Mischief from within the Liberal Party.

Mischief is afoot in the Liberal Party of Canada. Is Michael Ignatieff the only one who hasn't figured it out yet? From CTV's Power Play with Tom Clarke.

The adult conversation that isn't to be, the entire Outremont fiasco, general confusion, Liberal Senators holding up legislation that Ignatieff wants passed, loyalty oaths and caucus secrecy that brings back memories of Garth Turner; it all ads up to internal mischief or as Tom Clarke called it "a more apprehended insurrection that we know to be true".


Big questions remain though; will Ignatieff be able to figure it all out it is too late and will he be able to handle it?


I don't have the answers but I do know that somewhere tonight Stephane Dion will sleep the sleep of angels.

h/t Biff

Your daily Kinsella.

Your daily Kinsella. Today's episode: Why the The Campaign of Fear™ will not work.

Related: please read Joanne's latest at Blue like you.

Enjoy.



October 16th, 2006: "The problem is that Stephen Harper doesn’t really scare Canadians anymore, or possibly never did. That’s the Grits’ problem. "

January 5th, 2006:

"TO: LIBERAL CAMPAIGN BOSSES
FROM: YOUR REALLY GOOD PAL WARREN
RE: TOP SECRET AND SUPER CONFIDENTIAL STUFF

Dear guys: it won't work. Did last time, won't this time. Have a nice two weeks, and good luck in your return to the Liberian shipping industry.

...

As I related to a group of scary-smart U of T political science students last night, there are three reasons for this:

One, every Canadian who is not comatose understands that Harper can't form a majority government, even if he wants to, and he does. Paul Martin's top-notch handling of the Quebec file means federalism is hooped in la belle province for the forseeable future. The numbers for a majority aren't there. Folks know that.

Two, (Shameless Book Plug Alert) as noted in no less an authority than Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics, in order for an attack ad to work, it has to be factual or, at the very least, plausible. The Liberals' planned Harper Is Satan™ campaign is not plausible. Canadians have now had a couple years to see how Harper operates. He isn't neceessarily(sp) someone you'd cuddle with on the basement couch to watch 'Friends' reruns, but neither is any other politician. In this case, familiarity breeds a comfort level.

Three, as my sage pal John Wright opined a while ago, Canadians gathered around family Christmas/Hannukah tables at the end of last month and came to a collective decision: we want change, and if Harper's the only way to achieve that, so be it. Pass the cranberries.

The coming ad war won't assist the Liberals, but it certainly will have their bankers wondering if they plan to repay that fat line of credit.

Now, where is that helmet?"

---------------------

I disagree with the man politically but I must say that he does have a certain flair for writing.

The real reason.....

It is not that all of the media and LPC hype surrounding Ignatieff, about how with one twitch of an eyebrow women would swoon and men would succumb to his awesomeness, has utterly failed with the Canadian public. It is not that even in the worst economic times this country has had in decades that Ignatieff is unable to gain support in the polls. It is not the fact that the Liberal brass tossed aside democracy and burned through a lot of political goodwill with their own members to appoint a dud (Ignatieff) as leader. No; none of these are the real reason why everyday Liberal strategists and the elite back room power brokers wake up screaming or are banging their heads on their desks thinking about the failed expectations and wondering what has gone so wrong.



The real reason is this:


And it is moves like this that show why PM Stephen Harper is a pure political genius and that those desks at Liberal Party HQ are going to continue to take a pounding for the foreseeable future.

From the article "Many people are using the word "inspired" to describe Harper's appointment of Doer, including former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. and former New Brunswick premier, (long time Liberal) Frank McKenna."

Brilliant absolutely brilliant.


Ignatieff and PM Harper are not even in the same league when it comes to political smarts and during the upcoming months this will become even more clear. Hang on to your fedora Iggy because you ain't seen nothing yet.