And Albertans gave this guy four majority governments.
And he couldn't be leaving soon enough.But during this so-called summer of love, Mr. Klein seems to have a bad taste in his mouth.
"There's an old saying in politics, anyone dumb enough to run for the job is probably too stupid to have it," he said of the seven people vying to succeed him.
"I often wonder why they want this pressure. Why they want all the media attention. Why they want this," he added as a crush of reporters closed in around him.
"You get a lot of free dinners, but after that you get sort of tired, especially when you quit drinking and then it's no fun at all. I don't know why they would want to do it other than the power and the glory I guess and the free dinners and the very few perks that go along with it."
After almost 14 years as Premier with some highs (his tenure saw the elimination of the provincial debt) and some lows (his drunken visit to an Edmonton homeless shelter), Mr. Klein reflected on the job he'll soon be quitting.
"I wake up in the morning and I say 'Why am I here?' and it's because I'm not all there."
Reporters laughed. His political aids looked aghast.
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4 comments:
Well, It's kind of true, we politicians are a broken lot, and worst of all, too many of us try to pretend we're not. Too many of us tell the lie that Jefferson told, "Blah, blah, not interested in the job, great reluctance, yada, yada." Nope. We want it. We think about power daily. If you say you don't and really mean it, you won't get the top job.
Exception that proves the rule: Lester Pearson: Vacilatting Noting who presided over his cabinet for 5 years while his opponents dove out of the way and got us a cleaner logo, er, ah, flag. Surrounded with dirty players who shived anyone who got close to their mascot. (And unlike Peter Newman I was able to write off Pearson without plagerising myself for the umpteenth time :P )
I can too dream! It's just probably never going to happen is all. Every year about 2000 people run for parliament. About 2001 of them desparately want to be Prime Minister. The sooner we admit that, the better off our politics will be.
Every year?!? Those must be some unstable minority governments... I'm glad I live in Canada and not CrazyLand.
Alright then Nitty McPickerson... Every couple years? Let's not forget that there are provincial parliaments too. And with the exception of the PQ, who want to be PM of Quebec, they also get a stary far away look in their eyes thinking about, "If I were the PM" Hell, if Stockwell Day can harbour that ambition...
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