Out with a bang

The man who should have been Prime Minister delivers his final public statement as an MP. And Ed Broadbent's words should nicely help to ensure that the current leader of his party won't fall into the same traps that kept the Libs ahead of the NDP during Broadbent's time at the helm:

Mr. Martin accuses the New Democratic Party of partisanship. Were it not for the NDP putting its interests aside and putting working people’s interests first, the Liberal Party would have been fed to voters last spring.

It now is. And it has run a campaign that at best is incoherent, and at worst is deeply offensive. To women. To members of our armed forces. And to people who long for intellectual honesty in politics once more...

Mr. Martin’s team is running a campaign based on intellectual dishonesty. Cynical manipulation. And recklessly using significant issues for the sole purpose of continuing Liberal entitlement.

Like Greg, I agree entirely with Broadbent. But just as important as the strong content is that unlike all too much NDP news, Broadbent's final stand has managed to win plenty of press coverage (currently among the top headlines at CBC News, Canoe's Canada Votes, and Canada.com's Decision Canada page among others). Which means that an essential message from one of Canada's most trusted public figures seems very likely to get through to Canadians just in time for Monday's vote.