Bob Rae Is Running For Liberal Leader?

All of the people who were expecting Bob Rae to keep his word and not run for permanent Liberal leadership after accepting the interim position must have been shocked to learn today that Bobby intends to run for the job (though that's what many of us believed all along). Since being the party leader would give him an unfair advantage in a leadership contest, he is "expected" step down from the interim post in June. That's precisely why it was the Liberal Party who demanded that Rae promise not to run for the permanent job before taking the interim job. Originally Bob demanded he be allowed to keep the interim job for two years, now he's "expected" to resign (provided the party board of directors allows him to run for the full time job).

Bob Rae wants to be Prime Minister. That's why he joined the Liberal party and entered federal politics. That's what I've been saying all along. Today's poll question; should Bob Rae be allowed to run for permanent leader of the Liberal Party?

Rae Calls Mulcair "Mini-Harper"

Bob Rae must be afraid of Tom Mulcair stealing some of his mojo, as today he called the new NDP leader a "mini-Harper", a moniker that is surely offensive in left wing circles. Personally I don't think Mulcair is anything like Stephen Harper and that the comment is more offensive to the Prime Minister than visa versa. The NDP would be lucky if their new leader is as effective and efficient as the man who currently leads a majority government. The comment shows that there is some concern on Rae's part that Mulcair is either a threat to his long-term chances at forming government, perhaps just a short-term threat to steal television time, or both. This much is clear, the Mulcair era is beginning with some nastiness by the Liberal leader, which might be a sign of things to come. Stay tuned...

Bob Rae Infomercials

Today's poll question; how do you see the new Conservative ads about Bob Rae? Are they necessary infomercials? Are they deplorable attack ads? Do you care? Have you even seen them? As a survivor of Bob Rae's Ontario, I see them as infomercials necessary to educate rest of the country about the consequences of Bobby taking power; others see them as cheap "dirty tricks". Why would the Conservatives even target Rae if he's only the "temporary leader? Because none of us believed him when he promised to step aside after 2 years, now he will not deny the possibility that he's running for the full time gig, proving us right. Being the acting leader gives him a decided advantage heading into the not so distant leadership campaign.



I'd rather Mulcair become Prime Minister than Rae, and I'm no fan of Tommy Boy. It does seem as though Tom is trying to tune down the angry man routine, but we will see if that lasts and if he can truly squeeze the Liberal Party in the center. Appointing Libby Davies to be your deputy hardly signals a move to the right.

Good Luck To Bob Rae In Toronto-Danforth

Today the former riding of Jack Layton is holding a byelection, and I'd like to offer Bob Rae the best of luck. Isn't he the candidate? Funny how there are giant billboards advertising his face throughout the riding, meanwhile he's only supposed to be the "temporary leader". I'm willing to wager that there is not a single Nicole Turmel billboard in Jack's old stomping ground, which the NDP are likely to win no matter how often Bobby's ugly mug shows up on campaign ads. That's some kind of interim leader. Make a guy who promised to step down in a year the face of the party. Granted, some of us never believed Rae when he promised his leadership was only temporary. He wants to be Prime Minister. That's why he joined federal politics and defected to the Liberals. He's the man. He will be the Liberal leader in the next election, which I believe is what he wanted all along.

Bob Rae Is Cool With Robocalls

Saturday Liberal leader Bob Rae was on the Roy Green Show to make it perfectly clear that there is nothing wrong with Robocalls. He's all in favour it, and defended the illegal robocalls made by the Liberal campaign in Guelph (where the caller pretended to be a regular concerned citizen, not a paid representative of the Liberal Party). Bob also backed off accusing the Conservative Party of wrongdoing; he simply wants what everyone on both sides wants, to find out who misdirected voters to incorrect voting locations. Anyone planning to show up to a Robogate protest with a sign "Democracy, not Robocracy", know that the Liberals are cool with Robocracy (even if the calls violate election law), so long as it is issue based.

To be fair, Roy Green did not handle the interview particularly well. He kept quoting Dean Del Mastro and then when Bob tried to debate the points, Roy kept say "I'm just telling you what he said" instead of engaging him in a conversation. I suppose Roy was trying to get Rae to respond to what Del Mastro had said earlier on the program, and Bob kept answering questions with questions; except to say that he was entirely in favour of robocalling during a campaign. So if anyone out there is upset that they received a robocall in the last election, the opposition parties are not proposing making robocalls illegal. They are only outraged about specific robocalls of which no evidence currently exists is connected to the Conservative Party. Bob might have been premature calling this a "Nixonian moment" for Stephen Harper. The "if anybody did it, it's these guys" argument alone is not adequate ground for a conviction in a court of law.

