Liberal Leadership Race

Mainstream media coverage of Liberal convention in Montreal

Dec 6, 2006 Kate Butler

News outlets in Canada covering the recent leadership race were just as surprised by the outcome of the convention as ordinary Canadians.

This weekend’s Liberal leadership convention ushered in a new era in federal politics with the surprise win of Stephane Dion. For the Canadian mainstream media, the convention lived up to expectations of being an exciting, messy, chaotic, and attention-grabbing event.

Like in so many political campaigns, the mainstream media loves charisma: in this race, this enigmatic quality was best embodied by Harvard professor-turned-Etobicoke MP, Michael Ignatieff. He was a wonderful speaker, an interesting guy, and able to capture the imagination of many a journalist. However, his numerous gaffes meant that by the eve of the convention, he had lost some of that frontrunner sheen.

During the run-up to the convention, Bob Rae picked up some important support from various MPs and former leadership candidate, but the mainstream media began focusing their attention on Stephane Dion. The Globe’s editorial staff endorsed him days before the convention began, and other journalists started to take notice of the energetic professor from Quebec.

At the convention itself, it was hard to ignore the Dion supporters: with bright green scarves, a plethora of youth delegates, and the penchant for breaking into song at any moment gave the media something to focus on, besides the internal divide between Iggy and Rae. Dion’s fourth place finish during Super Weekend did not hold long, as he vaulted ahead of Gerard Kennedy (by an all-important two votes).

After the first round of voting, the ‘big wigs’ at the convention were still not banking on a Dion win: before the Kennedy move, most of the journalists making predictions on camera and off were betting on Rae and Ignatieff.

The fact that Dion was suddenly in first place after the third ballot meant that the media had to start taking this upstart seriously. Soon, Rae was out of the race, and it was down to Ignatieff and Dion. In the end, Dion won quite easily, and the 10 months of leadership politicking were finally over.

For the mainstream media, the attention this convention and race generated meant that Canadians were still interested in the nitty-gritty of Canadian politics. Leadership races can be boring affairs that are really coronations rather than true competitions of visions, but this one was different. Although Ignatieff went in as the frontrunner, the race was always up for grabs, and the mainstream media was simply along for a very good ride.

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