Anyone else surprised ?
Okay, who else was surprised by Dion's victory ? Be honest, you all thought it would go to Rae of Iggy...and I must admit I was in the same camp. Although Dion was clearly the best of the front runners I predicted that his English would be a major barrier. During his speeches he was okay, but when he is off book he makes a lot of stupid mistakes.
When I mentioned this to someone of Friday they looked like I had steped on a sacrificial lamb. Is there something wrong with pointing out that poor english is a liability. Many people predicted that Scott Brison's or Gerard Kennedy's poor French skills would be a problem, but why isn't the same true for English ? With Chretien it was different since no one could understand him in either language.
Hopefully now Dion will get some more practice.
When I mentioned this to someone of Friday they looked like I had steped on a sacrificial lamb. Is there something wrong with pointing out that poor english is a liability. Many people predicted that Scott Brison's or Gerard Kennedy's poor French skills would be a problem, but why isn't the same true for English ? With Chretien it was different since no one could understand him in either language.
Hopefully now Dion will get some more practice.
posted by My Eyes Are Bleeding at 8:50 PM
3 Comments:
I'm not surprised at all! In class I was with those who expected it to be Dion, and in the end, we were right.
Ignatieff may have had the support going into the convention, but once candidates started dropping off, it turned into "Anybody but Ignatieff" for support.
Dion's english is not nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. Just like anyone who's first language is not English, he has an accent!
yeah, I definitley was surprised. Dion's speech was good, but I thought Iggy's was presented much better. All in all I think we'll have to see whether Dion can pull out the victory in the next election. A major shot in the arm for him is the fact that Iggy and Rae said they would both run in the next election. If they win, that will be the Cabinet of the century!
Although I was surprised that Dion won I don't find his English speaking ability a problem. The way people were talking about Dion's poor English skills, I was expecting not even to be able to understand him. However, when I heard him deliver him at the convention I didn't have any trouble understanding him whatsoever. To me, he sounds more coherent than Chretien did and frankly I think it is petty to criticize him on his accent. People should spend their time focussing their criticisms on matters of political importance.
Post a Comment
<< Home