The Liberals have said that Elections Canada is aware of their illegal calls. I'm interested to know if there was a fine or penalty issued? Did they raid the Liberal campaign office?

Rae's Coronation Or Liberal Convention?

If you haven't been watching Bob Rae's coronation disguised as a convention, don't worry, you haven't missed much. Highlights from Saturday include Justin Trudeau shaving and an announcement from Sheila Copps that she still has a satisfactory sex life (more specifically, "it isn't bad"). Will the "I can still get laid" strategy help her win the election to become party President? We'll find out soon enough. It's nothing if not original.

This whole event feels more like the coronation of Bob Rae than it does a Liberal convention about renewal. If by renewal you mean more Bob Rae and Sheila Copps, then okay. But under those leaders the word renew is more like renewing an overdue library book than to "make new again".

Today's poll question; do you feel this weekend's gathering of Liberals is: 1) Liberal convention, 2) Bob Rae coronation, 3) waste of time and money, 4) something to keep the CBC busy, 5) I don't care

If Bob Rae Wants To Run For Leader, He Should Resign Interim Job

If what many people believe is true and Bob Rae intends to break his promise and run for permanent Liberal leadership, then he has an ethical obligation to resign from the interim job. Staying in the leader's job while he campaigns for full time status provides him with an unfair advantage over his competitors (should any ever arise). Being the leader (even if it is for the 3rd place party) means he gets more face time on television and holds enough levers of power to advance his interests ahead of the other hopefuls. Having that power might also discourage others from entering the race. That's a big reason that the party made him promise that if he becomes the temporary leader that he would not run for the permanent job. There's nothing wrong if he has ambition to be leader. If he wants the job he should run for it, but do so fairly.

Today's poll question; is it fair to the other competitors if a political leadership candidate holds the interim position of party leader?

Bob Rae Fighting Words!

Today Bob Rae gave a rousing speech ahead of the Liberal convention that he's ready to fight back against Stephen Harper's attacks. He's ready to drop the gloves with the big bad wolf, except that I'm not aware of any coordinated campaign "attacking" him, certainly not in the same manner as Ignatieff. Most of the chatter right now are from bloggers and pundits complaining about the things he says and does. Why would the Tories waste time and money attacking the TEMPORARY leader of the 3rd place party when they are in the first year of a four year majority? Aren't you stepping down in 2013 Bob? Isn't that the promise you made in order to get the leader's job?

This speech today about fighting back against attacks is more about rallying the troops for the convention and trying to get attention than it is about making on honest appraisal of the political climate. He needs to win some hearts and minds in his own party, because there's a reason he was made to promise he would not run for permanent leader if he became temporary leader. In terms of campaigning to get the job, it is an unfair advantage, even if you're only just leading a third place party.

"How many Harperites does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

"None. They would contract the job out to an ad agency." Ha Ha Ha Ha! Ladies and gentlemen a round of applause for the humour of Liberal leader Bob Rae (via Twitter). Gee, Bobby really missed his true calling as a comedian, though he seems truly oblivious to his own party's rich history of contracting ad agencies. How many ad agencies does it take to promote national unity in Quebec? At least 6. Groupaction Marketing ($1.6M), LafLeur Communication Marketing ($1.3M), Gosselin Relations Publique ($1.3M), Groupe Everest ($1.3M), Vickers and Benson ($250K), and Le Groupe Polygone Editeurs (nearly $40 million dollars in sponsorship funds).

How many Liberals does it take to change a light bulb? I'm sorry, that's a trick question; when sitting in opposition without access to cash stuffed envelopes, they are unable to change any light bulbs. How many cash stuffed envelopes does it take to promote national unity in Quebec? More than we know...

Liberals Seek To Reduce Leader's Power

At next week's Liberal convention, members will be voting on a set of new reforms designed to curb the power of the party's leader. The party must recognize the inevitability of Bob Rae running for permanent leadership and are seeking to reduce his power before he's able to do so. The two major powers they are seeking to eliminate are Rae's ability to unilaterally decide party policy and his ability to bypass individual riding associations to appoint his own candidates. It makes sense for the Liberals to prevent Rae from having these powers before the next election, as the former NDP Premier is a serious risk to enact his Marxist hidden agenda and appoint his cronies who helped make his government one of the most destructive in Canadian history.

