Does anyone else think it's damn fantastic that we have the possibility of a new Rat Pack?
The three candidates who campaigned on ideas: Dion, Kennedy, and Findlay.
Imagine them as the centre of of the opposition? Breathtaking. The centre of the Government? Oh my.
Much like you heard it here first on Dion, you heard about the new Rat Pack here.
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The only problem with that is two out of the three you mention are not in the House of Commons.
They might be after the next election but hopfully they will be cabinet ministers and not opposition critics.
The new rat pack... Interesting. I could honestly see that happening.
Expect to see Joe Volpe front and centre in the Dion "pack". Don't think that Dion fell for that crap that the Party and Mckinnon were trying to pull on Joe. Joe is a seasoned guy, and full of integrity. Dion will make full use of him. And anyone who thinks that Volpe doesn't add value to the party, think again. If he wasn't such a player, do you think the party would have gone to such great lengths to sanction him, and threaten him with disqualification? BTW - he WON THE APPEAL. So good on you Joe. Show these wannabes how it's done.
I think that Kennedy, who was Ontario Minister of Education from October 2003 until about February 2006, as well as Stephane Dion, who was a successful Cabibet Minister with, in a way, the biggest national file, for years, are a lot more than an Opposition Rat Pack. Meanwhile, there is the challenge that neither Martha Hall-Findlay nor Gerard Kennedy have a federal seat. How about we start theorizing about where they should run come election time? I think for Kennedy it is obvious. Run on home turf in Parkdale High Park (though I believe he said he would run in the west at some point) I would rather it be Parkdale High Park. I think it is almost a guaranteed take back from the NDP. Martha Hall-Findlay's situation is harder: I think she moved from a just adjoining riding into Newmarket-Aurora (I think I got the name wrong) only to have Belinda Stronach switch over the Libeals! Over beside that is Maurizio Bevilacqua in Vaughan, who also came over to Dion after Rae was out, and so on. Dryden is not far away, maybe, perhaps, Joe Volpe will call it a day. That's a tougher one for Martha, I think. Now that said, maybe Kennedy has a bit more 'political mobility' than she does. Good luck to them all... in sum, I think they are far more than an Opposition Rat Pack.
The problem is that only one of them is in Parliament and that is the Leader of the Opposition. Let me propose this new rat pack.
Mark Holland
Dominic Leblanc
Omar Alghabra
Tina Keeper
Glen Pearson
They will mind the fort until Gerard and Martha get into the House.
The new Rat Pack? LOL please, lol.
Get over yourself.
You are right and it will start tomorrow. Watch it.
La présidente
Well. That certainly provoked a response. First off, to be told to "get over [my]self" by someone who posts anonymously is a little fun. More importantly, to be told to get over myself, without even the slightest explanation as to why I'm wrong, is even better. An argument refuted only with a dismissal is not a refuted argument. So, anonymous, if you'd like to come back and explain to us exactly why we're wrong, we invite you to, and we'll even post your explanation to our main page.
And to Chris: "Arrogant prick" certainly sounds like campaigning on ideas to me. Let's see, though: Iggy's idea: Open the constitution. That's a well-though-out idea, isn't it? It's the sort of idea that someone who's lived out of the country for a long time would come up with--good on paper, bad in reality. What was his other idea? Oh yeah, that little war crime idea. Good stuff. And what was his speech? Meaningless platitudes. Hot air.
This is not to say that the other five candidates didn't have ideas--of course they did. But Dion, Kennedy, and Hall Findlay had the most coherent, articulate presentation of their ideas. They made them front and centre.
And the three of them together will be amazing. Dion was underestimated then, and he is underestimated now.
I, though, have never been more excited for the Liberals and, more importantly, for Canada.
Calling others an arrogant prick is a great and noble idea to campaign on.
Who was your candidate, by the way?
Volpe? Are you kidding me? He went to Rae. And Rae couldn't wait to get away from him once he crossed over. Volpe will figure prominently, but not THAT prominently.
Oh, and for those who dismiss the new Rat Pack simply because they are not in the House, in this day and age, failure to be in the House is not an obstacle to being an effective critic of the Government.
We called them the New Rat Pack. We didn't mean they were a literal reincarnation of every aspect of the original Rat Pack.
Mike and Dean,
You are right about not one being an effective critic in the House in order to attack the sitting government. However, both Kennedy and Dion are supporters of renewal. To be a supporter of renewal, it would require more emphasis on the role of the parliamentarian instead of the top down leadership that PM Harper is imposing on his caucus. Young, brash, ambitious MPs such as Holland, Leblanc, and Pearson can play a vital role in articulating the renewal in the House. Once Gerard and Martha gets into the House, hopefully as cabinet ministers, they can bring forth the agenda that needs to be expressed by the new rat packers.
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