Hear, Hear

TDH Strategies, September 9th:

"Herein lies the crux of the problem with politicians these days - they are so concerned with winning that they aren't prepared to lead. Leadership involves risk, and it takes courage to not be afraid of losing their grip on power."

Exactly. This has long been a criticism of mine re: the federal Liberals and their party stalwarts. Sometimes you get the sense that they don't much care what ultimate decisions are made, so long as they are the ones to make them. If I respect anything of Harper and the Tories, it is their (seeming) conviction that there are some matters of principle that they would bring to the government, that they are prepared to lose an election over, even as I disagree with much of their platform.

Following the so-called "will of the people" is a central element in any democracy, don't get me wrong. But real leadership involves bringing ideas to the table as well, and persuading/convincing a majority of their value. We haven't had those type of arguments and contests in Canada at the federal level for awhile. And all political parties are to blame for it.