THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS

So the battle was fought and I think no one really won.

Now that John Tory has decided to stay on as Leader of the Ontario PC Party, which he has every right to do (constitutionally), it is time to close the books on debating the merits of him remaining on as Leader - at least on this blog.

We received hundreds of hits Sunday and yesterday, as many people were wondering what the reaction of the unwashed masses were to Tory's decision. However, I think that now the AGM is completed and the votes are counted, the results are what they are; continually calling for the Leader to resign now that he's made the decision to stay doesn't really accomplish all that much.

If I care enough about an issue to comment, I will continue to voice my opinion on the Party's direction, its leadership and its conduct where I feel its needed. I feel its my obligation as a Party member to do so. But right now, I don't care about all that much. In that vein, I wanted to post my thoughts on where the Party stands right now in the aftermath of this weekend's convention.

So, here goes: The Party is sick. I have never felt the way I do about it as I do now. Which is not good.

Success attracts success, or as my favorite rap artists say "game recognize game." That is to say, when you look and act like a winner, you attract winners. People respect you and want to work with you. Coming out of this AGM, my respect level for the Party establishment (however you'd like to define it) is at about zero. Okay, maybe a 1.

I have been embarrassed and extremely disappointed in the conduct of the people apparently running the show in the pro-Tory camp. I continue to believe that they have lost sight of what they are doing and lost touch with those at the riding level. And their antics leading up to the AGM just cemented that view - and drove volunteers and activists away. They should be ashamed of themselves. Worse, who wants to work with a crew like that?

I also feel that the fire we once enjoyed during the activist days of the Common Sense Revolution is all but gone. Sure, different times call for a different plan, but we should be just as passionate and the need to implement our policies should be just as urgent.

And that, John, has to come from you. You don't need to endlessly consult, you just need to get a read of what the people of Ontario want. Your team needs to be able to pick up on that too. You can't get it from polls and policy wonks who spend their weekends reading their latest copy of "Policy Options." Granted, those guys are friggin smart. But sometimes too much of that is not a good thing.

You may be able to fix things, you may be Ontario's Joe Clark. I'm not sure right now. But here's what I'm willing to do: I'll shut up.

I won't get on this blog and talk about your judgement, or your team, or your lack of direction or your choice of tie. I won't talk about how you need to stop being so touchie feelie and "the listening guy" and all that crap that meant absolutely N-O-T-H-I-N-G in the ballot box.

Here's what I want you to do: start getting serious about winning, because that's all that matters. When you're serious, that means you want the best on your team - despite who they don't know or what their views are. You need people who are organizational monsters that can get the job done, period. (Aside: I'll be watching to see who you appoint to your provincial "organiational swat team". From what I hear so far, you haven't learned anything. Oops. I said I'd shut up.) And you MUST let them do what they need to. You need people who can instinctively take the pulse of the province and tell you where its going - with or without a poll.

AND THEN YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ALL OF THEM.

You tried your way. It didn't work. Recognize your weakness and shore it up. Get people in your circle who can tell you you're an idiot when you're being an idiot.

So, that's my way of giving you the benefit of the doubt. The clock is ticking.

Sweet. Direct hit.

Hi there.

I won't be at the AGM this weekend, as my wife is about to give birth to our second child. So, I'm hoping that you can send a message along to John Tory, his team and the Party.

I ask that you vote YES to a leadership review.

I am a long-time activist. I've been working in ridings for over 15 years. I've sat on the Party Executive, the provincial Youth Executive and even worked (yes, I was paid) as a riding organizer. I know this Party and its members.

When this whole thing started, I was openly critical of the Draft A Leader folks and thought that Tory should probably sweat it out, but should stay.

All that has changed.


Since the election defeat, virtually EVERYTHING that John Tory has done has pushed me to my current belief that he should go. I have come to this view rationally and gradually. It has not been one event, but a series of events and thoughts that have brought me to this conclusion. I'll lay them out.


Firstly, while his "apologies" are made often, they reveal a disappointing mindset. He has said repeatedly that he was "doing what leaders do" during the campaign and it was his team minding the shop. "The campaign was the disaster! Look I fired Lasch!" Well, actually, you shouldn't of hired David Miller's campaign buddy in the first place, but I nevertheless don't think that's the accountability we're looking for.

