The Five Best Political Novels

I got this from www.politicalwire.com

The Five Best Political Novels

If you have time for reading over the Labor Day weekend, the Wall Street Journal picks the five best political novels of all time:

1. The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (1876): "The tale of an unscrupulous man's campaign for Parliament and the prime minister's wife who supports him against her husband's wishes."

2. Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry (1995): "America's best writer of espionage novels produced this gripping tale of political intrigue that is also an audacious romp through contemporary Washington mores. A scene at a Georgetown dinner party attended by a former president, a Supreme Court justice, a speaker of the House, a reporter and a lesbian ranks as one of the funniest scenes in contemporary American fiction."

3. Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (2000): "Qiu's inspector-poet risks all when his investigation takes him too close to one of China's untouchable princelings, the son of a high-ranking official in Beijing."

4. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (1941): "Darkness at Noon recounts the fate of Rubashov, an old revolutionary who is charged with treason and thrown in prison, where he is brainwashed and tortured; he ultimately confesses to imaginary crimes against the state."

5. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946): "Robert Penn Warren was the nation's first poet laureate, and it's easy to understand why when lingering over the beautiful language in this lushly written novel. But it's also a rollicking good read. Based on the life of Huey 'Kingfish' Long of Louisiana, All the King's Men is the rags-to-riches story of Willie Stark, a small-town Southern politician who starts out as an idealistic young man of the people and ends up corrupted by the system he had sought to reform."

The Green Party: Post Convention Analysis

While few bloggers have commented on the election of Elizabeth May as Green Party leader yesterday, I think that it deserves some commentary.

First, this is good news for the Green Party. Up until now, the Green Party has lacked three significant things holding it back from breaking through:

1. A visible leader - Jim Harris was no where. At no point during his leadership did Canadians recognize him or care about it. In the modern world of Canadian politics, party leadership is key and the Greens were seriously lacking in this category.

2. Organization - Throughout his leadership, there were stories about how unorganized the Green head office was under Jim Harris. Firings, resignations etc all coming as the Party took in a little under a $1 million dollars a year.

3. Relevance - While Harris was able to get a Green candidate in every riding in the country twice, he was unable to make the Green's relevant. The media didn't pay attention and the party's peak came during election campaigns (See Nik Nano's analysis from the Convention).

These three factors all contributed to the glass ceiling the party faced. I think that May can break through, in part, because she can fix all three problems.

She is a fighter. She is known around the country as a credible voice on the environment, while being relatively moderate on other important issues. She's from Atlantic Canada, the area of the country where Green support is weakest.

She has experience running large organizations(the Sierra Club of Canada) and knows how to get media attention - heck, she wrote a book about.

What all this means is that more than ever before, the Green Party CAN (and I stress can) become a relavent player in Canadian Politics. It has the financial base, it has a new dynamic leader who knows how to get attention. It has no political baggage and can become the outlet for protest and new engagement with Canadians.

Yesterday was Jack Layton's worst nightmare. While he's fighting for Liberal votes, a new force to his left may slowly start taking away votes - especially with Labour breaking ties with the NDP.

Liberals should pay attention to this. If the next election is fought on the environment - then you can bet Elizabeth May will be front and centre in the debate and that her voice will not be lost in the shuffle.