Given that I was born in 1966, I don't really have memories of 1968. But something tells me that if I did, Michael Ignatieff would be bringing those early days of Pierre Elliott Trudeau-mania back to mind.

I was fortunate enough to attend a fundraiser for Michael last night here in Toronto, and then have a brief chat with him and his lovely wife Susanna immediately following. I was connected in to the campaign via Brad Davis, who is running policy and web stuff for Michael and spoke on the political panel at mesh last week. I am really interested in how the web is going to influence politics in Canada, and so I may have provided the odd suggestion to Brad ;-) I should also say that I am not political per se - in fact, I'm not member of any party, and in the past I've voted for everybody from the NDP to the PCs (I don't think I could ever support the nouveau-Reformistas in power today, but anyway...). And, I think that the Liberal Party still faces some serious challenges to overcome the faults of a few in the whole Sponsor-gate thing. But enough about that. That's the past. I went to hear about the future.

So, let me talk about Michael. This is one smokin' smart and passionate dude. He was at the end of a long day, and he still managed to illicit a depth of thoughtfulness, clarity and emotional connection with the topics and the audience that was truly impressive. And what a breath of fresh air from a potential political leader. There were none of the traditional platitudes, the canned delivery of soundbites, or the trying to stay "on message". I mean, here was a guy that actually *knows* this stuff. He can comment on Darfur because he just bloody *knows* it. He can talk about investing in education because he just bloody *knows* it. He can speak to needing to do right by the environment for our families and futures because he just bloody *knows* it.

When is the last time you can remember a serious contender for high political office in this country who was so clearly smart *and* compassionate? Right. It's been awhile, hasn't it.

In fact it last started in 1968, by my estimation.

Go get 'em, Michael.

Tags: michaelignatieff