Angry in the Great White North

Elizabeth May is the leader of Canada's Green Party, and she will taking on one of Canada's most powerful and popular MPs in the next election:

The leader of the federal Green party admits she faces an uphill fight to a seat in Parliament by trying to knock off Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in his Nova Scotia riding.

Elizabeth May first made the announcement Sunday from Antigonish, which sits in the northeastern Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova, on CTV's Question Period. She made her intentions official a few hours later at a news conference.

"I think that it's a -- I like a challenging race," May told host Jane Taber, who asked May if she was crazy.

Crazy like a fox.

May can't win. But there is losing well and losing badly. If May ran in a riding in British Columbia where the Greens poll well, and loses, people will wonder if there are any circumstances under which the Greens can win a seat.

On the other hand, by going against a major MP in a riding willing to vote Conservative, May takes the sting out of losing. There will be all sorts of reasons that can explain her loss: Peter MacKay's popularity, his clout as a cabinet minister, the particularly strong tradition in Atlantic Canada to go with incumbents.

That the Greens were doomed might never really be mentioned, and the Greens need an election cycle in which they are taken seriously in order to build up support for the next cycle. Not popular support, mind you, but support in the media. That quality which allows you to be taken seriously.

But there is a bonus. By taking on a relatively uncontroversial cabinet minister, but a powerful one, Elizabeth May ensures that there will be more than the fair share of media attention focused on this riding because of her. That sort of free exposure is another thing the Greens need over the course of an election when people are tuning in to political news.

No, she's not crazy. Elizabeth May knows how to turn almost certain defeat to her advantage. That takes smarts and rationality by the pound.