How much do these leadership showcases matter? Greg Fingas recalls Stephane Dion’s showing at the Liberal convention in 2006.

Much of Stephane Dion’s tenure as leader of the Libs was defined by a basic inability to handle even relatively basic planning and message coordination when it counted – ranging from his campaign interview false-start, to the late-delivered and poor-quality video that did so much to undermine the 2008 coalition. But less noted is that Libs had an obvious hint as to his difficulties in the area: at the leadership convention where he was elected, Dion had the plug pulled on a convention speech which seemed to bear little relationship to the time allotted…

So while it’ll be worth watching how much the candidates can inspire the crowd on Friday, we should also pay close attention to whether anybody’s campaign shows signs of disorganization on the biggest stage the leadership candidates will face.