Day 2 - On the campaign bus
(cross-posted at JohnLennard.ca)
So a funny thing happened on the way home from school last night...
I rode a Liberal campaign bus.
That's right. I'm walking home from school in the pouring rain, kicking myself for not thinking to bring an umbrella on a cloudy day (hey, no one said law students were smart!). I'm also a little pissed off. It's 5:45. I'm just leaving campus. The Quebec campaign kickoff rally in the leader's home riding starts at 6:30. There's no way I can get from downtown to north Montreal in less than an hour (public transportation in Montreal is decent, but exceedingly complicated).
All of a sudden, the rain slows to a drizzle. The clouds part, allowing the tender warmth of the sun to shine through. I look over to my right, and I see... A big read bus with Stephane Dion's face across the side.
A miracle! I start running after the bus, which happens to stop at a hotel right beside my apartment. "Wow," I think to myself, "this just keeps getting better and better." I look around the parking lot and spot an old friend of mine who works on the leader's tour. I go up to him and we shake hands. Trying to be subtle, I ask: "Hey, what's the easiest way to get to the rally tonight?" He laughs at me: "Trust me, there is no easy way." He pauses to think for a moment. "Come with me."
He takes me across the lot to where two other busses are parked. These ones are white, with the Liberal logo blazoned on either side. "Media busses," he explains.
He leads me onto the first one, and tells me to sit right up front, beside an RCMP officer. One thing I've learned in politics is that when an opportunity presents itself, you shut up and take it. So there I sat, in the front seat beside a security guard, for the ride up to the rally in Saint-Laurent. The bus is jovial. Cameramen joking with one another, quizzing each other on obscure Montreal trivia, complaining about the terrible roads in Quebec ("It's not construction work," I explain, "It's repair work.") I can see Roger Smith from CTV News sitting a few rows behind me, quietly working away on his laptop.
We arrive at the rally, and a Young Liberal friend of mine watches me step off the bus. He shakes his head. "How did you pull that off?," he asks. "Long story. Be glad I'm here."
It was a great event. Three hundred Liberals packed the room and cheered on as candidates from across the province joined the leader on stage. Stephane Dion was officially nominated as the Liberal candidate in Saint-Laurent-Cartierville. He gave a fantastic speech, urging us never to forget what the stakes are in this election.
He's right. We have to keep plugging away. And so I will.
So a funny thing happened on the way home from school last night...
I rode a Liberal campaign bus.
That's right. I'm walking home from school in the pouring rain, kicking myself for not thinking to bring an umbrella on a cloudy day (hey, no one said law students were smart!). I'm also a little pissed off. It's 5:45. I'm just leaving campus. The Quebec campaign kickoff rally in the leader's home riding starts at 6:30. There's no way I can get from downtown to north Montreal in less than an hour (public transportation in Montreal is decent, but exceedingly complicated).
All of a sudden, the rain slows to a drizzle. The clouds part, allowing the tender warmth of the sun to shine through. I look over to my right, and I see... A big read bus with Stephane Dion's face across the side.
A miracle! I start running after the bus, which happens to stop at a hotel right beside my apartment. "Wow," I think to myself, "this just keeps getting better and better." I look around the parking lot and spot an old friend of mine who works on the leader's tour. I go up to him and we shake hands. Trying to be subtle, I ask: "Hey, what's the easiest way to get to the rally tonight?" He laughs at me: "Trust me, there is no easy way." He pauses to think for a moment. "Come with me."
He takes me across the lot to where two other busses are parked. These ones are white, with the Liberal logo blazoned on either side. "Media busses," he explains.
He leads me onto the first one, and tells me to sit right up front, beside an RCMP officer. One thing I've learned in politics is that when an opportunity presents itself, you shut up and take it. So there I sat, in the front seat beside a security guard, for the ride up to the rally in Saint-Laurent. The bus is jovial. Cameramen joking with one another, quizzing each other on obscure Montreal trivia, complaining about the terrible roads in Quebec ("It's not construction work," I explain, "It's repair work.") I can see Roger Smith from CTV News sitting a few rows behind me, quietly working away on his laptop.
We arrive at the rally, and a Young Liberal friend of mine watches me step off the bus. He shakes his head. "How did you pull that off?," he asks. "Long story. Be glad I'm here."
It was a great event. Three hundred Liberals packed the room and cheered on as candidates from across the province joined the leader on stage. Stephane Dion was officially nominated as the Liberal candidate in Saint-Laurent-Cartierville. He gave a fantastic speech, urging us never to forget what the stakes are in this election.
He's right. We have to keep plugging away. And so I will.
posted by John Lennard at 12:41 PM
