Stephane I Lend You My Hand…If You Wish to Take It
You know, it is not easy to take a loss like this. I cried when I heard the result, knowing full well it was coming. I am still crying right now.
When you pour your emotions so much into something like this, it becomes a part of you.
I will never forget this campaign.
It is no secret that I believed that Stephane Dion was not the best choice to lead this party. It is no secret that I believe that we must preach an openness to
Tonight I lost a part of me. I lost my faith in ideas. The deals which I saw cut this weekend will forever leave a cynical trace in mind. The faith I lost in politics throughout this weekend will take time to rebuild…but I will re-build it nonetheless.
I will not rip up my card. I will not walk away. But I do ask of you to please listen to the people of
We will not make the same mistake we made in 1990. We will not let
We will take your message to the people of
par / by Anthony à / at 6:49 p.m.
13 Commentaires:
Dear Antonio,
Yes, you have ideas and ideals. So does everyone else. You must accept that Dion has better ideas and ideals than Ignatieff.
On the flip side, everyone has fears too. For many delegates, Ignatieff was more frightening than Dion.
The spotlight is now on Dion who is not a natural leader nor an experienced organization person. We will have to hope that Stephen Harper will make the major mistakes.
Here's my open letter to the boss
For Stephane Dion,
Congratulations on your victory. I was uncertain about your prospects. However, events worked in your favor. The best of luck to you as leader of the Liberals! Canada depends on you.
May I offer some advice.
1) Create a coalition by absorbing the losers. You need the political and organizational skills of every member of the party. Treat all of them with respect, even if they are careerists and shady. Deploy them where they can do well and earn respect.
2) Gerald Kennedy is an important asset. He may be a future leader of the party. He has already been rejected once in Ontario. He would be crushed if he were rejected again.
3) As leader of the party, you can beat Harper. Create a logical and consistent platform based on an understanding of the electorate. A great leader understands what is in the heart of his people.
4) For the imminent general election, the party only needs to execute well. Harper will make the mistakes and about-faces. You only need to avoid critical mistakes.
5) I would strongly suggest that you acquire the habit of looking from behind the eyes of others. Canada will likely have a series of minority governments. Flexibility and empathy is necessary in the long run.
6) Once you are settled in, you may want to revisit the issue of party reforms. This party conference has rejected the key recommendations made by committees. Much needs to be done. The party can afford to renew itself once it regains the government.
All the best! Our hopes ride with you.
Jimmy Tan
Je vous tend la main pour vous joindre au club KenneDion. On va travailler "tous ensemble" pour vaincre Harper!
There's a rather ominous sound to that last sentence of the post...
I will not put my views and beliefs away simply because my candidate did not win.
While the party members must rally to the winner, the winner also has a responsibility to rally to the party members as well.
To say I have not rallied is garbage. I said I will not leave the party. I said I will not attack Dion. It almost ruined our party before. I will not do it again.
To say now the 80% of the Liberal Party who did not vote for Dion must now swallow everything he says without any input will contribute to the downfall of the party in the upcoming election.
The leader must first listen...
phil, with all due respect, you dont know which deals I am talking about, and I will not say what they were.
They are not all about dion (and certainly I am not speaking of the Kennedy Dion alliance) but the other stuff I saw. (some of which included my guy)
Antonio,
I understand that you are disappointed and I will not hold your feelings against you. However, I hope that over time you will see that Dion does practice "open federalism", even if it not your view of federalism.
We spoke to each other the day that Dion gave his speech on the nation motion in Parliament and you told me you were proud. I know you don't feel that way right now, but I hope you will again.
We are all on the same team and I hope we will all continue to work together in building the Liberal Party and Canada.
i never said ONCE that I was not gonna rally
Anything short of DION IS MY NEW GOD!!!!! would never do...
Antonio - you have my sympathy for a rough weekend. I'm very hopeful for party and national unity, as the sting wears off, but I'll not ply you with political bromides when you're still hurting.
Two words: Group hug.
The party has gone through a very difficult period in choosing a new leader, but we must remain united.
Mr. Ignatieff, for all the policies I don't agree with, handled himself in a way that I haven't see in a long time. When he gave his speech after the results, he did so with class, charisma, and a dedication to the party that we should all try to emulate.
Prime Minister Dion, with his cabinet of Ignatieff, Hall Findlay, Kennedy, Dryden, Brison, and many more will do us proud.
Some many be Dionistas, some may be Iggy supporters, but remember - we are all Liberals.
Let it be said that Michael Ignatieff ran a campaign to be proud of, just like Rae, Kennedy, Dryden, Volpe, Findley, and Brison. If we can unite into a Dream Team, then we will be unstoppable in the next election. So thus, it is up to us to reach out to each other and let go of our divisions. I have been critical of you Antonio, but finally now we can work together. I look forward to see the work Michael will do in Cabinet as part of the Liberal Team.
Scott Blurton
BC Undecided
bcundecided@blogspot.com
Quite honestly, I thought Antonio was going to put up a post more.. upset then this one. This one is quite mild compared to what I thought it would be. I can also say I was the first to read it - since he asked me to read it to see if I thought it was wise to post it - I said why not? :)
I was in the room when Antonio came in and was weeping. Thats not being a wimp,thats putting your heart and soul into a candidate you believed in.. and its tough emotionally when it doesnt quite come together. I admire a person like that who can wear his emotions on his sleeve.
Lastly, as I told Antonio there, I think Dion should be given a chance by the Iggy folks and particularly the Quebec delegates to see how he performs. I had the honour of meeting the man and shaking his hand at the Liblogs party, and my impressions of him are that he is an honourable man.
I was close to tears when Kennedy withdrew. It's always tough to see the guy you liked best go down. Nothing wrong there.
As for Dion, the best we can hope for is that Quebeckers get behind him like they've always done in the past for the hard-line federalists. Will it work, or have we moved on to the only way winning in Quebec is to pander to the separatists?
And I do hope that Dion will look into the policies that everyone else had. We had a lot of good policies from everyone, and I would like to hope that anyone who won this would would take from all. We're no longer fighting against each other, so we should not be ashamed to steal each other's policies.
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