'(CP) - Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae, backed by former prime minister Jean Chretien's right-hand man, will set the stage Monday for a likely Liberal leadership run with a speech in Winnipeg outlining challenges facing the country.
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'They hope he could counter that by helping consolidate a left-of-centre coalition that would eventually squeeze out the NDP.
' "The division on the right is past. Now we have a division on the left," said the source.
' "Certainly a type like Bob Rae could build a stronger coalition of the centre-left to defeat the Conservatives."(link)
Maybe they should throw a "United Alternative" Conference. When the NDP refuse to co-operate they could change the Liberal Party name and claim to be an amalgation of the two left wing parties... I'm thinking "The Democratic Party" is a perfect name to use... Or is that too American for the America haters faction in the Canuckian left?
As much as I have the profound urge to vehemently vomit when I think of the words "Prime Minister Bob Rae" I have to say strategically this makes sense. The Liberal party needs someone from the left of the party to re-unite the warring factions. Ignatieff, that lovable Harvard brat, is too centrist. Ken Dryden, and Martin Cauchon fare much better on the government loving, people distrusting leftist agenda meter. Bob Rae, has those credentials in oogles.
On top of that his image has been ressurected as of late. Mainly because people have a short attention span and can't remember past the "horrible" Mike Harris years. But's it's been aided by the Chretienites getting him plush government positions on "studies."
Well bully for Bob Rae. Though he's got one thing going against him: he started in provincial politics.
No provincial politician has ever made a sucessfull political transformation to federal politics. Not a single one. It's worked the other way before, but definitely not from wherever the heck else to Ottawa.
Why Bob Rae Could Make A Formidable Candidate for Liberal Leader
ReplyDeleteThese are some of the reasons in favour of his throwing his hat into the ring:
• He is left-centre in social terms, close, in my view, to the real social political critical mass of the Liberal Party.
• His raw intelligence would make Harper – the man who never needed a mentor because he never found anyone smarter than him, so reports said – squirm. There is no way Harper could pull a fast one on Rae.
• He is a consummate politician. Unlike Harper, who seems to be sending out signals that he has a political tin ear, Rae’s antennae are attuned to the average voter.
• He has a political philosophy which is closer to the holistic one Harper has, but with a far more liberal view of the world.
• He would probably attract enough NDP votes in BC, Ontario and the Maritimes, to lead the Liberals to a majority government.
• Fluent in French.
• A man Canadians could be proud of (a nice change from earlier Liberal leaders). He would lead Canada into taking active steps to bring positive solutions to the problems facing so many people in the world (poverty, the disruption caused by globalization, the destruction of the international comity by Bush and his neocons).
• Certainly no fan of being Bush’s lapdog; he would leave it to Tony and Stephen to fight for the place on Bush’s lap.
• He would not try to foist a subterranean theocracy on to Canada’s political contours.
What are some of the major disadvantages?
• He proved massively economically when he ran Ontario, paying little heed to the results of some of the NDP programs he implemented.
• Could he maintain a centre-right economic policy?
• Does he still have the passion to make Canada a better place?
My basic requirements before I would consider supporting Rae for Liberal Party leader revolve around his view on certain major issues, including:
• Has he a detailed formulation for resolving the “democratic deficit”? We say Martin champion it as a flavour-of-the-day but do very little to remedy the deficit. If Martin had tackled this deficit as fiercely as he tackled the economic deficit years ago, he would be Prime Minister of a majority Liberal Party today.
• Is he prepared to make a reasonable form of proportional representation (PR) a major plank in the Liberal platform? It so obviously meets many of the deep needs of Canadian voters, that it has to be addressed by any serious candidate for leadership of the Liberal Party and potential Prime Minister.
• Would be commit in his program not to change the nature of the Canadian confederation in the stealthy way which Harper is promising, with his “new federalism” and “fiscal imbalance” coded framing.
So, let’s have a look at your program, Mr Rae; then we can judge whether you are the person we wish to be the next Prime Minister of Canada.
"He would not try to foist a subterranean theocracy on to Canada’s political contours."
ReplyDeleteDon't get this one. In a country where many feel afraid to tell their friends or employers their religious inclinations because of fear of reprisals, a country that funds groups who suggest the Pope is like the Nazies, a country where people of faith are forced to fund abortions even though they think it's murder is a "theocracy"?... Somehow I think a "theocracy" is a far far way off. We don't live in a "theocracy". We live in an "atheocracy" if anything.
"Would [he] commit in his program not to change the nature of the Canadian confederation in the stealthy way which Harper is promising, with his “new federalism” and “fiscal imbalance” coded framing."
Stealth? How is it stealth for one to say out loud that he will decentralize the federal government and give more power to the provinces? That's clarity if anything. And the reason why he calls it a "new federalism" is because this is exactly the type of federalism that hasn't existed for years. It's something that Quebequers have always demanded as the minimum respect the feds should show. It's always irritated not just Quebec, but all provinces, that the enlightened powers from Ottawa seem to think they're all a bunch of small backwards barbarians that don't know what to do with themselves.
And lo and behold, Harper is fixing the problem. That's some stealth alright.
And every political leader recognizes that their exists a fiscal imbalance. So I don't understand how that's "stealth" either.