But this does brings me to my second point. From everything I've heard and know personally, Tory had his fingers in everything. In fact, he was somewhat of a serious micro mananger. He wrote a lot of the platform. He had a large say in how the campaign unfolded. And most importantly, he chose the staff and the campaign team. Its one thing to be say: "Look, I delegated to my team and I got burned." But we all know Tory doesn't delgate anything. Remember, this is the guy that gets in at 6:00am and e-mails Party members personally. What about his "legendary work ethic"? Now he wants us to believe he was content just being the candidate? Give me a break.

So, he had a hand in everything, which leads me to my next point. He has clearly demonstrated that he hasn't learned a damn thing just by the people he has surrounded himself with. Look at the Tories4Truth fiasco; how aggressive his Together With Tory crew is, how they attack Party members; the way that his loyalists are manipulating the system leading up to the AGM so he can win (and they are, believe you me). Humble in defeat they are not.

Then, if it couldn't get much worse, Tory goes on TVO and acts like he has no idea what his team was doing. "Did I put that press release out?" Oh my God. This was the icing on the cake for me. He is either completely incompetent or a flat out liar. Either way, I guess he's "not up to the job."

I'm tried of him begging to keep his job. I'm tired of the conditional apologies. I'm tired of him running around the province, like kilometres on your minivan mean something. I'm tired of the biggest reason our Leader around not being how good he is, but how "bad" it would be for the Party. If I was going (and of course, I actually got notice of the DSM for my riding and was a delegate) I would be voting YES for a Leadership Review. But I'm not, so I leave it to you.

Here is my last point. The big argument (which is a pathetic reason to keep a leader, but I digress) I keep hearing is: "Who would replace John Tory? Who is waiting in the wings?" Well, besides the not-so-subtle comment the pro-Tory forces are making about their low opinion of the PC Caucus, I'm trying to think of an instance where an accomplished individual from the outside world was pursuaded into running for Leader of the Ontario PC Party after an election loss.

Yeah, you're right. That's NEVER happened before.

I mean, who in their right mind would leave the lucractive business world to run for PC leader?

Stop being afraid. Please vote Yes.

THIS.

Gridlock drives me crazy. And it is going to get monumentally worse as another 4 million people come to the GTA over the next 20 years.

If there is no serious (and I mean SERIOUS) plan to substantially bulk up the public transit capabilities in and around the Golden Horseshoe, we are going to be the LA of the North. In none of the good ways.

We are long overdue for a regional transit network. And the TTC is the heart of that network. Without it, the GTTA (or Metrolinx, as its now called) will be nothing but another layer of bureaucracy and red tape that tells us what should be done, but accomplishes little.

And McGuinty cannot be blamed for wanting to have some control over all the money he is putting into transit improvements, as opposed to the douches at City Hall who respond to a ridership increase by raising fares. Enough.

Let's take "The Better Way" fiefdom away from Miller and his cronies at City Hall and use it as the hub for a vast and innovative regional transit system.

Tip of the hat to McGiggles. Well done.

While I indicated previously that I was a McCain fan (and I still am), I had pondered the possibility of Huckabee as his running mate.

I think that is where Huckabee would like to be, but I have been thinking about how best to counter the democratic ticket.

Some polls have shown that McCain wins head to head over Clinton and Obama. But what if the democratic ticket is both Clinton and Obama as the vp choice. Does it still make sense to put Huckabee on the ticket to keep christian conservatives on side, or would it make more sense to put a woman or an african-american on the ticket to take some of the "novelty" steam out of the Democrats sails.

I know Mondale had Geraldine Ferraro and that didn't do him much good, but here is my question:

If McCain is the nominee, what would be the most strategic move for him given the two choices of democrats, a conservative, a woman, an african-american (or maybe a latino) or some combination (say a condaleeza ;-)

Q

His comments about James Bond being an imperialist not withstanding, this is why I think Matt Damon is awesome:



Oh, and I think Sarah Silverman and her potty mouth are hot.