Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Gentleman Jim
When I started this blog, it was meant to be a way to share jokes and political commentary with a small group of real-life friends scattered across the country. Today, most of my readers are from outside Canada, so I haven't done any commentary on current Canadian politics for a very long time.
But, it's my blog so I get to do what I like.
Over in Marcy's blog (I seem to be spending a lot of time there lately), I relayed the half-serious advice I used to give to my young political proteges back in the day. Believe it or not, politics generates a lot of unpleasant personality types, so I used to brace the younglings for this:
"Ninety-nine per cent of the people you meet in this business fall into five categories: Idiots, Weasels, Lunatics, Scumbags and Assholes. You are just starting off in this business, so you're an Idiot. But work hard and pay attention and someday you'll get to be an Asshole like me."
But this post isn't about all those unpleasant people. This is about a guy who fits into the 1 per cent not covered by the categories.
Calgary MP Jim Prentice is one of the few and true gentlemen of the political industry. Words like "loyal", "principled" and "compassionate" are usually used in an ironic, sarcastic tone about politicians, but not Jim.
This is, after all, the guy who lost his first attempt at the Tory leadership because he refused to sign a "deal with the devil". His opponent not only signed such a deal but promptly broke the deal a month later, showing that even the devil couldn't really trust Jim's opponent.
Jim represents a pretty heavily social conservative riding, yet unlike his Conservative colleagues he voted in favour of gay marriage because, as he said at the time, he didn't feel he could break faith with the many gay friends and colleagues he'd known over the years. The churches in his riding mounted a massive campaign against him the next time he came up for nomination, but he held on.
I worked for Jim as a volunteer on his leadership bid in 2003. As a candidate, he behaved the way every hack dreams of a candidate behaving: he was smart enough to take direction and good advice but also smart enough not to be led by the nose and to recognize bad advice.
I was in middle-management on that campaign. I had a substantial regional organizational role, but I was still just one of the grunts in the field. But Jim made it a habit, as all smart politicians do, of doing an end-run around his senior gate-keepers. He would regularly call the "grunts in the field" like me to get the real, unfiltered scoop. I still recall fondly getting calls in the middle of the night: "Lyle? This is Jim... Jim Prentice. How are things out your way?"
Since then, I've seen Jim regularly, whenever I'm out his way or he's out my way. Even though he's a big shot now, he still makes time to go for lunches and breakfasts with his old troops. You don't see that so much in politics. A lot of guys forget you as soon as they're elected.
In the recent Tory cabinet shuffle, Jimbo got the prominent Minister of Industry position. For about two years now, the inside scoop is that he is the Prime Minister's right-hand guy. There's talk now that he's being groomed to be the PM's successor.
This kind of thing almost never happens to the nice guys in politics. I'm glad to see an exception in this case.
I realize this post doesn't leave much room for our usual "tawk amongst yourselves" schtick, but let's try anyway: Do you know any truly good politicians? What makes you think so?
posted by Mentok @ 10:55 a.m.,
6 Comments:
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At 1:10 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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This comment has been removed by the author.
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At 1:12 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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After 12 years of blind faithfulness to one political party I left that whole scene for good over a decade ago. My biggest disappointment was with the number of people who were elected for the common good but were really out to serve themselves.
I can count on one hand the number of pols I might still admire for their sincerity and genuine desire to do good. Though the tides are turning against him, our current premier is one of those few. -
At 2:34 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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grumps - it deserves emphasis that you worked professionally on the left and I worked on the right yet we've both had very similar experiences with our former masters. That's important to note for all those people out there who actually believe all the partisan propaganda (the kind of stuff you and I used to write!)
I don't doubt your assessment of the current premier. Unfortunately, he was left holding the bag at a point when his party was drained of energy and the public had grown tired of it... so, yes, for reasons not of his making, the tide is against him.
To back up a step or two, I should say a word or two in defense of political types. As Machiavelli so eloquently described, all of those ugly qualities are absolutely necessary for the ugly job of gaining and maintaining power and keeping good civil order in society.
I think it was Bismark who said 'laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made'. Democratic society in the TV age gives a wide view of the sausage factory, which isn't too appetizing but still necessary. -
At 5:49 p.m.,
said...
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this fella sounds like one of the real exceptions to the rule. how refreshing! i hope he can maintain his "goodness," for lack of a better term, as he climbs higher up the power ladder.
i've met a few truly good politicians, unfortunately so far none of them has been elected! they've mostly been on the local/state level, although one was running for congress.
i like that bismark quote. : ) -
At 9:21 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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Well they couldn't have been very good politicians if they didn't get elected! ;-)
You can't do virtuous things in public office if you can't get elected. That's step one of the slippery slope too many politicians head down. And ooooo is that slope slippery! -
At 3:55 a.m.,
Unknown said...
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Back in the early 80s, I was heavily involved in the oh-so-right-on world of student politics. Upon graduation, I went out and found myself a job and gave up political activity for evermore.
At least six former close acquaintances from that era are now members of our Scottish Parlaiament, and some of them have held Cabinet positions.
Makes me think what might have been....
But then again, given the squalid life I've led (divorce, arrests for drunken behaviour etc), I may not actually have gotten anywhere in an era when UK-based politicians have to be squeaky-clean.
There are a few politicos I admire for diferent reasons, but they are growing smaller in number each year as party machines turn the into clones.
