Apolitical Staples

Scott Brison: In the last few years he has finished last twice (through a qwerk in the rules) for leadership of the Progressive Conservatives, voted for a PC/CA merger then immediately walks out on the merged CPC, drops off after the first ballot in his bid to become Liberal leader and casts support behind Bob Rae - who loses and then switches his support to Michael Ignatieff - who loses. Is there a Canadian politician with worse political sense?

Update: many of joked what party Brison would run for the leadership of next. National Newswatch speculates that it will be for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberals.

Kyoto election: Many have speculated that the Conservatives will be boxed into a corner on the environment in the next election. If an election campaign begins in February then global warming is a more muted issue.

Two peas in a pod: It has been said that Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion are cut from the same cloth, quiet policy wonks who are tough as nails behind the scenes. I can get behind that.

Civil war: Stephane Dion may be the compromise candidate but there are plenty of disillusioned Ignatieff supporters, especially from Quebec, for dividing lines to become an issue again. I said to an Ignatieff supporter, just before the final results came in, that the worst thing that could happen to the Liberals at that point was for Ignatieff to win. Dion has built up a torrent of good will and if Ignatieff pulled it off it would have looked like the party brass stole the leadership from the grass-roots. Dion versus said party brass is still a potential fault line.

The MSM: There were a lot of people in the media that I wanted to meet at the convention. As you may know my site is not dedicated to bringing down the "hated-MSM" but more a fan-site. I like the work of a great number of people who work in the media. So I was very pleased to be able to shake their hands and chat with them. It was tough because I know they had a job to do and I did not want to look like a hanger-on (at that I failed a couple of times and for that you have my apologies) but all in all the people I spoke with we very nice and I am glad I met them.

Blog-room: I loved being in the bloggers room. The energy in there was infectuous. I was determined to not spend too much time in there (I didn't spend money to go to Montreal to watch TV) and to make sure I soaked up the atmosphere on the convention floor. But the bloggers in there were a fun bunch to be around and that type of event is much more fun when you are surrounded by fellow political junkies.

Update II: Oh yeah, thanks to all of you who supported my trip to Montreal through those "annoying links" the uptick was noticed and I appreciate it.