Monday, January 5, 2009

Nervous Press Trying to Advise Their Hero Iggy

I got a laugh out of this article from the New Brunswick paper, The Telegraph Journal: (here)

This could happen, but given Harper's hard-right ideology and his past history of extreme-partisanship, there is reason to doubt if this will be the case.

Michael Ignatieff has the potential to be a great Liberal leader and a great Prime Minister.

While it would be erroneous to say that he is another Barack Obama or Pierre Trudeau, he does share one thing with them.

Ignatieff has the intellectual depth which could provide a purpose and direction to the Liberal Party (something which the Liberals have frequently lacked).

This is supposedly neutral journalism. It's interesting that the writer's advice is to be more "progressive". Martin in 2006 and Dion this year, have had a platform that seems to be to the left of the NDP. It hasn't worked very well.

Meanwhile the Globe and Mail want Iggy to tap into his potential greatness as well:
The public discussion centres not so much on the new lord of the Liberals but on the continuing aversion to the idea of a Liberal-led coalition. Archduke Ignatieff, perhaps for good reason, has not wanted to disown the coalition concept.

But it's hard to stake out a leadership image that's crisp and gallant when you're seen as flirting with the concept of hooking up with others.

Hint Iggy, the G & M is saying: the Coalition is unpopular, and we have been writing that you have been distancing yourself from it, so, like, can you distance yourself from it?

It's amazing how these publications openly stick up for Ignatieff. The only advice the G & M gave to Harper, after blaming him for the whole Coalition mess, was to resign.

1 comment:

  1. It could be Iggy or anybody else. The press in Eastern Canada will always support the Liberal leader. Martin under Chretien, cut transfer payments to Ontario, the press blamed Mike Harris.
    Make no mistake, the Eastern press is a Liberal machine. Just seeing the above comment, Harper`s hard-right ideology, sounds like something out of North Korea.

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