Building a conservative democracy

Of all the impediments to conservatives taking power in this country, a lack of professionalism is among the greatest. It is not that there is a lack of intelligent right-of-centre strategists, commentators and politicians — but even casual observers of Canadian politics can easily identify that, up against the Liberal machinery that has helped keep the governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin in power for the past dozen years, the right has simply been out of its class. As Lorne Gunter wrote on this page yesterday, “...passion and theories have never been in short supply on the right in Canada. What has been missing since at least the 1988 free trade election is competent message management and campaign organization at the federal level.”

Given this deficit, the Manning Centre for Building Democracy might prove to be just what conservatives need. Announced this past weekend by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, the Centre will aim to create a “conservative democratic infrastructure” by arming politicians and political organizers with the training and tools they need to give the Liberals a run for their money, as well as attempting to give conservatives a stronger voice in the national media. Far from being a standard conservative think-tank, its focus will be purely practical — not just coming up with conservative ideas, in other words, but finding ways to sell them to Canadians.

It is no coincidence that in the United States, where conservatives are vastly more successful electorally, such institutes are commonplace. It is encouraging to see that Mr. Manning and other conservatives have been taking notes.