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rfmcdonaldI'm not sure what I think about this news item.
I do like the idea of Michael Ignatieff as the leader of the Liberal Party since he seems like the best candidate out there, especially since Bob Rae five-year tenure as leader of a NDP minority government in Ontario was marked by the sort of sustained economic and political disaster that would complicate national campaigns. That said, I don't want Ignatieff to junk the idea of a broad-tent coalition, not least since I don't think that the Liberals are capable of standing up to the Conservatives just yet.
Toronto MP Bob Rae will withdraw from the Liberal leadership race Tuesday, paving the way for rival Michael Ignatieff to serve as the party's next leader, two sources told CBC News.
Rae is scheduled to hold a news conference in Ottawa early Tuesday afternoon, when he is expected to make the announcement and reveal his reasons for the decision.
Rae has been under increasing pressure from inside his party to bow out of the leadership contest to replace Stéphane Dion. His departure leaves Ignatieff as the sole contender.
The only other candidate — New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc — announced Monday he was ending his leadership campaign and throwing his support behind Ignatieff.
The party executive must now determine how to install Ignatieff in a way that meets with the approval of most party members.
The executive had decided Monday to widen the selection process to about 800 members, rather than leaving it in the hands of the caucus.
Rae had been adamantly against having a select few choose the leader, instead pushing for all rank-and-file Liberals to have a voice in the decision.
With Ignatieff poised to take the helm of the party, the Liberal-NDP coalition could get abandoned.
While Rae was a supporter of the coalition set up to topple Stephen Harper's minority Conservatives, Ignatieff has been cool to the pact.
Over the weekend, he summarized his position as "coalition if necessary, but not necessarily coalition," echoing Mackenzie King's fence-sitting position on conscription.
I do like the idea of Michael Ignatieff as the leader of the Liberal Party since he seems like the best candidate out there, especially since Bob Rae five-year tenure as leader of a NDP minority government in Ontario was marked by the sort of sustained economic and political disaster that would complicate national campaigns. That said, I don't want Ignatieff to junk the idea of a broad-tent coalition, not least since I don't think that the Liberals are capable of standing up to the Conservatives just yet.
