For stepping in every once and a while to make me feel like I still matter some small amount. This is much better than last time.
God bless Mitchel Raphael
Tag Archives: chris tindal
What makes a politician great?
Embedded below, video from last night’s The Agenda. This was my third appearance (first one here, second one here) which makes it tempting to refer to myself as a regular, but that would probably jinx any chance I have at future appearances. (It’s a privilege and a joy to be on The Agenda. It’s a great show and Steve Paikin is a very impressive host.)
Get comfy before pushing play. It’s a little over 50 minutes long.
“Even Chris Tindal was participating!”
The Ontario NDP leadership race website reports that their online and social media coverage was so successful that “even Green Party activist Chris Tindal was participating in the discussion.” Yep, even me! (As you no doubt already know, I’m the prime indicator of success for stuff like this.)
In all seriousness, the provincial NDP’s interactive strategy for their leadership convention was very well conceived and executed. The coverage featured live video streaming, live blogs, and a Twitter feed that become one of the most active on all of Twitter during the leadership vote on Saturday evening. All this turned out to be essential due to the abysmal news coverage the convention itself received. (Like that Joe Trippi guy talks about: don’t get media, become the media.) From what I can tell, democratic wunderkind Dave Meslin was the driving force behind the whole thing, and both he and the party are to be commended.
Another positive indicator along the same vein is that Andrea Horwath, the new leader of the provincial NDP, had a very good (and probably the best) leadership campaign website. We can reasonably expect, therefore, that the NDP will have a strong interactive presence in the next general election.
This praise comes with two caveats from me. One is that the importance of a strong interactive strategy for Canadian political parties is, IMHO, currently overstated by many. (I am reminded of my favourite political quote of the year so far. While discussing ways to reach young voters, then-Republican chairman Mike Duncan said “We have to do it in the Facebook with the Twittering.” Priceless.)Â The second is that while I sincerely wish Horwath the best of luck, I’m not convinced she was the best choice (I’m a Peter Tabuns fan), or that she has the right combination of ideas and rhetoric to move her party forward. More on both of those points later.
My status
There has been some confusion, due to a lack of information, about my status. A brief update:
March 18th – With the completion of the March 17th by-election, I cease to be a candidate for Parliament. I inform the Toronto Centre riding association and the leadership and organizing staff of the Green Party of Canada that if there is another election in 2008 I will not be a candidate. I also inform the other groups I’m a part of (including the Federal Campaign Committee) that I will need to take some time away from volunteer duties to focus on work and family.
August – Elizabeth May and I discuss the fact that since I’m no longer a prospective candidate I’ll need to be replaced on Shadow Cabinet (being a candidate is a prerequisite of being a member of SC). I suggest some people to replace me. I don’t know how to determine the exact date when I ceased to be a member of the Green Party’s Shadow Cabinet, but I am definitely no longer on SC now.
November 5 – The Toronto Centre Federal Green Party Association holds an AGM. A new executive is selected; I do not stand for reelection (I was previously a member at large).
December 10 – I resign from the Federal Campaign Committee. The timing was partly due to the fact that the FCC, under a new chair, restructured to include only functional positions that require a significant time commitment. In practice I had been an inactive member of the committee since the March by-election.
As of right now, my only title or status with any political party is that I remain a member of the Green parties of Canada and Ontario.
Finally, just to be extra clear, in case any of you were wondering I am totally not this guy.