Angry in the Great White North

Bob Rae wants to be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, even after having lost to Stephane Dion during the 2006 campaign.  I can't imagine why anyone would want that job.  It's like lusting after a cool car that has seen better days but is still in decent shape, letting Stephane Dion take it out for a test drive, and then watching in horror as Dion promptly drives the car into ditch, rolls it over a few times, and finally lands it under water.  Dion comes out of the wreck, holds out the keys, and says to Rae and Michael Ignatieff, "Who's next?"

Like I said, it makes no sense, but Bob Rae wants the job regardless, and he's got a plan rooted firmly in the 21st century:

Mr. Rae plans a campaign that will be high-tech – with interactive websites that bring the campaign into people's homes – make heavy use of social marketing and new media, and aim to infuse the 60-year-old MP for Toronto Centre with a youthful and energetic image.

After meeting with the mainstream Ottawa media and making his formal statement, Mr. Rae will do a news conference by telephone for political bloggers across the country.

So I double-checked my emails, and guess what?  I wasn't invited.

OK, so it sounds like I'm full of myself, and really, that's not it.  I don't think I'm owed an invitation, nor do I think I have any right to demand one.

But it seems a bit incongruous for Bob Rae to have thrown a hissy fit when Michael Ignatieff and Ontario Liberals held a Q&A session for Liberals that was not open to the public:

Rae says he will not participate in the Toronto forum if it is not open to the media and says it should be cancelled if it can't be open. He accused Ignatieff of blocking that possibility but Ignatieff says the executive of the LPCO -- Liberal Party of Canada Ontario -- set the rules for the forum two weeks ago and he wants to honour them.

"It sends an awful signal to have a debate that is closed to the media, closed to Canadians," Rae said in a statement, noting that the Conservatives have made closed no-media sessions a hallmark of their conventions under Stephen Harper.

If that was such a terrible signal (and frankly, I think Bob Rae was wrong on the issue of the forum), then what sort of signal does it send if this conference call for political bloggers is equally a carefully controlled affair for the selected few?

Indeed, this is worse, as the whole point of blogging and social online media and so on is the democratization of information.  Maybe Bob Rae is constrained by the number of connections available in his conference service, and there was no way to make the conference more open.  I don't buy that theory, since online meeting services like the free online Skype IP-based phone system can handle up to 25 participants in conference mode, and the equally free Skypecasting add-on can handle up to 100 participants in a one-way conference.  According to the CBC, there are 750 bloggers in Canada, and 20% of the traffic that goes to blogs is concentrated in the top ten blogs.  Just ten.  That's it.

Yeah, I'm one of those top ten blogs.

I'm curious to see how many bloggers are in this conference call, and how broad the political representation will be.  I have my doubts that when push comes to shove, Bob Rae is really all that committed to being open to the media and open to Canadians.  If this blogging conference call turns out to be Liberals-only love-in, then I think it would be fair to say that Bob Rae's rhetoric over the closed Liberal forum last week was more about trying to embarrass Michael Ignatieff than it was about principles of media accessibility and transparency.

Update: It seems to be intended to be a Liberals-only affair, though no special effort is being taken to keep anyone out.  That's based on this email from Bob Rae forwarded to me from a third-party:

Dear Liberal blogger,

Tomorrow, I will be formally launching my campaign for the leadership of my party, and I would like to give you every open opportunity to ask me questions.

Very soon after my launch, I will be hosting a special conference call exclusively for bloggers, and I sincerely hope that you are able to attend.

I believe we need to open up the Liberal Party to as many Canadians as possible, and that we need to engage all of the ideas and talents that our Liberal members and our fellow Canadians have to offer us. I look forward to starting this open dialogue tomorrow with you.

It's an exciting time for our party, our country and our future. We're looking forward to a great campaign and to your active participation within it.

The call will be hosted by an Ottawa-based company called Calliflower. You can participate in the call as you would any normal conference call – there are call in numbers for cities across Canada, if yours is not there, feel free to call our toll free number:

[various phone numbers and the conference ID code]

Calliflower also allows for an enhanced web experience. I suggest clicking on the link at the end of this message to familiarize yourself with the system and to be close to your computer during tomorrow's call. If you have any questions, please feel free to email my campaign team at info@bobrae.ca.

All the best and I look forward to talking with you later today,

Bob

I've deleted the phone numbers, since if the intention is to host a semi-private affair, I don't think it's my job to undermine that.

But the salutation, "Liberal blogger", leaves little doubt that when it comes to media events, Bob Rae wants openness -- for his supporters.