Dion: What The Media Pundits Have Failed To Recognize

I haven't had much to say lately that hasn't been better said elsewhere. If you're reading this, you may think "You still don't. Shut up!" From National Newswatch, I caught the headlines of two interesting opinions regarding the plight of Stephane Dion. The first is from L Ian MacDonald: The party is broke in Quebec. There's no plan for a campaign. The infighting among organizers is ugly, like Tories in the bad old days. And the Liberals are completely out of the game in the 50 Quebec seats outside Montreal. The second is from Don Martin: Mr. Dion's new more asser tive-looking glasses hardly overcome an ivory tower tan and passive demeanor, which create the impression of someone who, like me, was the favourite wedgie target for elementary school bullies. As one party insider noted hopefully when asked for image advice: "Mr. Dion is a great fly fisher, so maybe we could do more photo-ops in a boat?" Um, Stockwell Day on a jet ski ring any bells? The truth is far more foreboding for Mr. Dion. It's one of those things that probably aren't recognizable from ninety eight percent of the electorate: only intelligent people are capable of recognizing intelligence in others. If you think about the above sentence, you'll arrive at the conlusion that both Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion are at a level of intelligence that most people simply can't recognize. Sure, you could easily spot a person with an IQ of 80 after a brief discussion if you were to meet them on the street. What if you had met Bill Gates or Thomas Edison on the street? Both Stephane Dion and Stephen Harper are men that have that level of intelligence. The unfortunate aspect of genius is that it can either be a genius for everything, or it can be a genius in certain categories. Until Stephane Dion can develop a genius for political strategy, he is doomed to remain where he belongs. Cowboy vests and goofy glasses won't be the deciding factor in an election. Public perception of the man behind them will be.