Take our leaders... please

hates a politician. While these state

ments are sweeping generalizations, they do reflect actual public opinion to some extent; small wonder, then, that many politicians have recently taken to clowning around. In the past year we saw a strip-teasing Justice Minister, a robotic Liberal, and even a saxophone-playing president south of the border, and one wonders if politics are becoming more a form of show business than anything else. Political issues are bland and often somewhat depressing, so why not give the masses what they really want...entertainment! After all, with our still constitutionally divided country trying to strug- gle out ofa recession, a few laughs might be just the thing to take voters’ minds off the real issues. The public is a tough audience, and survival-conscious politicians are trying to put on a good show.

Mixing show biz and politics is far from a new concept. As ancient Rome declined, its leaders distracted the hungry populace with such public diversions as throwing some poor, unfortunate chap to the lions every now and again. More recently, a variety of somewhat less desperate politicians have been doing some rather strange things for publicity. Perhaps the latest erosion of: political decorum was sparked by Bill Clinton, the saxophonist who would be resident. Back when Bill was on the campaign tail, he made an appearance on the trendy, late- ight talk show hosted by Arsenio Hall and owed viewers by playing his saxophone. ‘mpaigning politicians are known for blow-

E verybody loves a clown. Everybody

d have fun, that he’s really a down-to-earth ‘gular guy; it puts a human face on the politi- lan for people to identify with. Compare this George Bush and Dan Quayle: can people ally identify with guys whose ideas of a good Ne include rousing games of horse shoes and icking fights with Murphy Brown? Evidently ', Since the voters dumped Bush in favour of linton. It?stoo late now, but George probably uld have benefited from some of the theatri- l Savvy of his popular predecessor, Ron gan, who at the “Shamrock Summit’” joined then-reasonably well-liked Prime Minister a lear-jerking rendition of ‘‘When Irish Eyes *Smiling”’. That showed everyone what fun WS they were, not to mention the finest “h tenors this side of a drunk tank. ther Canadian politicians are making simi- Y desperate bids for attention, Take, for ple, upwardly mobile Conservative cabi-

net member Kim Campbell, regarded by many as the heir-apparent of the hated Brian Mulroney. She recently raised eyebrows and ire by appear- ing as a photo subject in the new book entitled Portraits: Canadian Women in Focus. The prob- lem? Kim posed behind a lawyer’s robe so as to make it look like she was naked behind it. Ethics aside, the book’s cheesecake is selling like hotcakes and Campbell recently received a new appointment as Defence Minister, so her political career is not suffering. Meanwhile, the Liberal party’s number one woman, Sheila Copps, has pulled off an even more bizarre publicity stunt by appearing ona Quebec televi- sion satire as ‘‘RoboCopps’’, half woman-half robot. Is there something in the water in Ot- tawa? Are the politicians crazy?

Copps and Campbell are crazy...like foxes. Virtually any publicity is good publicity, and stunts like these make a politician both highly visible and perhaps a bit more appealing. Copps

and Campbell may, like Clinton, Tepresent a new, slicker breed of politician that seeks to win us over with spectacle, amusement, smoke and mirrors. The Prime Minister and the rest of the old boys might do well to learn a few new tricks before the hook reaches out to yank them off- stage. Mulroney’s Irish eyes stopped smiling a long time ago, and most of his beleaguered Colleagues are lucky to manifest vital Signs, let alone star quality. Tired, jaded voters just may respond to politicians who show a bit of flash. It’s rather ironic when one considers that the first meeting of our political founding fathers in Charlottetown was at the time overshadowed by the circus coming to town. Perhaps, 125 years later, Canadian politicians have decided that a touch of show biz might not be a bad idea. After all, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Sean McQuaid Entertaining Editor

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