On the National tonight, Andrew Coyne suggested that Ken Dryden is the most overrated politician in Canada. He explained on a panel tonight that this is because of Ken's speech at the Liberal leadership convention was "too partisan".Coyne suggests that Ken's inspiring words (and I was there) would only appeal to Liberals. He said that Canadians would not identify with Ken's vision or approach.
I don't trust these comments by Mr. Coyne not to be self-interested. How can they not be?
First of all, Ken Dryden's speech was unequivically the best speech made by any candidate convention. All Liberals I spoke to agree with this. Ken went after Stephen Harper primarily (as opposed to the other candidates).
Does not mean that Canadians outside the Liberal party would not support his vision? Would other viewers be offended by his criticizms of Harper? Perhaps hard line conservatives would not agree, but Ken's speech was crafted and delivered to inspire Liberal members and also ideological liberals.
Conservatives need not apply if the message does not resonate.
Ken delivered the speech of a lifetime primarily to an audience of Liberals. The goal of this exercise was to win over the delegates on site. Even though other Canadians were watching on TV, they had no vote.
What is with the jaded criticizm by Mr. Coyne? In the opinion of many that I talked to, Dryden's performance was beyond reproach and inspiring.
I met Andrew Coyne at Convention and I had multiple conversations with him. He seems reasonable. He is clearly smart. Nevertheless, his comments criticize one of the best political performances on record and I am confused. Ken inspired an audience of Liberals and Canadians.
Andrew Coyne split hairs tonight. Mr. Coyne has previously written about the extent his political predictions were way off throughout this leadership race. In retrospect, the last person Mr. Coyne should be critical of is Mr. Dryden, who brought vision, ethics and leadership to this race.
Furthermore, Ken's endorsement of Mr. Dion over Mr. Ignatieff on the last ballot represents Dion's margin of victory.
Ken had an impact on the issues that made the agenda. His ethical standards are a primary reason the other candidates did not go down the road of "broken rules". Throughout the campaign, other candidates borrowed Ken's "Big Canada" content. They obviously understood his vision and could not resist using it themselves.
Perhaps the "shadowing" of Mr. Dryden's policy by the other leadership candidates is a form of flatery for Ken. Should Mr. Coyne have given equal time to the universal adoption of Ken's vision before identifying Ken's brilliant speech as a failure? You tell me!
7 comments:
Personally, I thought Ken Dryden's speech should be mandatory listening for every Canadian!! Listening to it, I was thinking that it was the definitive expression of who we are as a Nation. I could almost literally feel my heart swelling!! And I was not one of his supporters, either.
Coyne is out of tune with the rest of the orchestra. That wasn't a partisan political speech; it was a Canadian heart speech.
What did Dryden actually say in the speech? I was there and it was full of "Big Canada" talk, there was just no substance to it. I think Dryden has integrity but his speeches are not inspirational.
Go Ken go!
Anon 1:02. I think Ken had the best content. He has been tagged in the past with the label of one who does not give inspirational speeches.
The leadership process served him well. There is clearly no room to avoid giving him credit for his growth at this point, so your barely warm assessment of Ken's performance is very weak and demonstrates either bias or ignorance.
I would like others to give credit to Ken - rather than the cheap shots used to describe what people thoughtlessly or flippantly thought of his pre-political speeches. People are unduly critical sometimes for the wrong reasons. Ken is definately the Liberal MIP and the season is not even over yet.
It was the distinctive tone - if you don't believe what I believe, you are not worthy or living in Canada. This was pepperred with remarks about how the Conservatives don't like debate or new ideas. Then he goes back to saying that Liberal ideas are the only ones that are right.
Sounds great if you're a Liberal - makes you feel like you're saving the world. For people who watch Chretien skip the AIDS conference, or the Liberals wait 11 years before starting to act on Kyoto (then somehow blame the CPC for the emissions increases) Ken Dryden is full of it.
The Liberals have a chance at winning my vote next election, just as the Conservatives do (sorry Jack, you're out of luck). But in order to do so, they'll have to live in a little place I like to call 'reality.'
I too criticized Ken's speech at the Convention and have been critical of his speeches in the H of C.
Whilst inspirational, I find Ken's speeches to be FULL of hot air.
He's a great story teller just very very short on real content!
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