And I Thought She Got It

So Elizabeth May has announced that she's running in Central Nova. This is the wrong move on so many levels. Shall we count the ways?

1. She doesn't live in Central Nova. As far as I can tell, she never has. She's from Cape Breton and now lives in Ottawa. Either she should run in Ottawa where she's lived for over 20 years or in Cape Breton-Canso or Sidney-Victoria depending on which part of Cape Breton she's from. I believe people should live where they run. I hate the idea of voting for someone who can't vote for themselves. Cough... Jack Layton... Cough.
   
2. She can't win this race. Peter McKay can probably hold this seat till he dies. No matter how incompetent he has been at foreign affairs, he will still win in Central Nova. The Greens have got to be tearing out their hair. Here they have a charismatic leader and there's no way she gets into the house to do her thing.
3. The Greens have a disheartening tradition of running their leaders against big names (Frank de Jong v. Ernie Eves 2003; Jim Harris v. Jack Layton 2004). Ms. May is continuing in this sorry tradition. It does not give a party credibility when they aren't a little more concerned about winning their leader a seat.
4. This means that the media and the people are even less likely to treat the Greens seriously. Instead of trying to get into parliament and pursue her agenda, May has chosen to create a media circus in Central Nova. This means no place in the debate any time soon(which they don't deserve, but never mind).

When Ms. May finished second in the London-North Centre by-election I thought she had finally dedicated the Greens to getting into the House of Commons. Apparently, I was wrong. This kind of decision dooms the Greens to stay in the political wilderness. Well, as a Liberal this, like when any other party screws up, makes me happy. It just means more political space for the Grits.