A rchive Date
[ 03-12-2000 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[You lost, get over it
RICK GIBBONS - Ottawa Sun
December 3, 2000
Stockwell Day and his legion of disheartened Alliance supporters have had a week now to patch up the scrapes and ice the bruises of a nasty campaign. They now face a choice - either cut and run from the battle or get back in the game.
By that I mean, the Alliance needs to decide soon exactly where it wants to go from here. Either it presses ahead with the job of constructing a credible national alternative to the governing Liberals or it folds the tent now, giving up any illusions of grandeur, reverting instead to a role as the angry voice of western alienation, abandoning any further hopes to reach beyond the Manitoba-Ontario border.
Right now, Day has chosen to stay in the game. With that in mind, here's a free 10-step guide to preparing for the next election. Hey, with Jean Chretien as prime minister you never know when you're going to need it.
Step One - Get over these results. Quit looking for excuses for the party's failure to achieve many of its objectives. The party wasn't ready for this election and proved it. So, don't be so surprised that voters acted accordingly. If you're not ready to campaign, you're not ready to govern.
Step Two - Clean house, from top to bottom. No, I don't mean a change in leadership, just a change in advisers. The CA campaign resembled a three-ring circus with no one in operational charge. There are big differences between a national election campaign and the provincial variety. You're only as good as the hired help. Get good ones with experience beyond the one-party fiefdom of Alberta where the biggest electoral battles are winning the Tory nominations.
Step Three - Begin the process of finding credible candidates now. The party was caught flat-footed by the snap election call and the presence of some low-calibre candidates had far-reaching implications for the national campaign. You judge a man by the friends he keeps. If you can't attract strong candidates, it's unlikely you'll ever attract many voters.
Step Four - Burn the policy book, assuming there is one, and start over. There were times in this campaign when CA policy was written on the fly and it showed. Do the leg work now in creating the building blocks of sensible fiscal policy. Scrap the goofy policies like referenda and MP recall initiatives which appeal only to those who have no grasp of representative democracy.
Step Five - Grow up. Politics isn't a Friday night social club where everybody gets an equal say. Leaders lead, followers follow. A political party can still be open to grassroots input, but it's the leader who provides leadership. That means making tough decisions - from the top down - even when they sometimes rankle the rank and file.
Step Six - Lose the "agenda of respect." Canadians respect tough, decisive leadership. Repeat after me: Nice guys finish last.
Step Seven - Build bridges in Ontario. For the most part, provincial Tory operatives sat on the sidelines of this campaign. They know this province; they know what sells and what doesn't. And they weren't about to let their CVs be sullied by associating with a campaign that was destined to fail in Ontario. Start taking their advice. They know how to win in Ontario. You don't.
Step Eight --Dump the socially conservative baggage overboard. Why adopt policies that automatically disqualify millions of Canadians from even considering the CA as a credible political alternative? True conservatism is about maximizing freedoms and minimizing government interference in people's lives. On some policies, the CA has it backwards.
Step Nine - Send the western alienation whiners packing. Ontario did not reject the Alliance because of its western roots, yet you'd never know it from the moaners who are now screaming alienation. One-in-four Ontarians supported the party. If they rejected any party it was the Tories and the NDP. Besides, Quebec separatists already own the franchise on regional humiliation. We don't need it coming from both borders.
Step Ten - Forget Jean Chretien. He's history. The next target is Paul Martin and he'll be a lot tougher target than Chretien.
Get ready - now.
Rick can be e-mailed at rgibbons@sunpub.com.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]]
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