Political Leanings
I've voted Liberal in every single election since I was 18. When I went to Queen's, I joined the Young Liberals and I worked on the federal election campaign. I voted Liberal even when Chretien's arrogance turned my stomach. The closest I came to voting another way? In the next-to-last election, when I learned that the Liberal incumbent in my riding voted against same-sex marriage. Ultimately, though, what choice did I have?
Because the Tories have always been the even worse alternative. If Chretien was smug, he still couldn't hold a candle to the arrogance of Brian Mulroney. My alternative to the anti-equality Liberal in my riding? A Tory who actually put his opposition to gay marriage in his campaign literature. (As Keith Olbermann so eloquently put in reaction to the victory of Prop 8 in California, honestly "what is it to you?")
So the events on Parliament Hill this week give me a strange and giddy (but slightly guilty) glee. While it bothers me that Stephane Dion, so repudiated by voters just weeks ago, might become Prime Minister anyway, I can't help but relish the reason for his strange, small victory. It's that Stephen Harper- who called a useless and expensive election to quench his own thirst for power, who used a worldwide economic crisis as the backdrop for yet another power grab, who should have had clear sailing for at least 18 months as the Liberals elect a new leader - ultimately sank his own battleship. What amuses me most is that a politician who clearly relishes the bloodsport aspect of the political game far above the policy-making part - has been bloodied by his own mis-step.
But even I have to admit that Dion as Prime Minister is deeply undemocratic. I have nothing against coalition governments - they function well in countries around the world - but Dion was clearly never Canada's choice for Prime Minister. Surely, the Liberals could have found another custodian to keep the seat warm for Ignatieff for a few months. It's a notably strange marriage - Dion and the Bloc Quebecois. But at least it gives us something interesting to watch on Canadian TV.
Because the Tories have always been the even worse alternative. If Chretien was smug, he still couldn't hold a candle to the arrogance of Brian Mulroney. My alternative to the anti-equality Liberal in my riding? A Tory who actually put his opposition to gay marriage in his campaign literature. (As Keith Olbermann so eloquently put in reaction to the victory of Prop 8 in California, honestly "what is it to you?")
So the events on Parliament Hill this week give me a strange and giddy (but slightly guilty) glee. While it bothers me that Stephane Dion, so repudiated by voters just weeks ago, might become Prime Minister anyway, I can't help but relish the reason for his strange, small victory. It's that Stephen Harper- who called a useless and expensive election to quench his own thirst for power, who used a worldwide economic crisis as the backdrop for yet another power grab, who should have had clear sailing for at least 18 months as the Liberals elect a new leader - ultimately sank his own battleship. What amuses me most is that a politician who clearly relishes the bloodsport aspect of the political game far above the policy-making part - has been bloodied by his own mis-step.
But even I have to admit that Dion as Prime Minister is deeply undemocratic. I have nothing against coalition governments - they function well in countries around the world - but Dion was clearly never Canada's choice for Prime Minister. Surely, the Liberals could have found another custodian to keep the seat warm for Ignatieff for a few months. It's a notably strange marriage - Dion and the Bloc Quebecois. But at least it gives us something interesting to watch on Canadian TV.
posted by Jen @ 7:48 a.m.
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