TORONTO - Hundreds of people, including Michael Ignatieff and scores of other Liberals, paid tribute today to Keith Davey, the legendary party organizer.
Davey, dubbed the "rainmaker" because of his near-magic political instincts, died Monday at age 84 after a long illness.
Davey's funeral today in Toronto attracted many Liberals -- politicians and strategists, federal and provincial, young and old.
He was remembered as a very successful campaign director, but one who didn't succumb to negative attacks on his opponents.
Davey was also remembered as a strategist through and through by his son, who said when the family played cards his dad would keep score and assign odds to everyone.
Davey earned iconic status within the Liberal party after serving as campaign director for prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.
He was credited with returning the Liberals to power in 1963 under Pearson, who appointed Davey to the Senate.
After a near-loss in 1972, Trudeau relied on Davey's organizational and strategic savvy to regain a majority in 1974.
And, after a nine-month interlude in opposition, Trudeau again tapped Davey to engineer election victory in 1980.
Such was Davey's reputation for campaign wizardry that John Turner turned to him in the midst of a disastrous 1984 campaign to try -- unsuccessfully, as it turned out -- to salvage Liberal fortunes.
Davey subsequently became one of Turner's severest critics, disparaging him in his 1986 memoir, "The Rainmaker: A Passion for Politics."
