Stumbling, Only To Move On

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."

This observation by Winston Churchill just might prove an apt description of the current election campaign. Going into it, the message from most mainstream media and the odd objective blogger seemed pretty obvious. It was Stephen Harper's campaign, given his lead in the polls at the beginning. Michael Ignatieff faced an uphill battle because of that lead and would have to show why the Liberals were a clear alternative. Jack Layton? Well, you know, the NDP were the "also-ran," accustomed to trailing the pack but leaving them free to hold out their policies with little scrutiny. It was thought to be Layton's swan song, given his physical condition and the party's inability to move the polls. Gilles Duceppe? He was the prince of Quebec - solid lead, filled with parliamentary experience and probably taking most of the seats in his province.What do we say now? While many of the pundits and editorials described this as a poor campaign, the media itself brought the news of election developments down to a petty low - the ongoing fixation with wording around a coalition, the laborious focus on the leaders instead of the policies that set out clear distinctions, and the clear avoidance of global developments and how the leaders themselves might lead this country into that world.In truth, nobody got the predictions right. It wasn't just Jack Layton's ambitious arc. At least for now, the federalist option appears more alive in Quebec than anyone dared admit at the outset. The Bloc leader is scrambling to retain his support. The Liberal decline in the polls due to the NDP rise wasn't on anyone's screen at the beginning either. Candidates in each of their ridings - bone-weary, exhausted - would come home from debates or canvassing and check the news to see what was transpiring. Hardly any of them had real impact on the various war rooms; they were pawns in a frenetic campaign. This was all about the leaders, not the economy, the world, the social challenges or the country.And what ever became of Parliament, the contempt of which instigated the election in the first place? With all the fixation on the leaders, it was overlooked once again that Parliament itself is the true arbiter in this country and that it had been maligned to the point where it was no longer functional - hadn't been for over a year. We had a government rolling over the principle of representation in that place as if they were merely mowing the lawn. While the four other parties, including the Greens, were attempting to make contempt a key part of their campaigns, the media, third-party groups, and others eventually filed that subject away in their pursuit for other hooks. At a time when most Canadians feel disconnected from their Parliament, those covering that reality merely reflected it as opposed to challenging the current democratic deficit.A few days ago someone Tweeted me that the Globe and Mail would just endorse the Conservatives anyway and his observation came true today. After saying that Ignatieff failed to show a clear alternative and that Layton's popularity hardly represented good policy, the editorial concluded that the Harper government was still the best to run the economy. With this virtual pat on the back, they encouraged the government to try it again and behave a little better in Parliament - confirming Churchill's point at the beginning of this post.And what do we say now to the young generation, the activists, the environmentalists, and those seeking electoral reform? These groups have organized in ways that have been historic, largely due to the power of social media. Students across the land came together in innovative ways, reminding all Canadians that Harper's refusal to let them into his rallies was merely symptomatic of how he wasn't permitting Canadians a clear representation in Parliament. They were right, and as long as they were news they got an airing. But news in this country barely lasts a day; soon enough their message was lost as the campaign regressed. What does the media have to say to these people? After badgering all the parties to be more inclusive of citizens prior to the election, they virtually ignored them during this writ period. There were clear policy differences in this election, and the opposition parties especially had some good ideas of citizen involvement, but it was all about the kings, not their people.Churchill was right - we did stumble over some truth in this campaign. We learned that the left side of the spectrum can still register. We learned, despite our proposed disgust of it, that negative advertising works, causing us to accept faulty reasonings against a Liberal leader we never met. We discovered that federalists in Quebec can still pack a punch. And we learned that a PM can ignore every single measure of democratic constraint in a campaign and still get endorsement. Socrates might have agreed with Churchill when he wrote:  "True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us." Well, we're now all a little bit wiser. Regardless of what happens at the end of this campaign, those institutions meant to keep a government held to account gave it a pass with little scrutiny. The young will sense this instinctively. Truth will not be the first casualty of this ridiculous political war; it will be the next generation.