Live From the Convention Floor

Three days of election speculation, party reminiscing and political gossip surrounded the coronation of the new Liberal leader.

A consequence of a convention about nothing is not knowing when it is over. Outside the stunning Vancouver convention centre, after Michael Ignatieff’s leadership acceptance speech, delegates lingered.

There were all the requisites of the delegated political convention: the party stalwarts, donning paraphernalia from gatherings past; the besuited young liberals; candidates, ex-cabinet ministers and a trio of former prime ministers.

A leadership race cut short, a new leader in full swing, and a party in mid restructuring, was committed to coming together to formalize their metamorphosis, and, be damned, they were going to make the best of it. Of course there were few happenings on which to hinge such enthusiasm. The only big vote ensured that the delegated convention — what the political junkies in attendance live for — would never happen again. Such is the depth of their commitment.

Bordering the main convention hall was a line of media platforms. At one, a Conservative MP and an NDP spokesman, convention observers serving political penance, waited for their cue to glibly point out what they must – that Ignatieff is a tax-raising prodigal son, and that Jack Layton cares more than anyone in this room.

The resilient CBC host, who would cue such lines from these men of partisan “balance,” waited patiently through the speeches, under a spotlight, watching her prompter as Newsworld cut from the convention to swine flu coverage (or Mexican flu, as Harper has slipped). Oh, to be on the pandemic beat.

“It is not a time to dwell on what might have been,” Bob Rae cautioned the crowd in the background. The ubiquitous 2006 Ignatieff paraphernalia (placards, noise makers, buttons and t-shirts), suggested a crowd that had gotten over such concerns.

Into the final evening, three days of election timing speculation, party reminiscing and political gossip morphed into the uninhibited evening many had been discreetly anticipating. One former leadership candidate, at least temporarily putting such ambitions behind, danced fearlessly into the morning.