Leadership
Awhile ago a couple of LJ friends and I were discussing the question of who'd voted for our Prime Minister in the recent federal election, and I'd somehow amused them by pointing out that only voters in his own Calgary riding had been able to put an "X" beside his name. The rest of us see our local candidates on our ballots.
I should clarify, however: twice I've held a ballot in my hand with Stephen Harper's name on it, in the two leadership elections he's contested, since the former Canadian Alliance used and the new Conservative Party uses a "one member, one vote" system in which many thousands of party members each got to vote for their leader. Whether we actually voted for him or Ablonczy, Day, Hill, Stronach, and/or Clement, we were asked for our opinion and were part of the democratic process.
Which brings me to my point: the Liberal Party's executive is using the emergency appointment clause in their constitution to appoint Michael Ignatieff, even though the most people he's ever had vote for him were enough to lose him the 2006 leadership convention. That means he's standing there on a really thin base of supporters; very few people were involved in making him leader and have a stake in making him a success. How this will play out down the road could be interesting.
I should clarify, however: twice I've held a ballot in my hand with Stephen Harper's name on it, in the two leadership elections he's contested, since the former Canadian Alliance used and the new Conservative Party uses a "one member, one vote" system in which many thousands of party members each got to vote for their leader. Whether we actually voted for him or Ablonczy, Day, Hill, Stronach, and/or Clement, we were asked for our opinion and were part of the democratic process.
Which brings me to my point: the Liberal Party's executive is using the emergency appointment clause in their constitution to appoint Michael Ignatieff, even though the most people he's ever had vote for him were enough to lose him the 2006 leadership convention. That means he's standing there on a really thin base of supporters; very few people were involved in making him leader and have a stake in making him a success. How this will play out down the road could be interesting.