Text in red is our personal analysis of this...analysis.
Monday, May 08, 2006
The Race for Stornoway: Martha Who Who
That's Martha HALL FINDLAY.
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
-Plato
Age: 46
Young and talented, read on.
Background: Martha won a silver medal at the 1976 Canadian Ski Championship. If she'd been an NHL goalie, we'd all know who she was but, unfortunately, skiing doesn't get a lot of media attention in Canada. Still, Martha worked her way through law school and if there's one thing the Liberal Party loves more than Toronto leadership candidates, it's former lawyer leadership candidates. Martha has run several businesses since graduation.
Her background extends far beyond her sports career. She has been a distinguished lawyer, working in several different fields, and has spent a lot of time in various parts of the world. For two years, Martha has also lived in Calgary, serving as a director of our very own CKUA Radio. Among a variety of other organizations, Martha is currently the Vice-President of Policy for the Ontario Liberal Womens' Commission.
Political Experience: While having never been elected would be considered a drawback in most races, Findlay isn't too far behind the rest of the field in terms of political experience. She came within a whisker of defeating Belinda Stronach in 2004 and one imagines that had she won, she'd be considered a very legitimate candidate. Of course, it would have also made Canadian politics a lot more boring over the past two years. Speaking of which, following Belinda's waltz across the isle, Findlay stepped down to allow Stronach to run in Newmarket Aurora.
It says a lot when a candidate steps aside for the well-being of the Party, period. Martha's commitment to the Party is strong and unwavering, and that is just what we need right now for the Party to get back on track.
Rejected Campaign Slogan: "Newmarket Aurora's finest"
Well, she is.
Rejected Campaign Theme: Anything by The Who.
Um...what?
Pros: Great bio, young, female.
Add...determined, committed, hard-working (in all aspects of her career and community involvement), well-knowledged on the issues, great leadership skills, well-spoken, good-looking!
Cons: Has never held elected office. No one knows who the hell she is.
Winning an election for her will not be a problem. And people are beginning to talk about her.
In Person: She's not as polished as some of the other politicians in the race but chatting with her at the LPCA convention last month, she certainly seemed like she had a good grip on the issues and the political process. I even know of one young Liberal, at his very first convention, who was so impressed he decided he'd support her in the leadership race.
Really? Not as polished? Certainly, many delegates at various conventions across the province are amazed with her speaking skills and her straight-shooting attitude. That one Liberal might be me. And that one Liberal might be a ton of other people.
My Take: Andrew Coyne says that Findlay has "possibly the single most impressive resume" he has ever seen in a political candidate. Admittedly, running for leader is a different ball game than running for MP and, while others obviously disagree, I do think political experience matters.
Not in Martha's case. She knows what she's talking about, and she has a solid vision for this country.
Martha is running to make a name for herself and to raise her profile. In that respect, she's probably already achieved her goal. Given that she declared so soon and was simply known as "the lady who ran against Belinda", Findlay faced the very real risk that she would become the punch line of this campaign. But that has certainly been far from the case and she has mounted a surprisingly credible campaign thus far. Given the lack of females in politics, I really hope Findlay finds her way into a Cabinet position sometime in the future.
No. Martha is running to win!
Chances: none < chances < slim
Well...you will know what I think about that.
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