I know the Tories hate FACTS but...

...Cherniak has provided them. This Brison affair seems pretty open and shut. And judging by his comments section, I think it's a safe bet that he's not as damaged as the prevailing wisdom goes. I read about 30 comments, and the tone of the vast majority of them indicates that they are Tories (it is true that more Tories read Cherniak's blog than Liberals), and they are using this opportunity to viciously attack Brison.

I would like to make two points here.

The first is that, if the Tories are attacking this guy so vociferously, the Liberals may be on to something. As a general rule, the more your opponents hate you and the more intensely they attack you, the more indication you have that you're on the right track.

The second is an appeal to Liberals. The last thing we need is an ugly leadership campaign. To have Liberals debating policy and ideas with each other is one thing - indeed, quite a healthy thing. But to engage in the kind of trench warfare that the Tories and the NDP will be directing against us in the coming election campaign can do nothing but harm. First of all, whoever ends up winning (and it could be Brison) will be damaged, and that's not a good thing. Like it or not, we'll be going into the next election with whomever is chosen at the leadership convention as our contender for prime minister. I don't think I should need to point out how bad it would be to have the Tories quoting Liberals in reference to our leader. And second, it alienates the target of the assault, and likewise their supporters, and that causes nothing but trouble - or are Liberals still in the process of learning that lesson? The danger of a leadership race is factionalism, but at the end of the day those factions have to be able to come back together again and unite behind the leader - if that's not possible, it's very bad for the party.

Don't like Scott Brison (or for that matter, Michael Ignatieff, or Belinda Stronach, etc.)? Don't vote for him. Don't like his ideas? Oppose and refute them. But let's try our best to refrain from the kind of dirty fighting and mudslinging the Tories like to engage in. I know the Conservatives hate the facts - like the fact that Paul Martin was innocent of any wrong-doing in the sponsorship scandal - but that means we have to champion them. If there is proof that Scott Brison is guilty of any wrong-doing, let it be presented, and I will withdraw my support for him, and join calls that he should not run for leader. But I absolutely refuse to buy into smear tactics being engaged in primarily by Brison's political opponents (or former allies with a vendetta), and believe that a completely innocuous email correspondence which the hard evidence suggests was just a repetition of already public facts and therefore not any kind of leak.

I make this pledge with regards to other leadership contenders, too. I don't particularly want Belinda Stronach to win, but if she does run, I won't stoop to the level of attacking her character. I'll attack her ideas (or lack of the same), not her person. I wish other Liberals would do the same - we've got to be better than the Tories. I'm well-aware that the majority of negative comments about Brison are coming from Conservatives - it's fairly obvious from the tone of them - but Liberals aren't helping the party by joining the enemy in attacking a potential leadership contender in this way.