I realize that almost everyone and their mother in this country has declined to run for leadership of the Liberal party but if Bob Rae puts his name into the ring I might be tempted to join the Liberal party just so that I can be eligible to make a run for the leadership of the Liberal party. Actually, maybe I should start a campaign to draft Occam’s Carbuncle for leader.
I remember the age of the Bob Rae days all too well, and frankly, I don’t relish a return. The thought of Bob Rae being elected as leader of the Liberal party and possibly being elected to govern Canada is the stuff of nightmares. When Bob Rae was elected premier of Ontario his government instituted days where civil servants had to work for free as part of his government austerity program. I would hate to see what he would do when the entire country was at his mercy.
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Why Bob Rae Could Make A Formidable Candidate for Liberal Leader
These 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.
In your ode to Rae you forget the obvious. When Rae governed Ontario he did it badly, and in the process of governing ineptly he alienated not only his base but the extreme left, centre and right. I'll give him credit for being an equal opportunity alienator. But there was a reason he was only a one term premier.
I doubt very much as a Liberal leader he could eat away at the NDP support in Ontario. As for BC and the Maritimes - once his record gets out so dies any hope for eating away at the NDP support base for the liberals.
Here's the biggest problem with Rae - the Ontario voters hated him and he carries 4 years of baggage from his time as premier. The Liberal party has a credibility issues and a has been NDP provincial premier who is still scorned in his home province is not the Liberal leader to the liberals to victory in the next election.
Your dreaming, if you think that Rae can escape his past record. No one in Ontario has fond memmories of Rae's governance.
I disagree. I expect the next national poll of voters to show a surprising rebound in favour of Bob Rae, including in Ontario. The voters in my view will contrast Rae with Harper, and Rae will come off best. The gild has come off the Harper lily in a hurry, and I would think there are many voters suffering from buyer’s remorse. Be nice if one of the polling companies would add such a question to their list: Harper versus Liberal Party candidates …
Sorry ckc...you must be too young to remember 'Rae days.' I remember them well...a day off without pay for hospital staff, to save the hospital some $...think about it..the nurses either worked overtime to get the work done, or the hospital hired someone to take you place...hello!? And I just recently found out that we are suffering from a new kind of Rae day.The University of TO was paid 10 million dollars in the '90's to 'graduate fewer doctors'. We can thank Rae for our doctor shortage.Libs can have him, they have the socialist tendencies.But Harper vs. Rae?...Conservative majority here we come!!VF
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