| By Randall
McCauley, Special to PoliticsWatch.com (July 7, 2001)
If you
have been enjoying the first days of summer, planning your vacation
or enjoying the weather like most sane Canadians you may very well
have missed the latest political story in the nation’s capital.
Ottawa’s
political cognoscenti are atwitter. Over what? You get three
guesses ...
Is it Stockwell
Day’s contribution to representative democracy through the
creation of a sixth political party in Parliament made up of
former caucus members?
Is it the latest
in the race to succeed the most successful, popular Prime Minister
in a generation, who finds his party at 60 per cent in the polls
and the Official Opposition slipping so low, they are now in a
tight race to see who has the bigger number, the Alliance or the
margin of error?
Or is it none of
the above?
If you who opted
for the last answer, go to the head of the class. The rest of you,
quit wasting your summer enjoying yourself and bone up on what
really matters – the rumblings of a few Ottawa politicos and
media.
The latest
preoccupation is the impending release of Kicking Ass in
Canadian Politics a book tailor made for political junkies
due in the fall, written by Canada’s biggest political junkie,
Toronto lawyer Warren Kinsella. Random House, the book's
publisher, recently held a 'coming out' party of sorts for
Kinsella. Already well known for his book Web of Hate, a
dissection of the far right movement in Canada, Kinsella was
revealed as the author of the book, which had been promoted as a
mystery political insider's account.
While most
Canadians probably missed this event, those who live in the 'Three
Square Kilometers Surrounded by Reality' (TSKSR) better known as
Parliament Hill, pricked up their ears and started talking, for
two primary reasons. First, journalists are agitated because
Kinsella rates the performance of National Press Gallery members.
In the fine
tradition of political journalists who neatly reduce everything
Ministers do to two sentences and then assign a letter grade to
that Minister, Kinsella turns the tables and rates those who rate
governments, policies, Ministers and Prime Ministers. Those about
to be judged are a little nervous, so nervous that these staunch
defenders of Objectivity, Truth and Balance, these tough-minded
journalists, have started writing about Kinsella’s brilliance,
without giving a second thought to their fall grades and the
impending printing of the book.
And then there
are those like the National Post's Paul Wells who took the
time to dine and then whine about Kinsella in a recent column.
In fairness to
Wells, a brilliant writer, insider and all around good guy, he is
only reflecting what he hears in TSKSR. Seems some Liberals are
worried Kinsella gets a little too much credit for last fall's
election victory, which brings us to the second reason people are
talking about Kicking Ass.
Kinsella was the
most visible Liberal pundit during the campaign, flogging
Stockwell Day, the Canadian Alliance and anyone else who dared
utter a disparaging word about the Liberals or Jean Chrétien and
talking heads get lots of credit for a little air time. That is
the nature of election campaigns, where victory has a thousand
fathers and defeat is an orphan.
The truth is,
fighting and winning an election is a team effort. I know this
because I've done it a few times, but nobody knows this more than
Kinsella, who has fought elections as a strategist, commentator
and candidate.
As Wells
correctly points out, there were many people who worked
brilliantly in the backrooms to secure last fall’s Liberal
election victory. Those he mentioned certainly deserve some of the
credit. John Rae is perhaps the most effective and successful
campaign organizer in Canadian history and Francie Ducros, the
Prime Minister's director of communications, is intelligent and
tireless in defending, supporting and promoting the PM.
The fact of the
matter is, the winning team was comprised of many people, too many
to name. All deserve credit, more credit than they
received. But there is only one person who has the right to
take credit for winning a third Liberal majority. Not Kinsella and
not those named above.
The real credit
goes to the person who was advised by every senior Liberal
strategist in the country not to call a fall election, the finest
political mind in the country, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
Remember this when all hell breaks loose in TSKSR when Kinsella's
book is published in the fall.
Class dismissed.
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