Howard Dean Coming To A Liberal Leadership Convention Near You

Howard Dean, head of the Democratic National Committee in the US, is the guest speaker for the upcoming Liberal Leadership convention. While Dean is slightly more relevant to Canadian politics than the last guest speaker, Bono of U2, I have to wonder why we are inviting foreign people to speak at a convention to choose Canadian political leaders. Don't we have anyone in the country that's qualified to speak?

I agree with Ken Dryden on this one.

"I think it's not a good idea," leadership candidate Ken Dryden told CTV's Question Period last Sunday.

Dryden said he thought Dean's appearance was in bad taste.

"Whatever interesting things Mr. Dean might say, and I'm sure he has lots of interesting things to say, it's just not the place. This is an event that has to do with us," Dryden told the Star.

Dean's convention invite peeves some Liberals

Is Howard Dean really the person who should be speaking about how to win elections? He lost his party's leadership race to John Kerry, who isn't exactly the most impressive politician out there. Sure the Democrats in the US did really well in the last election, but I don't think that can be attributed to Dean's political skills.

Why do the Liberals do such silly things?

Honestly, should anything these guys do come as a shock anymore? Joltin' Joe was the end for me. Signing up the dead has to be lowest of lows, if this is to be topped, consider me shocked!

Whats with Ken Dryden? I'm not much for grammar and whatnot, but does his words come out like a grade school student?

"I think it's not a good idea,"

I think its not a good idea? Does this seem awkward for anyone else?

"This is a bad choice on behalf of our party"
"We could of decided on a more appropriate speaker"

I don't know, you pick one. But, "I think it's not a good idea" just seems childish in my opinion. Am I nitpicking? Feel free to say so.

Is anyone else confused on the inability of the Liberals to turn any of this around? This party has seen success in the last while that other parties can only dream of. Yet in the last year or two, they have managed to crash and burn with no light at the end of the tunnel.

I am sure someone within the party, or someone who has their best interests at heard, could manage some sort of scheme to turn things around.

For awhile there, the Liberal party was becoming synonymous with Canada.

How times have changed.

Kenny doesn't have a strong grasp on proper grammar, but he's a hockey player. It's not expected from him.

I'm from BC, land of the insane voters, so it doesn't surprise me that the Liberals are having such a problem getting it together. I'm used to inept parties and we stumble from one extreme to another. They'll be back eventually, but the Conservatives have to screw up in a big way first or the Liberals have to stop playing internal party politics and get on with the rebuilding.

Stephen Harper is a fairly adept politician and if the Liberals want a shot at power, they have to stop waiting for him to mess up and clean up their act. Waiting for another party to implode isn't a good strategy. It works eventually, but you never know how long it will take.

Well said. I agree wholeheartedly.

This is a big problem in politics, not just Canadian politics. Parties are to busy focusing on what their opponents are doing, rather than running their own race. When I see a politician who runs their race and lays more emphasis on their own message rather than attempting to implode the others, I feel they are deserving of my vote.

Sometimes it is tough to decipher who really stands for what. So running your own race is something I tend to look for.

The Liberals could use this advice.

Oh, I have plenty of advice for the Liberals. It's doubtful that they will listen to any of it.

Another helpful piece of advice that they will not take - Don't invite American politicians to your convention and then expect to use the tired 'Conservatives want us to be like the US' come election time. It's going to get shot down in flames, especially if you elect Iggy as your leader.