Frank McKenna not a candidate!

[bjarvis]

Frank has said he won't be a candidate for the leadership of the federal Liberals. Since John Manley already ruled out a run, the field is officially wide open.

Maybe I should polish my resume... My odds can't be any worse than most others. :-)

Comments

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Better than most, I should think... Of course, I don't know how the Canadian electorate would feel about that "living in the USA for the past 10 years" thing, but maybe you can keep them from finding out.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

The expat status could be an issue for some, but not others. Michael Ignatief just won a seat in Toronto last week while spending most of the past decade in the US. Barbara Hall, former mayor of Toronto, spent a large chunk of her adult life in the US as well.

Usually, however, politicians are sent into international exile after they've lost power rather than before. Robert Bourassa lost the 1976 Quebec election so badly he had to hide in France for years before returning to take back the reins of the Liberal Party and gov't around 1981. Federally, former PM Kim Campbell had to go on an extended speaking tour in the US for years after losing her gov't and her seat to the Liberals.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

"Had to"?

Wow. You guys are tough.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Politics can be an extremely ugly business. I'm having flashbacks suddenly to John Turner's "Night of the Long Knives" in which he was almost tossed overboard in an open revolt his own party in the middle of the election campaign in 1988. Hell hath no fury like frustrated party functionaries & volunteers.