I'm gonna stick my neck out an make a prediction. I've a feeling that the PDs are going to become a bigger and more successful party under McDowell. I'm not saying that McDowell is brilliant in every way, he has flaws, but I do think he is good leadership material. He has plenty of fresh ideas and energy and is not afraid to go for it. There's always risks with an enfant terrible but I think he has enough skills and intelligence to pull off success. Winning ugly at times no doubt!
The PDs should always have been destined to make a big impact. They made a promising start in the mid 1980s. I know they were a reactionary to the Dessie versus Charlie fallout which filled a gap but they then lost their momentum eventually. I think Mary Harney was and is a great worker who gets things done. Excellent in Environment (smog free Dublin!) and Industry, doing her best in Health (tough job). Also a great people person. I'm not convinced she was an expansion type leader for the PDs. But the good thing is that the PDs under Harney did manage to punch way above their weight. Considering their size they are doing very well.
McDowell has the potential to bring the PDs to another level. The neat thing about a small party is flexibility and freshness. McDowell is the leader who can make or break them. I'm betting on the former.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm going to stick my neck out that little bit further and disagree. I think he's far too polarizing of a figure and that he's going to put off more people than he attracts.
Of course, that said, I think how he is seen to handle this whole Bertie-cash-thing will could make or break the rest of his political career.
thier is no doubt about it
michael mc dowell has come out of this whole cash to bertie controversy much weaker than bertie
to a martian who just landed on earth , this might seem extrordinary and make no sense
i would explain to this martian that you see thier is a place called ireland where people see things differently
you see irish people are willing to make exceptions for people who are nice
and by nice i mean , who seem cheerfull , pleasant , and above all not stuck up or who dont come across as being too clever
bertie ahern ticks everyone of those boxes and as a result he is loved by a larger amount of irish people than any other taoiseach perhaps
michael mc dowell on the other hand as previously mentioned is a somewhat polarising figure
while he is undoubtably an extremly intellignet man, he is also the epitome of academia
as mentioned , irish people dont like people who seem too clever
its alright if someone is clever as long as they dont come across as clever , too clever
michael mc dowell also possess a personality which i describe as the complete opposite of the common touch
for all his abilitys and his steadfast determination to speak his mind , he is someone who has limited appeal
graduates of blackrock college may be about the height of it
personally i think mc dowell is a great assett to this country but he will never ever have mass appeal because his personality is not qunitessentially irish enough,
where as bertie , well bertie can get away with almost anything because he is a classic irish person
stick your neck out all you want john, michael mcdowell is a crook like all the rest of the crooks in the dail................
I don't think it's fair to call McDowell a crook. However I'm not noticing him making a big impact yet as PD leader. I thought he would be out of the blocks like a terrier. Maybe he's working it up slowly for the elections. He seems to have gone a bit conservative but I don't see what's going on behind the scenes.
Post a Comment