Last rites.

 
Iggy in Montreal, April 21. (Reuters)

Pundits are in a rush to get their Grit obits out ahead of rival scribes.

Susan Delacourt: What went wrong for the LIberals. (Toronto Star)

Justin Trudeau: "Honestly, we’re having a little bit of trouble connecting with voters.” (National Post)

Margaret Wente: Ignatieff's Kim Campbell moment. (Globe and Mail)

Jeffrey Simpson: The "strange death" of Liberal Canada. (Globe and Mail)

Pogge: There's the Iggy I know and loathe. (Peace, order and good government, eh?)

Jane Tabor: Liberal soul-searching begins as decision day nears. (Globe and Mail)

Rick Salutin: NDP's "teachable moments" for Harper and Iggy. (Toronto Star)

 

Comments

[pogge]

I believe it was you who coined the phrase "Iggy the Unready", which turned to be ... prescient. (Actually the Libs have run a better campaign than I expected them to. But my expectations were low and in any event, it was too little too late.)

[cangar]

I am very proud of the campaign Ignatieff ran. I got to hear his extended answers on a lot of controversial topics, hear him answer questions from Conservatives, NDPers, Greens and even from Marxist-Leninists and conspiracy theorists. He never stooped to the tactics Layton stooped to when he was down in the polls in 2006 of wrongly accusing innocent competitors of illegal activities and continued to hold press conferences on it after he knew it was false. His candidates never stooped to the depths of Peggy Nash in spreading massive and repeated misinformation about her competitor after knowing better (listen to the great tape by Gerard Kennedy on that). He never ran the phantom candidates that Layton did which robs voters of real choice by pretending to be something that isn't true (which by the way the Toronto Star seems to have spread their own lies against a Liberal candidate Warwick who is busy canvassing in his riding). His candidates didn't vacation in France, the Carribean or Los Vegas during the election. He never ran the pre-emptive attack ads on his competitors that Layton did in 2009. I could give more comparisons to Harper as well, but I know you support Layton and his approach, so you can give an alternative view on Layton's actions above if you wish, Mr. Olive.

Ignatieff has acted ethically, openly, welcoming those of different parties and opinions at all his events. A big thank you to Ignatieff for representing us so honorably. I am grateful for that no matter what voters decide on May 2nd.

[Darwin O'Connor]

Are you sure no Liberal candidates took vacations during the campaign? It is a lot more common the people know. Scuteny is only falling on the NDP because of their rapid rise.

I suspect the reason Liberals miss out on so many votes isn't because they are lazy. It was for a much worse reason. They did it to support the Conservative government.

[cangar]

Darwin, well, I don't know for sure, but I suspect not from what the Toronto Star wrote. When Mr. Brennan wrote an article in the Toronto Star trying to defend Layton on this issue, he gave Conservative and Liberal examples to show it was not unique to the NDP. The Liberal example was completely false - defamation actually - as it was a young Liberal who appears to be working his butt off in a very difficult and vast riding where he has no hope. Rather the opposite of what Layton thinks one should do in such a riding. The Toronto Star removed the false statement from their story and didn't replace it with any other example - so I assume they couldn't find one.

It is all about respecting voters and democracy. Don't run a candidate in the riding if you are not going to give the voters even the basics of respect. I've worked with candidates in hopeless ridings before and they have all worked hard to get what votes they could. I assumed every one did this, until I read about Layton's view on what one should do in such ridings. How can you respect a man like this?

[Darwin O'Connor]

Candidate on Vacation: A Personal Story: http://doconnor.homeip.net/blog/?p=430

[cangar]

Darwin, not very convincing is it? Shouldn't expect candidates to be in 100% campaign mode for the 5 weeks of the election? And increased votes with a vacation is no justification or argument. Yes, a candidate who has never set vote in the riding, who can't speak the language of her constituents will get increased votes, but is she a role model for how to treat voters with respect? Certainly not! I hope that "personal story" is out of character for the person, because it appears to come from a shallow, selfish person.

What could that possibly feel like - sitting on a beach or whatever, during part of the 5 short weeks you have to represent your values and the values and priorities of your party to voters? It boggles the mind what these candidates must think of standing for public office that they are even capable of turning that off for a week or more during this brief, critical time.

Just by voting, some voters are showing more dedication and concern for the country and the riding than some of these candidates. Has the candidate who went to Las Vegas managed to visit her riding yet? As of Apr 29, the NDP couldn't confirm whether she had or not.