The Leaders Debate

I am going to use a baseball analogy for the English language leaders debate.

What we are all looking for is to see someone hit a home run in the debate, what we normally get are strikeouts, walks and singles. A good walk or single gets you an RBI and those are more important for your team than any personal glory of a home run.

Elizabeth May is the young rookie that is being allowed to try out in the majors and see if she can stick or if hse is back on the next bus to Peoria. She can survive a strikeout in the debate if she looks strong in her swings, though she really needs at least a single to have any chance of sticking in the majors. She has the danger of choking when faced with being in the major league lights. Anything better than a single and she will be star of the night and will likely get a permanent contract in the majors.

Gilles Duceppe is not a baseball player, he wants to be playing hockey but has enough hubris to show up and play ball. Frankly if I were him I would blow off the baseball game because it is a stupid sport and does nothing for him. His team is not even in the league. No one cares how he does when he is at bat as he will already won or lost the hockey game the night before. In the event that he can hit a homer in a game he does not play in, this will not mean he will be a major leaguer, it just means the other batters will be seen as useless.

Jack Layton has had a good couple of weeks of play lately and is coming into the game with some higher expectations that usual. He needs to come up with a stong single to at least to maintain his batting average and help with the team score. A double or triple would mean he would boost his RBIs past Dion and be second in the stats. A home run from Jack would redefine the league, the problem is that Jack has a history of being a journeyman player and really has no history of hitting anything out of the park. His dream is that he will get that home run and be seen as one of the top stars in the league. His dream may push him to over reach and to strike out badly in front of the crowds. No hit from Jack means he will retiring in a few months from active play.

Stephen Harper has a strong batting average and is a man that plays the stats and not for the crowd. He is going to seek a single or double that will boost the team score. He is not a crowd pleaser and will not even try to get that home run. If he gets a strikeout all he does is revive the pennant race again for a few more days.

Stephane Dion - the best curler to ever try to play major league ball. This is a guy that could win the gold in curling but has chosen to play baseball. He is clearly without any ball game strengths. Lately he has been saying the reason his team's season has been so bad is because the umps have been against him - the classic sign of a player and team that are in much deeper trouble than they know.

Dion needs a home run. Anything less than a home run and his team finishes behind Jakc Layton's team. A home run would revive his team's chances of a run at the pennant again in a future season. But Dion in no Sammy Sosa, he is a curler that has a batting average of something like .145. Dion has never managed a single, let alone a home run in major league play. We are talking miracle time for Dion.

Dion may be coming into the baseball game injured by Harper and Duceppe in the hockey game the night before. He may barely be able to lift the bat. He only has one play that he can make that would avoid his team coming in last place - he needs to step into the pitch and get hit to get to first base.