Even by the usually high standards of deep weirdness that Newfoundland politics often produces today was a special one. First we had Joe Hickey, who spent a good part of the weekend making noise that he was seriously considering running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives. He was going to make the big announcement Monday morning. Lo and behold, Monday morning comes and he's....not running.
Now, you don't need to be of the tinfoil hat, JFK was actually murdered by aliens escaped from Area 51 brigade to come to the conclusion that someone had a chat with Mr. Hickey. Perhaps there was a horse head left in his bed Monday morning before heading out to CBC Radio, perhaps not. Regardless, there was a moment of clarity for Mr. Hickey and he opted not to run.
Except now Brad Cabana has decided to run. He's got the money, he's got the signatures and by God he's in it to win. For those of you outside of the province and may not be familiar with Mr. Cabana, no worries, you're in good company as no one in the province really knows who he is. He only came to my attention a few weeks ago when he linked to my blog.
(Incidentally, Mr. Cabana linking to my blog has produced a lovely traffic spike for me today, as I assume people rushed to his site to figure out who he was. And then followed some of the links. I also assuming having a post with the words "t-shirt" and "Doyle" might have drawn people here thinking I had some Doyle t-shirts. I do not, alas. Sorry if you came here looking for them.)
The latest part of the story is that the PC's might not allow his candidacy as not all of the signatures are valid or some such thing. Cabana is apparently ready to sue to be allowed in. I'm not saying this up there in stupid like, oh, I don't know, saying those weren't gunsights over Congresswoman Giffords district, they were surveyor symbol as Rebecca Mansour, an aide to Sarah Palin, said this weekend. But actively working to try and disqualify someone from running in an election because it's inconvenient isn't all that bright.
That sound, by the way, is Ed Hollett laughing his ass off over all of this.
Look, unless the right hand of God (i.e. Danny Williams) puts it on Mr. Cabana's shoulder and says "this is your guy to lead you" Mr. Cabana has virtually no chance of winning the PC leadership. But if this is legit, then he has the right to try, no matter how inconvenient it might be for the PCs in caucus and Premier Dunderdale.
A guy I know on Facebook said the Tories should view it as an opportunity, a nice big publicity push right before an election. And maybe it is. Or maybe it's a distraction. I guess it depends on which way you swing. But here's my question: What does Premier Dunderdale stand for?
I know she stands for, you know, not screwing up an almost certain election victory in October that Williams has handed to her. But seriously, what's her philosophy? What's her vision for Newfoundland and Labrador? Standing in Williams' shadow for so long it's not like she had to articulate a vison of the province. It was probably actively discouraged. Seriously, I want to know what she stands for and her vision.
And Ed? You're disqualified from this.
If someone can tell me, or point it out to me, and it's a clear vision, awesome. If not, then perhaps she should view this as an opportunity rather than an annoyance who needs to be crushed. Just a thought.
Last Five
1. My beat - Bruce Cockburn
2. If not for you - Bob Dylan
3. She loves you - Gaslight Anthem
4. Love escalator - Bob Mould
5. I hope I don't fall in love with you - Tom Waits*
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