This Don Martin column is more about the Liberal past than the Liberal future so why not join the bandwagon.
And so it ends. No whimper. No bang.After 783 days of diminished expectations and unfulfilled ambition, the once-invincible Paul Martin smiled as he walked off centre stage yesterday with his delusions intact and his resume on speed polish.
Let the record show the organizational juggernaut that swept Martin to power in late 2003 wound up producing the ninth-shortest reign among Canada's 21 prime ministers in 2006.
...So he consoles himself by insisting great things were done in the limited time available under his one tenuous minority mandate, advances that far-sighted analysis will see as making Canada a better place for kids, city commuters and aboriginals.
Sorry, but only three sets of numbers will be carved on Martin's tombstone.
What he inherited on Dec. 12, 2003: Liberals 171, Conservatives 66.
The minority he won on June 28, 2004: Liberals 135, Conservatives 99.
What he abdicated on Jan. 23, 2006: Conservatives 124, Liberals 103.
Such is the merciless world of politics, where prime ministers are judged by the acquisition, retention and use of political power. A government flipped is a leadership flopped. A strong economy doesn't count.
...That sets up Martin for an interesting place on the stone walls outside the House of Commons where the portraits of former prime ministers are displayed. Paul Martin will, in a couple of years, join John (78 days) Turner as the second wildly popular Liberal finance minister who, as prime minister, turned majority rule into political ruin.
