Back in my political days, I got to know an older fellow by the name of Orville Kennedy. He was the "behind-the-scenes" guy for Alberta's Social Credit Party, which stayed in power for four decades.

In keeping politicians in line, Orville had a simple rule: "Don't do anything you wouldn't want to see in the headlines." Social Credit more or less stayed out of scandal during their long tenure.

Yes, they made mistakes in policy. And they did lose touch with the people. But any scandal got dealt with appropriately before it got too big.

Politicians will make mistakes in policy development. They are not wizards in predicting how their ideas will always work out--even though they have to pretend that they are wizards.

But trip to the Carribean is not that kind of mistake. It was right for Mr. Ford to push Mr. Phillips aside. Voters should question a party's abilities to find good policy if it cannot stay out of scandals. Even innocent scandals.