Governor Carney’s future political career looking good part 2

It is tough to keep up with our perfect future political candidate, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (see prior post “Governor Carney’s future political career looking good” Sept 10-10).

Last Friday, he was broadcasting on CNBC from the Canadian Museum of Civilization. As visually perfect a setting as there is for a campaign event. And CNBC is the platform for anyone in international finance. This morning, the Toronto Star’s David Olive is jumping on our bandwagon (see prior post “Carney strikes a populist tone” Sept 16-10) with a column touting Mr. Carney’s international clout.

A friend in Ottawa tells me that even the Parliamentary Press Gallery has noticed that Mr. Carney has started to look like a would-be, high-wattage retail politician (my description — they’re not as romantic about the idea, and they just say that he’s running).

Mr. Carney — this is all coming on a bit strong. A bit fast. And a touch overt. The entire strategy (see prior post “Carney strikes a populist tone part 2” Sept 17-10) was supposed to be subtle. Unfortunately, other people are starting to notice what we’re up to. Which only makes sense if there’s an immediate endgame.

The Liberal leadership is firmly in the hands of Michael Ignatieff, and Prime Minister Harper is a very young man. Neither of those jobs will be free in a timeframe that requires you to sprint right now. Let’s build a grassroots network, and not merely through the media; time for a moratorium on the outward-facing campaign. A least until the next interest rate decision.

The power of the ultimate campaign launch will, in part, flow from the utter surprise of it all. That’s looking a mite tenuous right now.

MRM