the Liberal Party officially, but once all the leadership candidates have declared their intentions and given their visions for the future of Canada, I will consider joining if one has a vision that is similiar to mine.
Gerard Kennedy: I welcome his decision to run for the leadership. Being born in Manitoba, having lived in Alberta, and now living in Ontario, he certainly has a strong grasp of the different regions. He will especially be sensitive to Western Alienation. I also hope he runs in Parkdale-High Park so we can return this riding to the Liberals. However, he is a left leaning Liberal so being a Blue Liberal myself, I would have a tough time supporting him. Now obviously I need to see his actual policies, but I am pretty sure I won't be supporting him for the Liberal leadership. I also don't believe a larger and more intrusive federal government is the solution to our problems. In today's global competitive market, our tax rates must be competitive, regulations in line with competitors, and the size of our government shouldn't be too large. Besides many of our regulations, programs, and crown corporations are vastly out of date for the 21st century and must be changed to reflect the modern world
Bob Rae: He's joined the Liberal Party, but still haven't announced his decision to run. Anyways I summarize my position on him earlier.
Belinda Stronach: I am disappointed she choose not to run. Despite what some think of here, I believe she would be a very good leader. Her combination of fiscal conservatism combined with social liberalism is the kind of leadership we need today. She is from the 905 belt, which is a crucial swing area that often determines the winner. She is in touch with both woman's and urban issues and despite what the Tories say, I believe she was a major loss for them. However, I suspect her weak ability to speak French played a major role. Hopefully she will brush up on her French for the future Liberal leadership race, which hopefully won't come for several years
Michael Ignatieff: Glad to see he has entered the race. I read his speech on issues facing Canada and was very impressed. He is a very smart man with well thought out ideas. I think he would really raise the level of debate and create an election about ideas rather than mudslinging. Despite the fact some claim that he is unfit to be PM since he lived outside of Canada for 30 years, I believe this could be a good thing. By living in other countries it allows one to get a different perspective and see first hand what works and what doesn't.
Stephane Dion: Also pleased to see that he has entered the race. I will have to see his policies on the whole before giving my opinion, but based on his past portfolios he has done an outstanding job in each one. I was very impressed with his leadership on the National Unity file and his leadership in bringing in the Clarity Act. With the rise of separtism, we need someone who will come down hard on them. I felt Paul Martin was sometimes too soft on the separtists. He was also a competent environment minister who understood a strong economy and clean environment aren't opposites, if anything they go hand in hand. Certainly he would be a good candidate to re-build liberal support in Quebec.
I haven't joined the Liberal Party officially, but once all the leadership candidates have declared their intentions and given their visions for the future of Canada, I will consider joining if one has a vision that is similiar to mine.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 9:58 PM
17 Comments:
If I had to predict where you'll go, I'd say that
Kennedy and Dion are probably too "red.," Ignatieff is probably too pro-American, Dryden is probably too boring and Rae just has too much baggage. And despite some of the stuff you've said of late, I'm sure you're intelligent and sane enough not to go for Volpe.
So my guess is that, when the smoke clears and positions are on the table, you'll be backing Brison.
That's why I find it kind of weird that you left him off the list.
Dion would be my pick if I were a Liberal. He's left-leaning, but his patriotism makes up for his left of center ideas. He'd spend money on cleaning up the environment, which I support, and hopefully everything else would stay in fiscal balance.
But to be honest, right now I'm too wrapped up in the Alberta PC leadership race to really get involved in the federal LPC campaigns. Somebody has to keep Preston from making a comeback!
I'm thinking Miles will likely back Brison- after all, he apparently backed him once before. I think Brandon hit the mark there.
Brandon - I wouldn't exactly describe Dion as left-leaning. On the environment he is left leaning, but that is really only one issue. He is a strong federalist and known for taking a hard-line against the separtists. I didn't include Brison since he hasn't declared his intentions. Once he declares his intentions, I'll state my feelings on him. Dryden I agree is rather boring while Kennedy is a bed left leaning but he might be popular amongst some.
Dylan - I agree Dion has some good ideas and you are right has tough stance against the separtism makes up for his left stances. Provincially, I too hope Manning doesn't become the Alberta PC leader, but considering his age, I somehow feel he won't run.
BC Tory - I may very well back Brison, but we don't know whether he will run or not.
No I haven't but I agree Harry Lali is a complete nutbar. I just cannot understand how a riding (or at least a portion of it) would elect a right wing wacko like Stockwell Day and then turn around and elect a left wing wacko like Harry Lali. Perhaps maybe they would be better to stop in the centre rather than going from one extreme to another.
Miles, being firmly on the right on economic issues and firmly on the left on social issues does not make one a centrist.
A centrist would be moderate on both.
Brandon - I realize I am on the right economically and on the left socially, but I am not an ideologue. I don't go around thinking with each issue whether it is left wing or right wing, rather I decide whether it is a good idea or bad idea. Off course on the whole I generally believe that government intervention causes more harm than good if excessive, which is why I generally lean left on social issues and right on economic issues. I am not a radical centrist, but rather someone who straddles the centre (left wing on some issues and right wing on others).
Well, I would argue that you are a libertarian ideologue.
And being a libertarian does not make one a moderate. Libertarianism in its most extreme form is anarchism.
I am moderate Libertarian, but not a pure libertarian since I do support a social safety net such as universal health care, free K-12 education which a pure libertarian doesn't, and I don't believe hard drugs like Cocaine should be legalized, which a pure libertarian would. Likewise I don't believe in privatizing essential services that have no private sector alternative such as firefighting, prisons, army, while I do support it where a private sector alternative exists, whereas libertarians support it everywhere whether a private sector alternative exists are not.
The point is I straddle the centre, even if I on some issues go pretty far to the left or right.
You don't straddle the centre Miles, man get a life.
Anonymous - If you know my views on other issues I do indeed straddle the centre. Try reading the introduction where I talk about privatizing certain crown corporations and less government. I just happen to be socially liberal and a strong critic of US foreign policy.
No you want to think your in the centre, as for some reason it makes you feel good.
I am not in the centre, I said I straddle the centre, which means I am left wing on some issues and right wing on others. A pure centrists is in the centre on all issues.
Which is why you hang out with the nut bar Carol? Acually you would be more libertarian which wont be straddling anything in the centre.
Libertarians do straddle the centre, is just they go very left on some issues and very right on others so it balances it overall. They tend to be quite left wing on social issues and quite right wing on economic issues.
But Miles, according to that logic, hard core authoritarians would also strattle the centre, with far right social views and far left economic views.
I don't think argument holds water,
I am not suggesting libertarians are centrists, I am simply saying that if you balance out all their views the land in the same spot as centrists. The only difference is if you think of the political spectrum as a see saw, the libertarians would be at one end or another on each issue while centrists would be close to the centre on all issues. I am somewhere in between these two groups.
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