It's difficult to fight a two-headed snake and Bob Rae's decision, yesterday proves it. Iggy's political cache and backroom manipulation was just too much for Rae.
Now, the mad ranting Adler on CORUS "entertainment"(?) says Rae is prone to "dramatically fallible judgment". We also wonder if it's true? Now to be clear, we are not questioning Rae's move because some braggadocios, gaseous, hate-filled, little fat-boy on the airwaves is making hay and already saying Iggy's leadership has no legitimacy. No, we are questioning Rae's move, in a sane rational fashion, because it matters.
Was Rae's withdrawal an example of expediency trumping principle? Or was it logic trumping desire? Some, such as Smart Arse, believe Rae's withdrawal is evidence of an astute politician. Realizing his run for the leadership was likely to be fraught with futility; the man did what any logical pol would do - he framed his move as one in the best interests of his party and pledged to back Iggy to the nth degree in the battle against Harper. Others, notably Fat Arse, are skeptical. They wonder whether Iggy's take-no-prisoners leadership strategy has left too bitter an aftertaste in Rae's craw to allow for a working relationship between the two men. Especially where the coalition is concerned. But Fat Arse is willing to take Rae at his word and give him a chance to live up to the very high bar he set for himself yesterday.
Unity, a fleeting commodity within the Liberal party lo these past years may, indeed, be at hand. But it will take two to make it work. And Fat Arse believes it will be up to Iggy to ensure he resists his well-established Machiavellian impulse to control the entire agenda. Only then will it be possible for he and Rae to forge a workable relationship. Should they succeed, Harper may very well soon find himself up against a new two-headed snake - one he cannot beat. Time will tell.
As for the venomous ranting Adler - keep it up fat-boy - we're just waiting for the day you choke on your toxic tongue on-air. It can't be too soon for us.
I don't know, I saw his press conference, & Rae seemed pretty sincere to me. He saw the writing on the wall -- he wasn't gonna win, & dragging it out would doom the very coalition he was trying to pin his hopes to, and he did the right thing falling on his sword. And don't blame Iggy -- he stayed out of it, waiting for things to sort themselves out. The Executive made the right decision: they needed a solid leader, fast, or Harper could keep taking cheap shots at how undemocratic & ineffectual they'd be with the electorate-rejected Dion or just an interim leader.
ReplyDeleteBut we can't believe one thing the Con's are already & will be saying about this. This is the outcome they feared: they wanted Dion, no-leader, or Rae, as the easy-to-ridicule & demonize wobbly heads of the UnGodly Coalition. But what probably cemented Rae's decision, & is fueling the Con's mock indignation over this happened-faster-than-they-could-ever-imagine resolution to the leadership contest, is a poll released the night before Rae's decision, that, if the election were held tomorrow, it'd be 38% Harper vs. 34% for Iggy as new Lib Leader, in contrast to (something like) 42% Harper vs. just 28% if it was Rae.
I think that result would stand. I really don't think that the Lib's could win an election right now with Rae, given that so many Ontarians blame him for, & most of the rest of us don't know any better & so will agree, the recession & slow recovery during his time as Premier. Whereas, apart from the Tall Poppy Syndrome of disliking him because of his accomplishments, the only real baggage Iggy has -- of being too pro-war & pro-Bush shenanigans, post-911 -- apply equally to Harper.
Cheeky,
ReplyDeleteGotta agree with most your points. The fact is Rae had no choice. You are right, he would have worn the early-90s fiasco at the national polls in Ontario. The fact it was a cyclical downturn during a period of corporate retrenchment that Rae bore precious little responsibility is besides the point. The Cons would have made him wear it nevertheless. Moving forward though, his voice is important to the common front the Libs need to present in January.
Only a group of left-wingers would engage in this kind of hate speech against Charles Adler. He is one of the few media voices who speaks for people.
ReplyDelete@Anon(2): That's right, we hate that blowhard. But you are joking. You're joking right? If not, bwahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteI predicted Rae was a sacrificial lamb well before he resigned. How can he be taken seriously when he runs around the country selling the Liberal's pact with the devil(s) through their coalition?
ReplyDeleteDion was a pathetic lame ass horse's butt. Rae is a joke given his "success" in the past as the NDPish Premier of Ontario.
And can Ignatieff really represent the average Canadian given that he has spent the majority of his adult life outside Canada?