I'm going to do a post about each of the first two, since I have a fair bit to say about each.
Paul Martin: I had strong doubts about the man back in his 'heir apparent' days. I used to think "Why is Paul Martin so popular within the Liberal party? Why do these people like him so much? I don't see him as particularly appealling, charismatic, charming, or thought-provoking at all."
At the time, I was hoping that Brian Tobin would assume the leadership of the Liberal Party after Jean Chretien left (I'm a Newfoundlander, which is admittably part of my reason for this
). Watching Brian Tobin doing damage control for the Liberals lately has made it clear to me - he's by far the most cool, calm, and collected Liberal out there campaigning for his party. The man is smooth as silk. If he was leader of the Liberals right now, I would at least be consider voting for them. The Liberals would have been far better off with the genuinely likeable Tobin than with Martin.
Martin, in my view, is simply your typical run-of-the-mill politician, who is very good in a top cabinet position (I don't deny that he was an outstanding Finance Minister), but not well-suited for leadership of a political party. As I said to many Liberals back during his virtual coronation, "Why do you think being a great Finance Minister makes one a great Prime Minister? A Finance Minister doesn't have to think diddly squat about cultural/social issues, foreign policy, constitutional issues, and numerous other important issues to Canadians. I see no evidence that Paul Martin is very well versed in any of these areas."
His very poor handling of the notwithstanding clause issue is bearing that out.
I don't think that Paul Martin is a particularly corrupt politician, but I did get the feeling that he wanted to be Prime Minister simply for the sake of being Prime Minister. There hasn't been any grand vision coming from him, as there was with Pierre Trudeau, nor was there even the sense of wanting to continue on a strong tradition, as Jean Chretien wanted to carry on the Trudeau tradition.
In the likely event that the Liberals lose this election, they'll be better off with out him as their leader. He was an excellent Finance Minister, probably a decent enough guy for a politician, but ultimately a terrible party leader.