The tale has many layers as the Toronto Star continues to unpeel the doings of the last federal conservative leadership farce. The why of Patrick Brown’s ejection from the race is coming clearer in the mists of intrigue. The role of the weasel Poilievre’s campaign becomes even more understandable. The who did what to whom is told.
There is a wonderful quote by various questionable sources that says a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In my view, that sounds like the likely outcome of the way conservatives arrange their leadership contests. They start with the assumption that all electoral districts in Canada are the same. Any person with any experience in politics would know that is a ridiculous assumption.
Another conservative assumption is that the person who signs up the most temporary members in the conservative party deserves to win the leadership. That idea can sure bite the party in the ass. In modern politics, membership lists are being used as the party’s automated teller machine (ATM) and need constant cleaning.
And then, to top it all, the conservatives use a ranked ballot that can drive the leadership selection down to the lowest common denominator.
All you have to do is study the last three leadership contests for the federal conservative party and you will see what I mean.
But back to the Brown vs Poilievre debacle: If Poilievre’s campaign had not sabotaged Brown, John Charest might have won. I will admit that is hard to prove when you are not privy to the actual numbers but if the numbers really were secret, then Poilievre’s team were also in the dark, and with reason to worry. If Brown had stayed in the running, they would probably not have won on the first ballot.
What concerned the Poilievre campaign managers were the second votes available to Charest after Brown was the last contestant to be dropped in the counting. Brown’s second votes just might have been enough to push Charest over the top.
But now we will never know. Stupid conservatives probably destroyed the ballots.
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