How Long before Ignatieff Quits Politics for good???

[james t kirk]

Watching this egomaniac at work, one can't help but wonder how long it will be before he quits politics and runs off south to Harvard again.

I never believed for one moment that Iggie was sincere. This guy is 100% out for himself. The very fact that he hasn't resided in Canada for 30 years and the liberals even THINK about him as a leader shows just how idiotic they (the liberals) are.

Now that Iggie has been shown the gate as leader of the liberals I bet that he quits politics altogether and we see a bi-election is etobicoke Lakeshore within a year.

Question to the peanut gallery - How long before Iggie throws in the towel and goes home with his ball?

I say he quits within a month. He's not going to be some back bench politician of a party in opposition.

 

[Never Compromised]

Give him until the next election. He can then lose the nomination in Etobicoke Lakeshore to the local Ukranian candidate and slink off to some ivory tower again. Remember, he was returning to Canada to take over U or T, but that job has now been filled.

 

[mattd39]

Watching this egomaniac at work, one can't help but wonder how long it will be before he quits politics and runs off south to Harvard again.

I never believed for one moment that Iggie was sincere. This guy is 100% out for himself. The very fact that he hasn't resided in Canada for 30 years and the liberals even THINK about him as a leader shows just how idiotic they (the liberals) are.

Now that Iggie has been shown the gate as leader of the liberals I bet that he quits politics altogether and we see a bi-election is etobicoke Lakeshore within a year.

Question to the peanut gallery - How long before Iggie throws in the towel and goes home with his ball?

I say he quits within a month. He's not going to be some back bench politician of a party in opposition.

I agree with you. He did not contribute to Canadian society for 30 years and now he wants a chance to run the country. I don't understand how he was even a candidate for the liberal leadership.

 

[Stoo]

I don't understand how he was even a candidate for the liberal leadership.

Because the Liberals are desperate for a strong leader. (I'm not suggesting he was the better choice btw.) Dion seems like a really "nice" guy, but whether is up to a scrap, I have my doubts...

When I was watching the race on Saturday, I had a distinct "none of the above" feeling. Kinda like the last Federal Election. And the Provincial one. And the Municipal one (in Hamilton)...

 

[moviefan]

I think it will be far more interesting to see what Bob Rae does. Will he run as a Liberal? I doubt it, but Rae has certainly been full of surprises.

 

[wollensak]

I agree with you. He did not contribute to Canadian society for 30 years and now he wants a chance to run the country. I don't understand how he was even a candidate for the liberal leadership.

Apparently he's well known outside Canada, and of course his father was a well-respected Canadian diplomat. He was chosen by the higher-ups in the Liberal party who perhaps respected his intellectual credentials and saw him as someone to re-establish Canada on the world stage and above all someone who was not tainted by the sponsorship scandal. He and Bob Rae were Rhodes scholars at Oxford. I suspect the party leadership thought he could become another Lester Pearson. He seemed to have foot-in-mouth disease vis-a-vis Israel and Quebec which didn't help him. Again, he's an academic and not used to political life.

I am sure he was smart enough for the top job, but the membership of the Liberal party decided, probably correctly, that he would be unable to connect with the Canadian people.

Remember that the Conservatives feared him most of all when the Leadership campaign began, so perhaps the Liberal brass weren't that far off the mark at least initially.

 

[wollensak]

Steve vs Steve

Because the Liberals are desperate for a strong leader. (I'm not suggesting he was the better choice btw.) Dion seems like a really "nice" guy, but whether is up to a scrap, I have my doubts...

He's the guy that drafted the "Clarity Act". That really deflated the Quebec separatists and eroded a lot of their popular support He's a lot tougher and smarter than he looks. Stay tuned for "Sreve vs Steve".

 

[Fritz96]

Remember that the Conservatives feared him most of all when the Leadership campaign began, so perhaps the Liberal brass weren't that far off the mark at least initially.

That was a plant by the Conservatives. Rae was the one they were most worried about.

 

[danmand]

Apparently he's well known outside Canada, and of course his father was a well-respected Canadian diplomat. He was chosen by the higher-ups in the Liberal party who perhaps respected his intellectual credentials and saw him as someone to re-establish Canada on the world stage and above all someone who was not tainted by the sponsorship scandal. He and Bob Rae were Rhodes scholars at Oxford. I suspect the party leadership thought he could become another Lester Pearson. He seemed to have foot-in-mouth disease vis-a-vis Israel and Quebec which didn't help him. Again, he's an academic and not used to political life.

I am sure he was smart enough for the top job, but the membership of the Liberal party decided, probably correctly, that he would be unable to connect with the Canadian people.

Remember that the Conservatives feared him most of all when the Leadership campaign began, so perhaps the Liberal brass weren't that far off the mark at least initially.

When I saw his speach to the delegates the other night, I had this deja vue feeling seeing Al Gore. Ignatief had the same "talking slowly so the idiots will understand me" approach. Awful.

 

[Stoo]

He's a lot tougher and smarter than he looks. Stay tuned for "Sreve vs Steve".

I agree that he is very bright. I question is ability to gain popular support though... It will be an interesting election though, and a little birdie tells me that we might see one sooner rather than later!

 

[slowpoke]

I agree that he is very bright. I question is ability to gain popular support though... It will be an interesting election though, and a little birdie tells me that we might see one sooner rather than later!

Dion and the Liberals are now probably seen as the underdogs / saviours of the environment / more responsible development etc, occupying the moderate centre to slightly left on the political spectrum. Dion's geeky persona is pretty far removed from the Liberal establishment types of old - which will help dispel fears about hard core sponsorship criminals still lurking in the Liberal party. He's just too nerdy to be a bad guy.

