Grazing Rites

Let’s face facts; the leadership pool for the top job in the nation is a crap shoot this time around.

Harper is an automaton who refuses to face the press and seems to think the phrase ‘freedom of information’ is a curse while making a mockery of environmental policy. Dion’s a bit of a bumbling idiot only selected due to a bizarre, outdated, and overly complex nominating process at the convention. Layton seems to be against whatever the government is for, leading to positions that I can’t support like leaving Afghanistan – I understand he’s opposition and he’s doing a much better job of it than the official opposition but he comes off as purely reactionary and little else. May had a questionable rise to leadership in her party and the fact is they won’t be forming a government anytime soon. It’s mathematically impossible for the Bloc to form the government so I won’t even bother discussing them.

They’re not completely without merit mind you, just not enough merit to warrant your vote at present.

Harper hasn’t driven us into a Bush-like ditch but he’s had a minority government and in such a situation the power of the executive is extremely curtailed; if the best thing we can say about him is what he hasn’t done, then he doesn’t deserve your vote. Dion could be another Chrétien I suppose, and I’m not sure how to feel about that but again, not a good reason to vote for or against someone. Layton could be a good leader he just needs to grow a consistent backbone – yes, the NDP has traditionally been strong and vocal critics of the government but he needs to acknowledge some areas where he agrees with others because if the NDP did somehow form a government (Obama endorsement?) it will be a minority and he will need to work with others. May needs to gain credibility and notoriety; yes she was the leader when the Greens got their first MP but given that it was a party switch rather than winning an actual election that’s not a proper accomplishment, it’s a gimmick. And if the Bloc wants to form a government they need to grow a pair and dare to run candidates outside of Quebec and they need more comprehensive and dynamic policy for the nation as a whole, which is redundant to say is never going to happen – not without a major party overhaul.

So in conclusion, the Prime Minister and potential Prime Ministers at this point don’t deserve your vote and their cult of personality or lack of same should really have no bearing on how you vote. Unless there’s one of those game-changers you need to look at your local representatives and the issues you care about. Don’t vote for a Prime Minister or strategically, vote for your MP or issues that matter to you.

With the McCain campaign imploding south of us (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c) and Pakistan looking likely to stabilize I think we can really, honestly, and truly vote our conscience this year. Wouldn’t that be nice? Voting for something or someone close to your life rather than voting against someone or something you fear?

This entry was posted on September 10, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.