Dean or no Dean

I watched Howard Dean's keynote at the Liberal leadership convention last night. It was something of a contentious issue among Liberal's. On the one hand the Liberals are in the midst of "renewing" the party and have been shy about using the "Republican" and "Bush-lite" labels on the Conservatives and his royal Excellency the right honorable Stephen Harper. So you'd think they'd be a little more cautious about bringing in someone who could generate the same sort of criticism. And in the midst of renewal do the Liberal's really need to go south of the border for ideas and inspiration? Can't they find ANYONE who could inspire the troops who was actually Canadian? Are we really that pathetic?

On the other hand, the Democrats, under Dean's guidance, have just defeated the real Evil Empire, so any ideas and inspiration he can give to aid in the defeat of Satan Jr. can't hurt. And really, are we that insecure as a nation that there has to be wailing and gnashing of teeth every time we do this? After all America is not only the most powerful country in the world (England to our Ireland) but one of the oldest and most successful democracies, so why shouldn't we exchange ideas? After all while Dean's invoking Trudeau's "Just Society" was probably more pandering to the audience than sincere, his 50 state strategy and fighting for every vote really resonated with the audience. And from my own experience, campaigning for other candidates, if you listen to people, treat them with respect and respond to their issues in a principled and honest fashion they will respond. So let's just all relax and enjoy.

Unfortunately, for the most part, I found his speech to be pretty pedestrian and even robotic. I mean other than the "our diversity does not divide us, it defines us" and the part about "power does not belong to us, it is loaned to us", it just seemed pretty mechanical -- and dull.

In fact, compared with some of the other leadership candidates he seemed almost amateurish. While I don't support them for leader, both Ignatieff and Rae are far more eloquent and engaging as speakers. And for my money, they offer more substance in their speeches than Dean did last night. And while Gerard Kennedy lacks a bit in delivery (he always looks a bit nervous), he makes up for it with passion and a authenticity.

So why couldn't the Liberal's have it both ways. Bring in Dean to inspire the troops with stories of crushing the enemy and an actual Canadian who could deliver a passionate, inspired speech on what Canada could be. Beats me. They're out there. I've even met some of them.