Reader contribuion on "Iggy"

I've read some Liberals talking about the pros and cons of various leadership candidates, just to keep an eye on the race. (and, of course, archiving any juciy shots for the next election... why bother coming up with my own material when there's an abundance out there provided by Libs?)

Some say a sports star like Dryden would be a good draw with sports fans, saying that brainiacs like Iggy and Rae don't appeal to the common man. So, by dear friend/nemesis Blake, a regular contributer to the comments section here, came up with this little gem of satire...

Local Man Disappointed To Find Out Andre Igoudala Not In Liberal Leadership Race
by Blake - aka "The Russian"

Dale Thomas, a 25 year old Burlington heavy truck mechanic, was extremely disappointed to find out that Philadelphia 76ers guard Andre Igoudala was not campaigning to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

"I kept hearing talk about "Iggy" becoming the next leader," said Thomas, who said he was captivated by Igoudala in the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in which he was a runner-up. "And I immediately thought of Andre Igoudala, and I was really excited. That guy can really elevate and throw down some totally wicked dunks, and I figured a lot of people would get totally hyped by him. Then I found out this "Iggy" is some sort of Harvard prof, or something. Now I'm all bored again."

Thomas was not alone in his reaction among local Liberals.

"Yeah, I really don't see how Ignatieff is going to excite anybody," said Helen Winters, an Oakville lawyer and long-time Liberal supporter, and admitted Ignatieff booster. "The most exciting thing about him is his nickname, "Iggy", and as we've seen, he even loses that battle in popularity to an NBA player. It's even worse for us, because a lot of Toronto Raptor fans are really familiar with Igoudala because they assumed Rob Babcock wasn't a total moron and would draft him instead of Rafael Araujo in 2004. They were wrong, of course, but they still have thoughts of "Iggy" playing in a Raptors uniform. So whenever I talk about "Iggy", people automatically get excited about his performance in the Slam Dunk contest. And when I correct them, they get really angry and say, "A politician?!? He's not exciting at all!" And they're right, of course, and I usually don't have much of a comeback for that."

Ignatieff, for his part, insists that he will eventually captivate the public.

"Come on, I've got a Ph.D. in philosophy," he said. "What isn't exciting about that? Plus, I keep talking about moving the Liberal party more to the centre-left of the spectrum. If slight changes in ideological principles don't excite people, what will? Sure, I may never have the machismo and charisma of a Stephen Harper, but I'm still confident that people will rally in droves to my leadership. I'm that interesting, really."

Disclaimer