I have also been asked by journalists this week about the Green Party’s strategy going into the election campaign. It is not humility or secrecy that prompts me to say that we are not about strategy.
You don't say?
But let's be fair and finish her thought...
We, as a party, do not often prioritize our own candidates’ election strategies. As leader of the party, my strongest commitment is to engaging Canadians in democracy and to informing the electorate of their choice as best I can. The issue of being in the debates raises the questions: which issues do I target? Who can I tear down to win the most votes? Which region of Canada would be most likely to support and how can I win them over? But I do not approach these questions thinking only of Green candidates’ political gains. I approach them first and foremost as a Canadian who wants to see a positive result for change in the next election. I may not have a massive war room, attack ads, a “take no prisoners” strategy team or an Orwellian databank on the electorate, but I have my faith in the discernment of Canadian and their consistent rejection of the politics of fear.
I like Elizabeth May as a person.
But I don't think I'd like her as a Prime Minister.
I have a hunch that most people wouldn't want her as a Prime Minister either...and not just because of her policies.
My hunch says that people want someone who's shrewd. Shrewdness is perceived as a sign of competence. If you can deftly manage the dynamics of political struggle, people sense that you know what you're doing, even if they know nothing else about you.
If you're naive like this, people think you're too, well, "green".
I'm afraid Elizabeth May is not shrewd. I don't think she'd be insulted by me saying that. She's so good-natured that way. But I'm effectively calling her a loser (that she might not like).
If there's one thing Canadians don't want to vote for, it's a loser.
It's too bad. Elizabeth May seems like such a nice person for that to happen to.
