Ideally, it would have been nice to see Stéphane Dion stay on as leader. Realistically, he didn't have much choice.
However, while he remains leader until the next leadership convention he needs to do three things.
First, update the fundraising techniques. Relying on the Laurier Club (the $1000 + per year donors) just doesn't cut it anymore. Obama in the States has shown winning campaigns are won by having a huge donor base of smaller donations, say $50 or $100 at a time. The grassroots need to be engaged, and the membership has to be pressed to donate. A 5% of members donation rate is simply unacceptable.
Second, the party needs a 308 district strategy. Every district, every poll, has to be fought for. Howard Dean tried to press the party on this two years ago about his successful "50-state" strategy in the US but obviously the brass didn't listen.
Third, if Harper wants to continue to play chicken and make every vote a confidence one, the Liberals have to step up to the plate and actually vote non-confidence and not just keep abstaining. I doubt Dion would want to make a late comeback like Trudeau did after he "retired" but necessity may have to be the mother of invention if things go from bad to worse with the economy.
Whatever leader does come out on top, needs to purge the divisions and make sure the party has a common vision. Whether that means a redesign of the Third Way or something completely different is not the point; what matters is there is a plan for victory and not just schleping through an election.
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1 comment:
Obama has a lot of fans.he has been asking for 5 and ten dollars, or whatever one can afford.I know because I once put my name on an anti something,...don't remember, and I have been getting letters all the time from the
Democrats down there.
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