A crudely produced flyer circulated through the convention hall as thousands of delegates and the eight leadership contenders began arriving at Montreal's Palais des congres.
“If you are having second thoughts about your candidate, don't vote on the first ballot,” it advised delegates.
No one claimed credit for circulating the flyer. While it didn't single out any particular candidate, most Liberals assumed it was aimed at Mr. Ignatieff,
New rule- if you don't vote on the first ballot, you can't vote on subsequent ballots. Delegates are there as representative of people's preference, which makes this sort of flyer all the more disgusting.
I first heard of this theory the other day, and now it surfaces again, this time from multiple sources:
Fourth-place Stephane Dion, who polls suggest could leapfrog over his rivals to victory, was also forced to deal with possible behind-the-scenes intrigue aimed at thwarting him.
Some strategists with other camps predict Mr. Ignatieff and second-place Bob Rae's teams will “loan” votes to Gerard Kennedy to keep him in third place, ahead of Mr. Dion, who would then be the next candidate dropped off the ballot after the trailing four withdraw.
All of these slimy tactics make certain ideas all the more attractive. After this convention, Liberals must find a way to eliminate any temptations that betray the idea of democracy. Blow the door off the backroom and create a process where insider is irrelevant. In a race so tight, unethical tactics, even on a small scale, can have disporportionate influence. Are we watching an expression of democracy or mischevious chess played by a few puppet masters?
2 comments:
After giving some thought to the flyer, I don't really see that it's so bad. I don't see any evidence that it's aimed at Ignatieff. You'd think that there might be just as much softness in Rae's or Dion's support, or any of the lower-down candidates. I think the news reports blew it out of proportion. If it bothers the candidates and people running the convention, then they should speak out about it.
As to the rumors that Ignatieff and Rae are going to lend delegates to Dion in the first ballot, they have flatly denied it and even explained that it would be too risky.
The real problem is not shennanigans by candidates but allegations of shennanigans that are used for partisan ends. We should all be very careful about smearing a candidate without evidence.
This is pathetic - is this the best performance at the convention the young delegates can come up with? Are they mature enough to be able to handle voting - I'm starting to wonder.
Hey, maybe it's the Conservatives who have put a plant in their - I mean it wouldn't be beneath their standards.
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