Clement Takes Shot At Martin

Finally one of the Conservative Party leadership contenders is going after the Martin government. Tony Clement is the first to come out strongly against Paul Martin's involvement with the sponsorship scandal:

The sponsorship scandal is "the closest Canada has come to our very own Enron — wide-scale looting of the taxpayers' coffers to benefit the friends of the Liberal Party," Mr. Clement told a joint meeting of Toronto's Empire and Canadian clubs in a banquet room salted with his supporters, including former Tory cabinet minister John Crosbie.

“Paul Martin was the chief financial officer of this terrible and crooked enterprise,” Mr. Clement said. “As CFO, he was either implicated or incompetent. Either way, he is accountable."

I haven't been paying much attention to the Conservative leadership race but Tony has perked my ears with this speech. This is exactly what I want in a party leader: someone who forcefully goes after the Liberals and their record.

Most conservative arguments against the Liberal's these last few years have amounted to generalized policy differences. When pushed by the Liberals, conservatives have rolled over. So while Paul Martin was hitting the TV and radio shows these last few weeks, conservatives have been silent, making principled statements that no-one cared to hear.

Up to this point I've been leaning towards Steven Harper as party leader. Steven is strong on policy and a reliable leader who won't make any major mistakes. The problem is of course that he is too nice and polite. Good qualities in a person of course but its not going to get you on the airwaves.

So right now my vote for party leader is up for grabs between Harper and Clement. What will they do to earn my vote? If Tony follows this speech up with more of the same then he's gonna make this a very easy decision for me.