Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Election thoughts

* When Paul Martin Jr. looked in the mirror this morning, he saw the reason for his party's loss of power Monday.
* Jack Layton still has a chance to steer the NDP into the staggered Liberal ship and sink it farther. But I have the feeling he doesn't really want to govern or have a legitimate chance to govern. This Parliament will be a real opportunity for the Dippers. (More on this later.)
* You know you don't have any ideas when your "star" candidate is an import who hasn't lived in your country for more than 20 years (Ignatieff).
* It's time to call the Liberal Party what it really is -- the Greater Toronto Party.
* You know you're in trouble when you lose power to a party that hasn't been in existence for three years.
* Angry is talking some kind of amnesty program for the Greater Toronto Party folks involved in the myriad scandals of the last 12 years. Sorry, Steve -- let's not talk about that until the charges are laid.
* By the way, where's the money Martin promised the Greater Toronto Party would pay?
* In a related note, Sheila Fraser is the forgotten hero of this election. And too bad Allan Cutler lost. But the Screech is gone (and Candace is tired from all the dancing she did about that).
* Warren Kinsella (you know where he is) wondered what the Blogging Tories would do if the Conservatives won, calling us "oppositional types." Warren missed one point -- the B.T.s are, as I read 'em, about ideas, not just opposition. Methinks he'll be surprised. After all, the CPC still has work to do -- a majority is still about 30 seats away.
* If you think Calgary (and, to a lesser extent, Edmonton) has been hot, you ain't seen nothin' yet (apologies to the Pegger-based BTO). The economic engines of Canada are running through Alberta, not Toronto. With the CPC's rise, the intellectual dynamic that propelled the CPC -- which was largely Alberta-based -- will also take off. Look out, tired old Toronto!
* What do the Maple Leafs, the Raptors and the Liberals have in common? They're all losers backed by Toronto.
Time to go see what everyone else is up to. (If they're up, that is...)