Interesting story -- of course the Leadership is still a long way off
Economic crisis shifts political odds
James Travers
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/538533
OTTAWA
Stephen Harper, Gordon Brown and Bob Rae are connected by more than the title of prime minister that two of them now hold and one hopes is still within reach. That oddball gang of three can only watch, less and more helplessly, as personal as well as national prospects are recast by the crushing weight of a financial crisis.
Considering them in reverse order, Rae is an obvious casualty. Arguably the most cerebral, seasoned and skilled Canadian politician not to currently occupy high elected office, Ontario's once and only NDP premier is in danger of becoming a Liberal leadership also-ran. Rae would have been a fine, even winning choice in Montreal two years ago. Now his economic record, and what Conservatives would do with it if he succeeds Stéphane Dion, makes him high risk in hard times.
No matter how justified, Rae's public bellyaching over a private Liberal weekend forum is a reminder of his diminished position. Bickering over process is a lame way to trip front-running Michael Ignatieff.
Like Brown, the British prime minister, Ignatieff is enjoying an unanticipated boost from the most worrying downturn since the Great Depression. Brown, thanks to his quick support for British banks, is back in the partisan thick of it at home while Ignatieff is benefiting from collateral damage suffered by his only serious rival.
No comments:
Post a Comment