The Martin meltdown ends

Paul Martin, Jr., has announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

This is not really surprising to anyone who witnessed Martin's increasingly bizarre, unhinged behavior on the campaign trail. But is there anyone out there who, in the mid-1990s, predicted his political career would end like this? I can speak for most conservatives when I say we thought Paul Martin was the more competent, tolerable member of the Chretien Liberal government, who at least steered Canada away from deficits and kept the economy humming along pretty well. His ascendency as Prime Minister was only a matter of time, and I certainly thought he'd last longer than two years in the top job.

Who will take over now? With the Martin wing of the party thoroughly discredited, Frank McKenna is going to have a tough time of it. The Trudeau/Chretien acolytes will take control once again (which is why Warren Kinsella won't be on our side very long), and that may clear the way for this guy.

I'm scared too.

Update: Mark Steyn: "[Martin] is a man who set out to reach the top of the greasy pole at all odds, only to find he had no idea of what he wanted to do when he got there."

Posted by damian at January 24, 2006 08:03 AM | TrackBack