London victory

I have never gotten around to writing about our AGM and that election.  It’s never very interesting to write about one’s own election, but the election of 11 other members onto our executive ought to have inspired me.

But I was busy.

And now, the excitement of London’s byelection has temporarily removed everything else from my mind.  I’ll write tomorrow about how exciting Elizabeth’s campaign was, but I wanted to go to bed only after writing a quick thought.

Going out for scrutineering today, I sat in a car with several Greens, stewing over the fact that recent polls suggested that Elizabeth May was ahead of both Conservatives and NDP and closing in on the Liberals.  While some people lamented how sad it would be if Elizabeth ended up losing, I felt quite the opposite.  If the polls were accurate, I predicted, the Liberals would win a very shallow victory indeed, because the news would be Elizabeth.  Watching the results, that is exactly what happened.  The victory was covered in a single breath, and then the media teams moved in on Elizabeth’s victory party.  And Greens are charitable, graciously accepting the Liberal victory, delighted in their own.

Because, as the media perceived, this was really a victory for the Green Party.  A greater than 20% rise in the polls indicates that Green priorities (particularly global warming) are resonating with the electorate, and that there is a recognition that the other parties are not doing enough.  And the Green campaign was rapidly gaining momentum.

Canvassing for Elizabeth, I met with an electorate completely charmed.  The single biggest criticism I ever heard about Elizabeth (amid the gushing praise for her wit and grace and warmth and knowledge) was that she wasn’t really committed to London.  Meanwhile, Elizabeth was already thinking of London as her home.  She was looking for a house in her riding (and she refers to it as “my riding”).  She took time out to enjoy the lights in Victoria Park, to meet with all the locals, to wave to taxi drivers.  I suspect the hardest part about losing for Elizabeth may well be saying goodbye to a place she was beginning to grow very fond of.

Thank you, London.