Convention Speeches so far
So far from my home I've only watched Howard Dean and Shawn Graham's speech which I both thought were very good. Since it is wet and miserable while it is suppose to be sunny on Saturday, I will taking the train tomorrow to Montreal and using Saturday as my sightseeing day.
Howard Dean
Whatever doubts I had about him speaking, I felt he did a good job. Being a foreigner he had to be careful not too sound too partisan and he did that well. Instead he focused on how the Democrats were successful and similiar strategies the Liberals could use to be successful. I thought his goal of never writing off any voter and reaching out to everyone in every region, even areas you don't expect to win, was something the Liberals should follow. In the last few elections I feel the party has focused too much on its areas it is strong in and often looks down too much on groups that aren't likely to vote Liberal. Instead we need to realize we don't have an automatic right to govern, we need to earn it from Canadians by convincing them we are the best party with the best ideas. Even those who disagree with our vision, we should still respect them while at the same time maintain our principles. I also like his reference to staying true to your principles. As Liberals, most seem to agree that moving to the right to be a Conservative lite party is the wrong way to go, but too many think moving to the left to be an NDP lite party is the way to go. We are successful when we stay true to who we are. By trying to copy other parties, we are saying that our policies were wrong and they were right.
Shawn Graham
I thought he gave a very good speech. It is quite easy to launch attacks against Harper and all he has done wrong, but all this does is convince people not to vote Conservative. To succeed, we need to give people a reason to vote for the Liberals, that is why I was very impressed with his positive tone and appealing to hope rather than fear. I also liked his comment about how he set a goal to make New Brunswick a have province by 2026. We too should set ambitious but realistic goals. The thing both Graham and Dean have in common is they both did what many thought was impossible. When Shawn Graham became New Brunswick Liberal leader, the Tories had over 80% of the sights and a massive lead in the polls, yet in 2003 he came within 18 votes of forming government and in 2006 succeeded. Likewise with Howard Dean, the Democrats were demoralized and reduced to their urban core on the East and West Coast. In a mere span of two years they took back both houses in won in states such as Montana and Virginia, which only two years ago most would have said was impossible to do. If they can do the unthinkable, we can too and that means not just returning to government, but winning seats in Francophone Quebec, in Rural Ontario, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in Alberta, and areas outside the Lower Mainland in BC. A tough challenge, but we should always aim high. I was told by my parents in school, always aim higher than you expect since if you only think you can get a B and aim for a B, you will end up with a C, but if you aim for an A, you will get a B. We should also aim high since if our goal is only to barely win back government we won't. We will succeed though if we reach out to all parts of Canada and stop writing off regions that are difficult to win.
Today was the policy session and only a handful of the 135 policies actually got passed although considering how many were virtually identical to another, that was probably a good thing. Some I agree with, others I don't, however my biggest disappointment was how few people showed up for this part. Choosing a new leader is not the only thing that matters, having strong policies also matters and it is too bad that more Liberals didn't show up for this. We also should not be afraid to debate issues and sometimes disagree with other members of the party. That is how we will get the best policies. Unfortunately the only policy that had any debate was on gun control and this was more about how the policy might make winning in rural areas more difficult rather than the merit of the policy. Still I am impressed with the depth policies each leadership candidate has developed and hope those are emphasized come next election.
Howard Dean
Whatever doubts I had about him speaking, I felt he did a good job. Being a foreigner he had to be careful not too sound too partisan and he did that well. Instead he focused on how the Democrats were successful and similiar strategies the Liberals could use to be successful. I thought his goal of never writing off any voter and reaching out to everyone in every region, even areas you don't expect to win, was something the Liberals should follow. In the last few elections I feel the party has focused too much on its areas it is strong in and often looks down too much on groups that aren't likely to vote Liberal. Instead we need to realize we don't have an automatic right to govern, we need to earn it from Canadians by convincing them we are the best party with the best ideas. Even those who disagree with our vision, we should still respect them while at the same time maintain our principles. I also like his reference to staying true to your principles. As Liberals, most seem to agree that moving to the right to be a Conservative lite party is the wrong way to go, but too many think moving to the left to be an NDP lite party is the way to go. We are successful when we stay true to who we are. By trying to copy other parties, we are saying that our policies were wrong and they were right.
Shawn Graham
I thought he gave a very good speech. It is quite easy to launch attacks against Harper and all he has done wrong, but all this does is convince people not to vote Conservative. To succeed, we need to give people a reason to vote for the Liberals, that is why I was very impressed with his positive tone and appealing to hope rather than fear. I also liked his comment about how he set a goal to make New Brunswick a have province by 2026. We too should set ambitious but realistic goals. The thing both Graham and Dean have in common is they both did what many thought was impossible. When Shawn Graham became New Brunswick Liberal leader, the Tories had over 80% of the sights and a massive lead in the polls, yet in 2003 he came within 18 votes of forming government and in 2006 succeeded. Likewise with Howard Dean, the Democrats were demoralized and reduced to their urban core on the East and West Coast. In a mere span of two years they took back both houses in won in states such as Montana and Virginia, which only two years ago most would have said was impossible to do. If they can do the unthinkable, we can too and that means not just returning to government, but winning seats in Francophone Quebec, in Rural Ontario, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in Alberta, and areas outside the Lower Mainland in BC. A tough challenge, but we should always aim high. I was told by my parents in school, always aim higher than you expect since if you only think you can get a B and aim for a B, you will end up with a C, but if you aim for an A, you will get a B. We should also aim high since if our goal is only to barely win back government we won't. We will succeed though if we reach out to all parts of Canada and stop writing off regions that are difficult to win.
Today was the policy session and only a handful of the 135 policies actually got passed although considering how many were virtually identical to another, that was probably a good thing. Some I agree with, others I don't, however my biggest disappointment was how few people showed up for this part. Choosing a new leader is not the only thing that matters, having strong policies also matters and it is too bad that more Liberals didn't show up for this. We also should not be afraid to debate issues and sometimes disagree with other members of the party. That is how we will get the best policies. Unfortunately the only policy that had any debate was on gun control and this was more about how the policy might make winning in rural areas more difficult rather than the merit of the policy. Still I am impressed with the depth policies each leadership candidate has developed and hope those are emphasized come next election.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 2:33 PM
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