"Dead man walking", or "Mr. Rabies"?
Harper thought he had skillfully tossed the Liberals into the national political quagmire. He had. Until this morning. Today, a very big person, Bob Rae, stood down in his quest for party leadership. In doing so, he did some things that a Stephen Harper could NEVER do: compromise, stand down, discuss things like a human being, cooperate.
This is a glaring difference between Liberals and the most rabid of Conservatives. While they know nothing but "nuke em", Liberals understand nuance, negotiation, diplomacy, and cooperation. It is in the very definition of being Liberal. Today's events reflect that.
At a time when Canadians have been exposed to the most negative and dastardly underbelly of Conservative "hate politics", they will see two men - no, an entire party - rising above to focus on dealing with the problems of the nation, rather than individual gain.
Stephen Harper set a tone last week, when he ran to the Governor General, and did what he could to protect his own job. He chose his job over the jobs of tens of thousands of Canadians. The Liberal Party is going to turn the tables on Harper, and bring the discussion back to jobs, and back to what we can do to create them.
Canadians are tired of Harper's angry tone. Mr. Harper will be asked to change, and be more diplomatic, more conciliatory. We all know this is a change he cannot make. His own party knows it. We ask, will it be Prentice or Baird who moves first? Will Bernard Lord step in? I was approached by his people (a Calgary MP) less than 2 years ago (yes - while they had just stepped into government).
Time for Harper to "sit in the corner" for a while - maybe for good.
