Head Tale

I was happy to see that after a long absence, the Sask Blogs aggregator is back up and running, better than ever.



I was perusing it last night and happened upon a post on “Giant Political Mouse“, a lefty web site that focuses mostly on Saskatchewan politics.  This post mentioned that the provincial NDP leadership race was now up to four candidates after the most recent person threw their name in the ring.



Dr. Ryan Meili is a young doctor from Saskatoon who has a very impressive background
– especially in the context of Saskatchewan politics.  He has a farm
background.  As a doctor, he knows the health sector.  He's worked in
international development and is a committed social activist. 



Beyond that, (although I think his campaign is taking pains not to draw comparisons to another young upstart politician who is currently working the crowds in Canada), you don't have to look very hard to see some major parallels…



– like Barack Obama, Meili is inspiring young (and young-at-heart) people who have soured on politics as usual.

– like Barack Obama, Meili wants to run a clean campaign which avoids personal attacks and other similar tactics.




– like Barack Obama, Meili is relying heavily on social networking tools and Web 2.0 to mobilize his supporters



– like Barack Obama, Meili has a background as a community organizer working with marginalized groups



– like Barack Obama, Meili is campaigning on the idea of bringing change to the province



– like Barack Obama, Meili has traveled to and has strong connections with the developing world



– like Barack Obama, Meili recognizes healthcare and the environment as two of the most pressing concerns in our society

– like Barack Obama, Meili is a very cerebral person who obviously puts a lot of deep thought into his opinions and views



– like Barack Obama, Meili got a funny last name that's hard to pronounce (Meili – rhymes with “smiley” )



– although Meili's not the orator that Obama is (who could be?), his speeches touch on many of the same themes while using similar rhetorical devices. 



Meili isn't
Obama and I don't think he would ever claim to be.  But I think a LOT of people (including myself) are hungering to be part of something like we saw in the US.  And the parallels
to the recent Obama campaign in the United States are uncanny. So hopefully, the biggest parallel comes true too… 



Meili is facing off against Dwain Lingenfelter, an establishment candidate who (currently) has
a large backing from the “old guard” of the NDP party and has already
all but been declared as the winner of the leadership race before the campaign has barely begun, let alone played itself out. 



(Of course, we all know how that turned out for the early front-runner in the United States. ) 

[2009/05/12 Edit: I didn't know this but just heard that Ryan apparently spoke at the NDP convention a
couple years ago – perhaps echoing how Obama introduced himself to the
Democratic party with his speech at the 2004 DNC convention.]