What's A Few Votes?

I'm not a fan of strategic voting in a convention. Martha Hall Findlay ran a good campaign, but her support was what it was, and arguably she should have dropped out prior to the convention- I guess I'm old school in believing a candidate should actually have a chance. The fact Findlay was the lone woman left in the race tempers my resistance to "statement" candidates, because it was good to have her on stage. However, all the talk Thursday and Friday of people parking their votes with Findlay on the first ballot, in a show of allegiance, seemed flippant, maybe even irresponsible, for my tastes. Objectively, did a few more delegates really make Findlay look more relevant? Conversely, if people didn't give her the symbolic support would her efforts have been diminished? My point, Martha Hall Findlay had already attained her place in this story, a few extra delegates were irrelevant. I guess what I reject is the mischief of thinking you can play with delegates.

Now, read this little tidbit, and wonder what gestures can mean to the big picture:

Of all the sweaty palmed shakedowns, the not-so-secret pacts and the unseemly convention floor shoving matches, the most pivotal turned out to be a whimsical decision late Friday by a half dozen or so of Gerard Kennedy's ex-officio delegates to loan their support to last-place contender Martha Hall Findlay on the first ballot.

They felt confident Kennedy could spare a few votes and hoped they might be able to boost the lone female contender ahead of seventh-place Joe Volpe.

But those few votes made all the difference. Kennedy wound up slipping into fourth, just two votes behind Dion. The psychological impact of those paltry two votes on the 5,000 delegates turned out to be huge.

Dion was suddenly the guy with momentum, however slight, and Kennedy's campaign effectively stalled.

"You wonder how the momentum changes if Gerard had been in third rather than fourth place today," one Kennedy strategist mused shortly after Kennedy pulled out.

A classy Dion supporter agrees:

Two votes. That’s how far ahead Stephane moves ahead of Gerard on that first ballot. Just think about that. If Kennedy’s team had gotten just three more people out he would have stayed in third, and who knows how things would have played-out. The symbolism of being in third place, even if only by the thinnest of margins, is substantial. It’s the big mo.

You have to question the arrogance of the ex-officos thinking Kennedy had enough room to play some chess. As a Kennedy supporter, I was really worried that Dion would overtake Kennedy, because he had the ex-officos, momentum and there were lots of undeclared. I thought people were present to elect a leader, not engage in some warped sense of unity to prove a point. You know the one about the butterfly in Africa shaking its wings and that eventually resulting in a hurricane?