Woo! A big NDP win last night, though tempered somewhat by basement-level turnout. Ah well.
As expected, the knives are already coming out for Stephane Dion. While I'm not really interested in whether Dion or Ignatieff or Rae would be the better Liberal leader, I think coming after Dion because of some bad by-elections is insane.
Let's just point out the obvious when it comes to recent Canadian political history. Gordon Campbell lost his first general election. To the NDP. As did Mike Harris in Ontario. (Losing to Bob Rae!) Dalton McGuinty lost his first election to Mike Harris, in what was most certainly a winnable election.
These men all went on to become Premiers of their provinces. So maybe, even if Outremont was the next best thing to a Liberal fortress, a single bad night isn't reason enough to turf a leader?
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You know, the Liberal vote has been going down in Outrement since 2000, and they actually only lost 6% of their 2006 vote last night to a hugely popular (former Liberal) star candidate for the NDP.
The real story here is the Bloc losing 18% across the board, losing to the NDP on the left and the Tories on the right and having a 31 point lead in the third riding reduced to 5 points.
Not that many people can see past Dion's navel this morning to realize that!
Piling on Dion seems to be the fashion right now, doesn't it? Folks who think losing in Outrement means he's toast ought to check out the political bio of Lester Pearson, just for comparison.
That lad didn't even win his first general election, then couldn't even get a majority -- two back to back minorities, instead, yet look at all he accomplished.
Lester B... mild rabbit on the outside, steel core inside. Much like Dion, I think.
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