Saturday, September 27, 2008

THE VERDICT ON STEPHEN LEDREW

Loser
I know Stephen Ledrew. I have observed the ups and mostly downs of his career.

His penchant for loud bow ties and narcissistic publicity seeking, his overbearing stature and his love for his deep rapturous voice, are turnoffs. He annoys me.

He did well by the Liberal Party of Canada. He was an Executive Assistant to a former Solicitor General of Canada. He worked in the Prime Minister’s Office. He was its President between 1998 and 2003. His party involvement helped launch his dubious public career as a loudmouth minor media personality on a couple of rarely listened to TV and radio channels in the Toronto area.

None of that helped in his personal life. He went bankrupt in 2005 owing $360 thousand or so to the taxman. His law firm also went belly up. With a splash he announced he was running for Mayor of Toronto in the November 06 election. He received 1.3% of the vote. People can be forgiven if they think he’s a loser. He has the earmarks.

But there are some who like his clownish persona. He is invited as a panelist from time to time on CBC Newsworld and CBC News.

Ledrew loves the limelight. His chosen tool to attain it is controversy. Given his failings he has earned little public credibility, if any. Yet, there he is, giving interviews, writing columns, opining on television – as if he were some kind of oracle. He’s a loser.
Last week in the Canwest Conservative tabloid the National Post, Ledrew wrote that it was likely “the Liberals are going to take a drubbing in this election — which is exactly what they need . .” In the rest of the piece, with obvious relish, he stuck it to the party leader and the platform, and made a banal call for party renewal.

After extracting the stiletto from between the party’s shoulder blades, thinking no doubt that he should lay the ground work for a possible return to party prominence, he tries to make nice:

"In this call for renewal, I do not mean to dishearten the hard-working people of all ages
who are pounding in signs, looking up addresses, sending e-mails and knocking on doors
under the Liberal banner. Keep it up, for you are vital to the political process. One must
fight on against all odds . . . "

Predictably Nigel Hannaford, a tiresome Harperite drumbeater for Calgary’s Canwest Rag The Calgary Herald, this morning called Ledrew “a Liberal Prophet.”

Ledrew is not a prophet. His opinions have no value whatsoever. He is just an annoying publicity seeker who will do or say anything for public attention.

6 comments:

James Curran said...

Can I get an Amen.

Karen said...

Amen

Unknown said...

No "amens" from here. Just the usual observation that it's usually the messenger that gets carried out on his shield and, wrt this post, DazeMaker dispatches Ledrew in the legendary fashion with a pen.

When the leader is terrible (don't blame me, blame the people of Canada via the polls if you need to smite another messenger), and the campaign has been run absolutely abysmally, and the platform stunk to high heaven, isn't it just slightly within the realm of possibility that Ledrew's article had a shred of truth? More than a shred, in fact?

Yeah, I know you are all bitter. I was when Joe tanked, and I lived through the Preston & Day chapters of the soap opera, then was almost destroyed when Chretien called a snapper on Harper, and then learned that there was redemption and vengance in this world ... today and Oct 14th.

Guys, after this schmozzle is over, I hope you find the type of leader like a Harper for your party. Ledrew is right. It's time for a complete makeover of the LPC. Who you are, what you stand for (it's called principles, something the LPC perhaps doesn't remember), your spectrum positioning and base, your platform and policies, your organizational structure (ditch the provincial entities, eh?), your fund raising.

You will need smart, honest people (in the main), bolstered by political smarts without skeletons --- not the Scott Reids and Murphys of the world, in other words. Hopefully you can attract this bright talent to devote most/all of their time on a volunteer basis at the onset ... since you won't have any money.

You can be part of that rejuvenation, or be part of the problem. It's your choice.

I say all this with only a little end-game satisfaction, but mostly out of hope that the LPC will rise up again and put the NDP back into their more deserving slot of #3 (or 4 or 5, etc).

Darryl Raymaker said...

Burpy

I stand by the analysis of Ledrew.

As far as the rest of it is concerned, don't count your chickens and remember when the fat lady sings, and it ain't over til its over, yada, yada, yada.

Remember the headline in the Chicago Tribune published before the final talley in 1948- "Dewey defeats Truman" it said, and guess what Burpy? Truman defeated Dewey.

And we have the debate coming up. And I'll leave you with this Burpo - "If you loved George W. Bush, you'll really love his pal Harper!

Unknown said...

Start tuning up your vocal chords ...

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