Thread by @JeffRybak

Since the #olpldr voting last weekend, I've been promising an update. I had an unusually positive experience, considering. But that only goes so far. I think the next move rests with @StevenDelDuca's team, and so far I'm not seeing it. But first the positives. #onpoli 1/18

No matter the ugly campaign tactics that intrude on every election, the actual voting process was mainly positive. "Team Neutral" (the #olp volunteers) did a good job. And many interactions reminded me that we are all, in the end, branches of the same family #olpldr #onpoli 2/18

I'm proud to say as a scrutineer the test I applied wasn't "can I stop someone voting for the other guy" but rather "is this person voting in good faith?" Everyone I saw applied the same test. I hear things weren't perfect everywhere, but what I saw was good. #olpldr #onpoli 3/18

When votes were counted, again, I saw scrutineers from every team and volunteers ask "is the intention on this ballot clear?" and apply that test fairly. It's amazing how far these small things can go to restore trust on the ground level. That's not nothing. #olpldr #onpoli 4/18

Seeing diversity in action was also inspiring. Without going too much into specifics, anyone who thinks it's possible to ID who is supporting whom based on race, ethnicity, gender, or anything else is just wrong. It's all over the map - as it should be. #olpldr #onpoli 5/18

Collegiality on the ground was strong. As I was scrutineering for @coteau, a friend doing the same for @MitzieHunter (he's a banker) was giving advice on environmentally ethical investing to a @KateMarieGraham volunteer. @StevenDelDuca's guy was there too. #olpldr #onpoli 6/18

Finally, credit to @OmarYKhan for offering the best argument for @StevenDelDuca I've heard yet. He said Del Duca is running for the job as it exists - to lead the #olp - while everyone else is running for the job they wish it was. Made me think, at least. #olpldr #onpoli 7/18

Onto the bad. Everyone is crowing about @StevenDelDuca's apparent dominance, but missing how little engagement there was all around. Del Duca has been running for two years. Compared to that, everyone else got into it yesterday. Read the results in context. #olpldr #onpoli 8/18

Total membership is still very small, despite all campaign efforts. Only a fraction of the whole cared enough to show up. In a lot of places, it took less than ten votes to get a delegate. Delegates were imported to ridings where not enough locals ran at all. #olpldr #onpoli 9/18

Here's the bottom line. If @StevenDelDuca wins this thing, what's he won? He's got half a party, the whole of which isn't good enough to win any election, as stands. And so far, I'm seeing no sign at all he's interested in reaching out to the other half. #olpldr #onpoli 10/18

My criticism of @StevenDelDuca, all along, is more what he stands for (and his team) than the man himself. It's the Liberal old guard - still convinced what worked in the past will work again. They don't want to change, and they ran a campaign against it. #olpldr #onpoli 11/18

What incentive is there for anyone to remain in this party - the many people signed up by @coteau, @KateMarieGraham, @MitzieHunter, @AlvinTedjo and @LiberalBrenda? So far I'm hearing nothing. Team Del Duca says it's over. So what happens next? #olpldr #onpoli 12/18

Here's what I see. The bones of the party are still strong. The front line volunteers - the people who make things happen - are all good people. But I can't say the same thing about everyone at the top - the very people advising @StevenDelDuca right now. #olpldr #onpoli 13/18

The classic insider attitude is very simple. The winners win, they divide the spoils, and the losers go home. Many working for Del Duca live by those rules. And if that's what happens next, quite frankly, we're all screwed. We may well see Ford reelected. #olpldr #onpoli 14/18

The only way this works, the ONLY way it works, is if Del Duca is truly the brilliant organizer everyone says he is - so much so that he now stops listening only to his own camp and starts listening to everyone. Which sure as hell won't be easy. #olpldr #onpoli 15/18

I said if @StevenDelDuca won I would resign from the party. What I saw last weekend made me reconsider, just a bit. It wasn't anything Del Duca did himself. It was regular Liberals - his volunteers and others - good people who reminded me why we do this. #olpldr #onpoli 16/18

Maybe a Liberal Party led by @StevenDelDuca could include agents for change - myself and others. The opening is there. But if that's going to happen, the messaging has to change really fast. Because "we won, get on board" isn't nearly good enough. #olpldr #onpoli 17/18

On March 6/7, I'll be at the #olpldr convention as a @coteau delegate. I won't lie - I had to think about it. I'll listen and participate. But if it turns out that I'm window dressing in a @StevenDelDuca coronation, I'll be resigning my membership on the way out. #onpoli 18/18