Random Access

"Parrish seeks council seat in Mississauga," trumpets the headline in today's Globe and Mail.
Wow. Municipal election coverage in The Globe in January. What's going on?
The celebrity factor is going on, of course.
In a story that stretches right across the top of A9, Carolyn Parrish's political federal history is regurgitated to the nth detail, with nary a mention of her years as a school trustee and local school board chair because, you know, that was before she hit the big time.
Neither the Globe story or a similar one in The Star last week mentioned former Ward 7 councillor Ron Starr, who registered to become the new Ward 6 councillor before Parrish did. He's just as well-known in this community as the former MP.
But then, Starr never did a two-step on a Bush doll on national TV, was never profiled in several pages of Toronto Life and never debated with Wolf Blitzer and Tucker Carlson (no relation to George) on CNN.
My guess is that, by now, Starr is starting to figure out just how stacked against him the media deck is going to be in this election.
Through the process of scoffing at George Bush and ruffling the feathers of the American right , Parrish has morphed into one of those figures who somehow's gotten bigger than the political process itself.
She's in Sheila Copps, Dougie Gilmour, Svend Robinson, Don Cherry, yes ... even Hazel McCallion territory now.
It's inherently unfair that Parrish can command all this attention from the outset and garner publicity that no other candidate in Mississauga can expect, although it's clearly not her fault either.
The Globe article implies that Parrish is lowering herself to seek a council seat.
"Carolyn Parrish wants a job that involves debating urban sewer systems and how to foil the gypsy moth," it sniffs, as if representing people's needs in the neighbourhoods where they live each and every day is somehow beneath a real politician.
Hard as it is to believe, Carolyn Parrish, or rather the cult of Carolyn Parrish, looks as if it's going to overshadow the rest of this election campaign.
If I'm Ms. Parrish, I'm actually a little worried about this phenomenon.
The cult of personality has a double edge.
Do you suppose some of those voters in Ward 6 will be suspicious of Parrish's motives for gracing their ward with her political baggage?
Do you suppose that some of them might actually relish the opportunity to vote against her and tell the rest of the world that they aren't automatically genuflecting at the feet of the idol?
There's something about an annointed superstar candidate (Michael Ignatieff, anyone?) that just gets under people's skins.