As the Liberal caucus members emerged from their post-mortem meeting yesterday, they all put on their upbeat, scripted masks to face reporters and cameras.
The irony here is the timing of the release of Paul Martin’s book, which clearly blames Chretien for his failures and frustration. We’ll see how long this little charade can be maintained.
Oh, how I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that caucus meeting!
We do get a few tidbits from various sources, such as the Record telling us that Karen Redman * received the most ‘heartfelt’ response. Of course, Karen was the Liberal Whip who told which MPs to stay away from crucial votes. Funny how so many Liberal voters ended up doing the same.
Suddenly, the Liberals see the error of their ways, and say that abstaining is no longer an option! I wonder how Karen feels about that today.
But Senator David Smith (perhaps unwittingly) summed up the reason for the feigned Liberal solidarity strategy:
When a reporter asked Senator David Smith what other issues besides leadership the caucus needed to discuss, he gave her a long, quizzical look.
"Get back in government," Smith finally responded.
It’s the power, stupid.
* * * *
Update: Excellent column by Rick Salutin in today’s Globe - Dion and the cult of the leader.
*Conservative Reporter has a great post about the K-W results here.
