The Liberal “Board” insists that a “mole” is sabotaging the election campaign against them.  Some in the media are all too happy to dog pile the crashing prospects of the Martin Liberal Government by having some fun with the story.  Who can blame them really?  It is not one rogue insider who is solely responsible for the soon-to-be-voted- out-of-office Liberals.  Rather, the current regime created the mess themselves over the last thirteen years.  There might be one traitor responsible for critical strategy leaks to media, bloggers and the rival parties but given the record of the Martinite cabal and their own incompetence in this election campaign, it seems a bit simplistic to blame the impending Liberal implosion on the work of one single covert operative.  Rather, the “mole” is not one man or woman, it is a veritable movement.  

The “mole” is every one of the Party volunteers who once served in riding associations across the country only to be squeezed out of duty for not supporting Paul Martin.  Since at least 1993, Martin’s team has decidedly, and ruthlessly, purged anyone who supported Jean Chretien from the grassroots of the Party.  They were exceptionally good at their mission.  Faithful party loyalists, in droves, were removed for not overtly backing Martin as the anointed next Party saviour.  By 2000, Martin supporters controlled an overwhelming majority of riding associations across the country.  Those who did not make the narrowly defined cut may not currently be in the Party, but they do live on, especially in this election.  Martin and his team may have underestimated the number of enemies they made from average everyday dedicated Liberals across the country.  

The “mole” is also not limited to the many, yes many, potential Liberal election candidates since 1993 that were cheated out of a legitimate opportunity to win nomination in their ridings as prospective MP’s.  They never had a chance if they did not endorse Martin outright.  Failure to do so would bring the vultures from Ottawa to stack the riding association meetings full of instant and entirely bogus memberships against the candidacy (remember Herb Dhaliwal anyone?).  One “mole” couldn’t do nearly as much damage to the Liberal brand in one election as the current Liberal regime has done to itself over the last thirteen years.  

Liberals who served their constituents well, within the House of Commons and the Privy Council also represent the “mole”.  Think Sheila Copps.  Is there any comparable example of treachery against a former Deputy Prime Minister in the history of this country?  Similarly, John Manley was left with no alternative but to retire from politics for having the audacity to run against Martin for leadership of the Party in 2003.  The Martin “Board” used their now infamous tactics to move both into political obscurity - except that there really is no such thing.  Sheila Copps lives on, even advising her local Conservative candidate on how to beat Tony Valeri.  She is doing radio spots and writing for the Sun newspapers.  Predictably, she is critical of the Martinites and their tactics.  Manley is widely touted as a potential leadership candidate to replace Martin.  One single “mole” in the current election could not possibly match the kind of backlash that Copps has created or the buzz that Manley continues to make in some Liberal circles as a credible replacement to Martin.  

The “mole” as it has been publicized does not take into account the “Kinsella Factor”(TM).  Via his site, he receives about 10,000 unique visits a day. Kinsella was, perhaps one of Jean Chretien’s most talented communications operatives.  Despite getting the typical cold shoulder from Martin supporters, he has openly offered his services to the current Liberal regime on a couple of occasions.  They predictably refused.  In response, he has befriended Conservative bloggers and who knows how many average-everyday-voters by documenting and directly challenging the Martinite political agenda at every turn.  He consistently publicizes that the Liberal party has been high jacked by Paul Martin and his supporters.  He lived it first hand.  Who can blame him for what some might consider betrayal.  There is no shortage of that this time around; one “mole” couldn’t produce this much animosity if they tried. 

Arrogance and incompetence is as self defeating as a supposed existence of an insider giving away the party secrets.  The Martin war room strategists have made several amateur blunders that have had the effect of turning the media against them.  Few political organizations can survive if they are being hammered on the evening news and in the papers everyday.  It was their fault.  Calling press conferences with no hint as to the content only to have media arrive finding nothing more than a glorified Martin pep rally pisses journalists off.  Not attending an interview in person, and instead, answering questions or contributing to the discussion via blackberry is not a terrific media relations strategy either.  Trying to intimidate CTV’s Mike Duffy into not pursuing questions on the now laughably infamous attack ads during a commercial break is a sure fire way to generate bad press and have the media turn on your cause.  And what about the “beer and popcorn” thigh slapper?  Running a campaign void of substance and having said lack-of-a-platform presented everyday by a leader who will say anything to anyone in order to maintain power is so foolishly transparent that the Press Gallery has no choice but to expose the fraud for what it is - a desperate campaign lead by desperate people with no guiding principles or vision beyond merely staying in office.  If arrogance and incompetence can be said to be a measure of treachery to the Party, the “mole” has nothing on the Martin camp.  

There may very well be one person within the Liberal war room who has been passing strategy plans to the media, opposition and bloggers before the intended release date.  We may never know for sure.  The “mole”, however, is not merely one person with an axe to grind against the Martinite cabal.  Whoever they might be, they are but one example in a sea of disaffected Liberals using this campaign to settle a few old scores with the current regime.  What goes around comes around.