March 28, 2008

Hamilton’s Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Canada’s Liberal leader Stephane Dion seem to be leading rather parallel lives — at least they have in my strange and warped mind. Both guys, in their mid fifties, defied the odds and were narrowly voted into their current positions of power at around the same time in the Fall of 2006. Everyone knows of Dion’s penchant for all things environmental, but it was a leftie grassroot movement that boosted Eisenberger, the once Conservative candidate of elections past to embrace green things and defeat the pro-development incumbant Larry diIanni. Since assuming their roles of leadership both Eisenberger and Dion have had a great deal of difficulty projecting qualities that leaders need in order to lead. At this point, both seem to be out of their leagues, more suited for bureaucratic jobs as opposed to public positions. Both seem to have expiry dates that’ll see them out of the scene after their respective upcoming election races.

So when Mayor Fred was unable to convince Hamilton’s City Council to kill an ongoing lawsuit with the Federal govenrnment over a delay in construction of the Red Hill Valley Expressway, it was yet another example of his ineffectual leadership style. Herding cats is no easy feat, but it’s a super human ability leaders need to prove that they’re capable of doing. It’s what voters expect of them.

So when Liberals in Quebec openly voiced their disapproval for Stephane Dion this past week I thought the Eisenberger visual showing him doing nothing as cats pranced around him was quite similar to what was happening to the Liberal leader. For syndication purposes this was more than ideal to take a local concept and turn it into a national one. — Oh, and don’t forget to vote for my cartoon.