The end is nigh
Stelmach leads Tories like lemmings to their demise
By Paul Jackson
December 19, 2006
We are now witnessing the death throes of the provincial Progressive Conservative dynasty, just as 35 years ago we witnessed the death throes of the provincial Social Credit dynasty.
Dating myself somewhat, I will admit I was there then, as I am here now. Yet unlike yesterday, when Peter Lougheed had charm and vision, the political landscape unfolding before us leaves a huge chasm.
Back then, it was Harry Strom, a small-town farmer who walked the Pied Piper route, and today it is Ed Stelmach, another small-town farmer, leading the lemmings.
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft chortles as he sees this charade unfolding, as do any number of self-serving Calgary and Edmonton Liberal lawyers.
Stelmach -- Steady Eddie, as the naive refer to him -- marched into his party's leadership race without any really defining policies, simply soft-peddling some vague philosophies.
Astoundingly, the man from nowhere and with nothing to offer won.
For this, I blame my good friend Jim Dinning. It was Jim's to lose, as they said, and Jim lost it to a likable, but somewhat feckless fellow who, with his new cabinet make-up, has surrounded himself with other somewhat likable but feckless fellows.
Here I except newly-anointed finance minister Lyle Oberg, who is a good and decent man, if at times a loose cannon, as I myself admittedly am, and sustainable resource development minister Ted Morton, who is the only minister with intellectual toughness in Stelmach's weak cabal.
Why blame Dinning?
Because for some unfathomable reason, Jim believed he could stride to an easy victory, and then, after the first leadership ballot when that dream was blown away, made no attempt to stave off defeat.
First, Jim was going to win on that first ballot, then 35% was the take-off point. But even that was not to be, as he garnered 30% of the vote.
With that, he should have instantly been on the phone at least to Oberg, promising the Brooks doctor any position he wanted in a Dinning cabinet.
Instead, he let Lyle drift into the Stelmach camp along with endorsements from Dave Hancock and Mark Norris.
With that, the seal was almost set.
Then, Dinning made a final, fatal, error.
He lashed out, demonizing Morton.
Obviously, unlike 99.9% of the rest of the civilized world's population, Jim had never read Dale Carnegie's masterful work How to Win Friends and Influence People.
You don't pull people to your side (A) By ignoring them, or, (B) By bad-mouthing them.
My autopsy is that, aside from never articulating some firm priorities in the Stephen Harper mode, Dinning's Achilles heel was to surround himself with political insiders out of touch with everything except their own personal interests.
Here, I absolve Dinning's campaign manager, Alan Hallman, who is a top-notch fellow, and likely saw the disastrous scenario looming.
What now?
To do an end-run around a frightening Liberal grab for power, Morton, who surely deserved more than a token, almost irrelevant seat at the cabinet table, should carefully muster his forces and
take them over to the Alberta Alliance.
That's where the Conservative future now lies.
Stelmach leads Tories like lemmings to their demise
By Paul Jackson
December 19, 2006
We are now witnessing the death throes of the provincial Progressive Conservative dynasty, just as 35 years ago we witnessed the death throes of the provincial Social Credit dynasty.
Dating myself somewhat, I will admit I was there then, as I am here now. Yet unlike yesterday, when Peter Lougheed had charm and vision, the political landscape unfolding before us leaves a huge chasm.
Back then, it was Harry Strom, a small-town farmer who walked the Pied Piper route, and today it is Ed Stelmach, another small-town farmer, leading the lemmings.
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft chortles as he sees this charade unfolding, as do any number of self-serving Calgary and Edmonton Liberal lawyers.
Stelmach -- Steady Eddie, as the naive refer to him -- marched into his party's leadership race without any really defining policies, simply soft-peddling some vague philosophies.
Astoundingly, the man from nowhere and with nothing to offer won.
For this, I blame my good friend Jim Dinning. It was Jim's to lose, as they said, and Jim lost it to a likable, but somewhat feckless fellow who, with his new cabinet make-up, has surrounded himself with other somewhat likable but feckless fellows.
Here I except newly-anointed finance minister Lyle Oberg, who is a good and decent man, if at times a loose cannon, as I myself admittedly am, and sustainable resource development minister Ted Morton, who is the only minister with intellectual toughness in Stelmach's weak cabal.
Why blame Dinning?
Because for some unfathomable reason, Jim believed he could stride to an easy victory, and then, after the first leadership ballot when that dream was blown away, made no attempt to stave off defeat.
First, Jim was going to win on that first ballot, then 35% was the take-off point. But even that was not to be, as he garnered 30% of the vote.
With that, he should have instantly been on the phone at least to Oberg, promising the Brooks doctor any position he wanted in a Dinning cabinet.
Instead, he let Lyle drift into the Stelmach camp along with endorsements from Dave Hancock and Mark Norris.
With that, the seal was almost set.
Then, Dinning made a final, fatal, error.
He lashed out, demonizing Morton.
Obviously, unlike 99.9% of the rest of the civilized world's population, Jim had never read Dale Carnegie's masterful work How to Win Friends and Influence People.
You don't pull people to your side (A) By ignoring them, or, (B) By bad-mouthing them.
My autopsy is that, aside from never articulating some firm priorities in the Stephen Harper mode, Dinning's Achilles heel was to surround himself with political insiders out of touch with everything except their own personal interests.
Here, I absolve Dinning's campaign manager, Alan Hallman, who is a top-notch fellow, and likely saw the disastrous scenario looming.
What now?
To do an end-run around a frightening Liberal grab for power, Morton, who surely deserved more than a token, almost irrelevant seat at the cabinet table, should carefully muster his forces and
take them over to the Alberta Alliance.
That's where the Conservative future now lies.
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