Now that Harper has confirmed his "environment-comes-a-distant-second" / friend of big oil / social program cutting tendencies, Canadians will be able to choose between these two styles of government rather than the leaders' personalities. Dion needs a bit of time to get in the door and get his feet wet but Harper will need a very good reason to call another election without paying a political penalty for playing games. So Dion and the Liberals should be able to bide their time and avoid a non-confidence situation for long enough to prepare themselves. The sponsorship scandal was the issue that gave Harper the edge in the last election and helped him overcome Canadians' natural tendency to vote for the centre left party. If Canadians could elect Chretien, they should have no trouble electing Dion.

 

[woolf]

Dion's leadership will hurt the NDP (and probably the Greens as well) a bit, but as for those who would not be able to vote for the Liberals with him as a leader, it would only be the hard core of the other parties (ie. his language skills are not going to put anyone off except the hard core Reformatories who would never vote Lib anyway; and his Federalists leanings will only prevent hard core Quebec Nationalists from voting Liberla, something they would never do anyway.)

The Liberals are "the natural governing party of Canada" and without a serious issue like corruption hanging around their necks, the Libreals are always the odds on favourite to win.

I'm just thankful they didn't pick Igiot, the first USian to run for the Canadian PM position.

 

[slowpoke]

Dion's leadership will hurt the NDP (and probably the Greens as well) a bit, but as for those who would not be able to vote for the Liberals with him as a leader, it would only be the hard core of the other parties (ie. his language skills are not going to put anyone off except the hard core Reformatories who would never vote Lib anyway; and his Federalists leanings will only prevent hard core Quebec Nationalists from voting Liberla, something they would never do anyway.)

The Liberals are "the natural governing party of Canada" and without a serious issue like corruption hanging around their necks, the Libreals are always the odds on favourite to win.

I'm just thankful they didn't pick Igiot, the first USian to run for the Canadian PM position.

I could see someone who would normally vote Green changing his vote to the Liberals just to make sure Dion gets in. If the environment is really your priority, it seems like a no-brainer to vote for a green PM rather than a green party that may not even take a single seat. The one area where Dion might be vulnerable is the lousy track record of the Liberals in actually cutting carbon emissions. They signed Kyoto but the emissions kept going up. Targets are only useful if you actually shoot at them - something the Liberals don't seem to have done.

 

[robert99]

Hi,

I bet Dion does the old liberal trick of ripping off the better policies of the opposition and getting elected and staying elected.

EU

I think everyone benefits from this - isn't it great that a winning party doesn't partisanly dismiss great ideas just because it didn't come from them?

 

[slowpoke]

Hi,

I bet Dion does the old liberal trick of ripping off the better policies of the opposition and getting elected and staying elected.

EU

One thing Dion won't be "ripping off" is the Harper environmental policies. There aren't any.....

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

He did not contribute to Canadian society for 30 years and now he wants a chance to run the country. I don't understand how he was even a candidate for the liberal leadership.

His candidacy shouldn't be as hard to understand as Bob Rae's. Before the "call to duty" he was with another party.

Besides, if contribution to Canadian society is a litmus test for leadership, should we reward contributions that have had a negative effect? Primarily that of Bob Rae's mis-management of Ontario?

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

That was a plant by the Conservatives. Rae was the one they were most worried about.

I sincerely doubt the Conservatives were worried about Rae. If Rae would have won, the Liberal stranglehold on Urban Ontario would have certainly been lost. I believe they would have liked to see Rae win for this reason.

Dion should help the Conservatives in Quebec, unless he can over come the Clarity Act thing.

It should be an interesting year ahead. I'm not sure about Dion yet, but I think he will do a good job. He's been somewhat successful in all his other endeavours.

I picked Dion as the winner back in October.

 

[LancsLad]

Well little booby raes ego and little ignats ego just fuc*ed each other royally. Wonder if they had a smoke after.

 

[woolf]

His candidacy shouldn't be as hard to understand as Bob Rae's. Before the "call to duty" he was with another party.

Besides, if contribution to Canadian society is a litmus test for leadership, should we reward contributions that have had a negative effect? Primarily that of Bob Rae's mis-management of Ontario?

Not to defend Rae, but I don't get the argument from the right concerning Rae.

First off, the world was in a recession, Ontario was not the only jurisdiction to have suffered a downturn during that period ... matter of fact, very few governments made any economic headway during that period.

Second, Rae days, the real reason the NDP lost support of their base in Ontario, was as right wing a policy as one can imagine ... right wingers should be singing the praises of Rae knowing that when push comes to shove he is just as capable of screwing the little guy as any conservative.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

Not to defend Rae, but I don't get the argument from the right concerning Rae.

First off, the world was in a recession, Ontario was not the only jurisdiction to have suffered a downturn during that period ... matter of fact, very few governments made any economic headway during that period.

Second, Rae days, the real reason the NDP lost support of their base in Ontario, was as right wing a policy as one can imagine ... right wingers should be singing the praises of Rae knowing that when push comes to shove he is just as capable of screwing the little guy as any conservative.

You don't get the argument? You must not have been living in Ontario when Rae pushed a 1 billion dollar deficit into 17 billion dollar one in just 3 years. Recession or not, he almost bankrupted this province while other Premiers managed to ride out the recession without this type of fiscal instability.

I guess you didn't mind, things were still peachy on the reserve.