Findley In… Stronach Out?
“Coincidence,” Emma Bull said, “is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys.” Funny thing about this coincidence is, you can almost see the levers being pulled, the pulleys doing their bit.
The coincidence in question? At 9:45 this morning, someone from the Auditor General’s Office was peeking at my blog. They were searching “Liberal Leadership” “Debate Transcript” and came across my April 2006 archives. Curiosity got the better of this cat, and I sat and read my what I was writing six months ago. I found this one:
Serial Anglophile Belinda Stronach today announced she is out, OUT I say, of the Liberal leadership race, leaving nobody who is anybody left to run.
Hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you, but here it is, on February 3rd, I said no chance…
She didn’t like the rules, so she took her ball and went home. Which leads us to this little gem:
“This is not the end of the story for me. I’d say it’s the beginning.”
Do ya think Belinda? (Freudian slip, I originally wrote that Do ya think, Belinda?) In two years in politics you have, run for the leadership of the Conservatives then left the Conservatives in the middle of a confidence motion for a cabinet position. You spoke very ill of the party you left, burning a few bridges as you went. You where a significant part of the losing Liberal election, then very publicly mused about running for the party leaders job. Announced to the world you don’t speak a whiff of French, then quit because you didn’t like the rules of the game. I’d say the end is nearer than you think – you are starting to look like extremely flighty, moving from one thing to the next every six months.
My guess. The next time the Liberals are looking for a leader, Belinda Stronach will have left politics and moved on to “the next thing.”
“The next time the Liberals are looking for a leader, Belinda Stronach will have left politics.” Which brings us to today:
Rumour suggests that Liberal leadership candidate Martha Hall Findley has been quietly promised to be the Liberal candidate in the next general election in Belinda Stronach’s Newmarket – Aurora riding. The rumour suggests Stronach has no plans to re-offer in the next federal election…..for a variety of reasons…….
A variety of reasons? Like, it’s been a whole year with the Liberals, and the NDP don’t really want her. Perhaps, even the Liberal’s don’t want her anymore. Has anybody made more noise while accomplishing so little?
Whatever the reason, whatever Levers and Pulleys are at work here, it appears as if Ms. Stronach has lost interest in this little game and is ready to move on.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Interesting development.
Time for a new challenge for Belinda.
I heard that Belinda has been asked by Bill Clinton to work with his AIDS charity. This, apparently, came up last week when Clinton was in town and Belinda did some anti-poverty shticks in Ottawa with him.
Wow – if this is true Belinda could replace Bono – running around the world demanding audience with heads of state so she can lambast governments for not being generous enough.
That would surely fit with her self-righteous persona don’t you think?
“Time for a new challenge for Belinda.”
I heard that hockey is pretty challenging. And I’m sure Belinda can make ‘friends’ with any hockey player she meets, considering her track record of ‘friends’ in the NHL.
I’m BORED!
I’ve got no one to PLAY with. They’re PICKING on me!
I DON’T want to do this anymore!
They won’t GIVE me the ball!
(stomp,stamp,stomp)
I heard that Belinda has been asked by Bill Clinton to work with his AIDS charity.
I hadn’t heard that one Shannon. Wonder how Hillary would feel on that one, or would she have to re-read the Bimbo Riot Act to Bill?
Ron – don’tyou have a relative that can give you a car company to play with?
Perhaps Maggie Thatcher is looking for a boy-toy.
Too funny Ron!
All slagging aside, I think Belinda joined the Conservatives thinking they would be decidedly libertarian following Harpers’ rise to leadership. The gay marriage thing proved that to be absolutely untrue (and in a much more general sense than just that issue), so she quit and joined the Liberals–after all, they had supported gay marriages, and I think she felt maybe she could persude the Liberals to become further libertarian. Nope, the Liberals are leftists at heart.
Quite frankly, what party is appropriate for libertarian-minded, economically conservative, people these days? The Conservatives pander to the Christian Right, and the Liberals just pander still. It seems neither of those parties understands that personal moral freedom and economic freedom are corrolaries.
As for failed romances, dalliances, and suitor problems…those are not uncommon anywhere on the political spectrum; they’re issues common to lots of just plain, and even quite decent, folks.
Interesting points Ron. If she felt she could convionce the Liberals to be more libertarian, then she truly did not understand the world she was living in. Sadly, I have to agree with you on teh Conservatives: I would like to see them have a more classic liberal approach.
As for failed romances, dalliances, and suitor problems…those are not uncommon anywhere on the political spectrum; they’re issues common to lots of just plain, and even quite decent, folks.
Let me let you in on a little secret: Belinda’s life makes great numbers. It’s easy blogging, and lots of people come to read it. I put Belinda in a headline, and I just increased my traffic by 50%. Imagine what it does for newspaper sales.
Brian: Well, Belinda Stronach’s life is the closest thing we have to a sex scandal going right now, so I’m not surprised.
I think Stronach’s political career in Canada reflects more on Canadian political realities than it does on her.
As I alluded: we libertarian/classical liberal types have no place to go, and as you said “Sadly, I have to agree with you on the Conservatives: I would like to see them have a more classic liberal approach.”
One of the great tragedies of Canadian politics is that (especially western-based) fiscally conservative parties are essentially always co-opted–and consequently marginalized, either by the quasi-fascist right (Western Canada Concept, the Christian Heritage Party, the Confederation of Regions Party, Canadian League of Rights have all had this influence to more or less degree) or the more “respectable” but still grossly intolerant Christian Right.
The Conservatives might not think so, but it’s my view that (especially since it became prominent right out of the gate after a minority election) the Conservative party’s position of gay marriage–and the prattle about working to rescind it–torpedoed their chance to become a majorty government. As much as Canadians want more fiscal responsibility, they aren’t willing to vote for it at the cost of increased levels of social illiberalism.