I am supposed to support Adrian Dix because he filled the leadership vacuum that he helped Glen Clark to create?
I am supposed to support Adrian Dix because he was so good at spotting the very evasive manouevres and political games that he himself perfected when he was in the Premier's Office?
I am supposed to support Adrian Dix because he is so skilled at subordinating policy to communications and media strategy--something that was at the root of what was wrong with the Glen Clark government, and which made it worse than the Harcourt government, according to several senior former cabinet ministers?
Dix's "achievements" as Opposition critic are just the flip side of a Machiavellian coin.
As an experienced former public servant who has met Dix a dozen times and who has followed his career closely (often with morbid fascination), I am struck by the differences between him and more substantial, less purely political animals. For example, Gregor Robertson's raising a family, starting a successful business, co-founding a successful centre-progressive party that truly represents a majority better than either of the stale ideological alternatives, and actually devising practical solutions to issues of sustainable growth --is a hugely constructive record. Historically, Tom Berger and David Vickers would be other examples of people I could actually look up to both intellectually and morally.
Of course, none of those people will be on offer in the next provincial election. But I firmly believe that it might be worth waiting another four years in order to actually get it right. I urge my fellow educated progressives to vote for the two independent MLAs in Delta South and Cariboo North, and to consider voting Green elsewhere. And in the unlikely event that Dix's bubble bursts and the electoral chips fall in such a way as to sustain the Liberals for another term, don't worry: that could be a blessing in disguise.
2 comments:
Prefacing your opinions on issues that took place 22 years ago leaves one to believe you have been in a coma since 2001.
Dear Anonymous:
In the first place, "the issues that took place" (Dix's role as Clark's closest advisor, contributing to the downgrading of procedural and environmental values and the self-destruction of the government) did not take place 22 years ago: that was in early 1990, when Rita Johnston was still the premier. The events in question culminated in DIx's infamous memo and being blasted out of office 12 years ago, which makes me wonder: why are you off by 10 years? Were you in a coma for 10 years longer than I was??!!
More seriously, if you follow my blog, you will know that I am referring to how RECENT and CURRENT events REMIND me of the Adrian Dix of 10-12 years ago. That is quite different from obsessing about the past.
I don't blame people like yourself for not looking past the next election. But the purpose of this blog is not to voice the perspective of a political operative or citizen who is eager to benefit from a likely change of government in 2013; rather, it is to provide a different, longer, view.
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