Ottawa

BTC: 955km in a rental car and what did we learn?

For one, women seem to like Stephane Dion. Granted, this is a conclusion based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence, and relatively little of it at that. But pretty much without fail, wherever Dion was last week, women were the most likely to express their support. 

On the one hand, this might very well be a problem for a Conservative party whose leader has a well-documented problem with the female vote. On the other, there’s what one gushing woman said about the Liberal Green Shift shortly after Dion left her store.

“I think it’s good in purpose,” wine store staffer Susana Serralde said after meeting Dion and putting him on the phone with one of her friends, with whom he did chat about the key Liberal policy.

“But I just don’t think it’s going to be embraced by a large percentage of people because we are a car society, unfortunately.”

This is not the first time I’ve heard the “I like him, but I’m not sure anyone else will” lament. Its internal contradiction is rather obvious. But then Dion supporters are probably to be forgiven if they feel entirely alone in this world.

Indeed, as Michael Coren demonstrated today (and our Megapundit ably noted), even Dion’s qualities are now cause to dismiss him. (On a side note, at what point did it become necessary for every journalist covering politics to show they were wise to the game? Are we at the point now that the base political ramifications of everyone and everything now matter more than what anyone says or what any policy might actually do? A few weeks ago, the Globe chose to front a piece about how Dion might be on the verge of deciding whether or not to bring down the government. Coverage of a Senate report on defence spending was buried inside. I fail to believe that’s because readers are more interested in what anonymous sources have to say about what Dion may or may not be thinking. And I find it hard to believe the country is any better a place for this knowing approach to political journalism.)

Several other things while we’re here.

-Roughly counted, the Prime Minister spent about 40% of his time talking about Stephane Dion. Stephane Dion, meanwhile, spent about 80% of his time talking about Stephane Dion. No idea to whom this of benefit. But it does seem to be exactly what the Liberal leader wanted.

-The Post’s James Cowan similarly followed Dion and filed this report.

-For whatever it’s worth, Dion’s abortion challenge to the Prime Minister seemed entirely off-the-cuff. Difficult though not to wonder if it had anything to do with Rob Nicholson showing up at the National Press Theatre today.

-I admit some hesitancy in making anything of Dion’s similarly off-the-cuff remark about Kirsty Duncan. As it turned out, even the reporter who pressed the matter seems to have let it go unreported. All that said, the women at Skirts made a good discussion of it, one that concluded, accurately I think, that Dion’s comment was more clumsy than sinister.

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