Most who watched NDP Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition Jack Layton announce last month he was battling a new bout of cancer, in their hearts, knew he wouldn't make it. He looked and sounded so shockingly frail, particularly for a man who, until recently, exuded such energy and vigor, that it was impossible to come to any other conclusion.
So few were suprised when Jack lost his battle this morning.
Unlike celebrities in music and movies -- Madonna, Oprah, Cher, Beyonce -- who often go by one name in the public consciousness, few politicians manage that singular feat. In fact, the only other Canadian pol I can think of who ever pulled it off was Lester 'Mike' Pearson. There's probably good reason for this. Canadian politicians are mostly a drab bunch who rarely achieve celebrity status.
Jack was 'Jack' to all of us, however, not so much for his celebrity -- though there was certainly a glint of that Pierre Trudeau appeal, particularly in Quebec -- but for his connection with the common man. You may not have always agreed with his politics or economics but no one could ever accuse Jack to being in anyone's pocket -- other than the bus driver's, teacher's or short-order cook's. Jack worked for the working class.
Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper, for their part, always looked pained or awkward sipping a beer with regular joes or spinning cotton candy and wearing traditional headgear at a Sikh event. Jack was always in his element, and it's what made him connect so powerfully with people.
Make no mistake. Jack was a politician. And that meant invariably there were words out of his mouth that he probably didn't believe and promises he would likely never keep. That goes with the territory in politics. But Jack's gift, like Bill Clinton's, was that you couldn't help believe that he believed what he said or that he cared.
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