This is a smart move for the Liberals. Cut Rae off at the knees before he becomes the permanent leader. At this point does anyone doubt that Bob is going to fight for the full time job?

Bob Rae Finally Discovers Attiwapiskat

There must not be much happening in the Canadian news cycle if Bob Rae (leader of the 3rd place party) making a trip to Attiwapiskat is headline news. According to Bobby, the reserve is living in deplorable 3rd world conditions and Stephen Harper must act. Hopefully the Prime Minister's response will be better than Rae's response to a similar crisis while he was Premier of Ontario and in charge of the reserve's provincial money. Bob Rae did precious little to fix the problem when it was presented to a Royal Commission while he was Premier, but now he expects others to do what he was unable or unwilling to fix when in power. Now that he's got no power at all, he's screaming bloody murder.

This reminds me of Bob Rae protesting in the streets against Stephen Harper briefly proroguing parliament, before we were reminded that Bobby prorogued almost every year while he was Premier of Ontario. It seems like a common occurrence that Bob's outrage over certain issues end up uncovering hypocrisy based on his record in a leadership position. Thank you to the Toronto Sun for uncovering this latest bout of Rae's hypocrisy.

Liberals To Hold American Style Primary To Select Leader?

The Liberals are considering an American style primary process to select their next leader, where they would hold individual votes in a number of different cities to see who comes out on top. Today's poll question; is this a good idea? The alternative is a flawed convention process that last produced the futile and inept Stephane Dion to run for Prime Minister. Perhaps the results of the last Liberal leadership convention justifies the impetus to alter the selection process. The big question will be whether or not you'll have to be a paid card carrying Liberal to vote. In many American primaries, declared Democrats can vote for Republicans and visa versa.

Would I show up to vote for the next Liberal leader if they held an open primary in Vancouver? Probably, but I'd much rather vote in the NDP leadership race. Thus far the NDP race has a greater number of candidates who have a 0% chance of being elected Prime Minister in the next election. Having survived Bob Rae's Ontario, I could never mark his name on a ballot, even if I expected him to lose.

"Hands Off Our CBC"

Today Bob Rae's Liberal Party announced a new campaign and online petition called "hands off our CBC" in an attempt to stop the government from reducing the billion plus dollars tax payer subsidize the state broadcaster annually. According to Jennifer Ditchburn the Liberals are "trying to tap a well of potential support". I'm not exactly sure who she thinks will make up this "well of support", unless she's talking about people who collect pay cheques from the CBC. Perhaps Bobby's plan is to try and get the folks at CBC Newsworld in their corner, as if they weren't already. The Liberals aren't picking up any support from their right by engaging in this policy, so this is likely a play for NDP votes. Most CBC jobs are unionized, so saving the subsidies should have some appeal to big labour.

Unfortunately for Bob, his announcement was overshadowed today by Mulcair entering the NDP leadership race.

Bob Rae Rips NDP

Canada voted today to extend our military mission in Libya despite the vocal opposition of the NDP, but the most surprising part of the entire debate was when Liberal leader Bob Rae blasted the Dippers for wanting to cut and run. He even went so far as to call their position ridiculous. "It is a fundamentally absurd proposition. Because of the internal workings of the New Democratic Party, they say we have to be the party of peace. Well, we’re all the party of peace... It does not mean you have to be a party of appeasement or of indifference."

I was not expecting any friendly fire between Liberals and Dippers this fall, but it is plausible that the Libs will actually try to win votes back from the NDP. In this salvo Bobby attacked one of the NDP's greatest weaknesses, foreign policy, so he wasn't exactly pulling punches. In the event that these two parties were to merge, the greatest internal divisions would likely occur on matters of foreign policy. The NDP and the Liberals disagreed quite often over Afghanistan (except when it came to accusing our troops of being war criminals).

Bob Rae's "Jobs Crisis"

Canadian Parliament resumed today with a very spirited episode of Question Period. At one point Liberal leader Bob Rae demanded that the government produce a plan for dealing with "the jobs crisis". Really Bob? You consider 7.3% unemployment to be a crisis? For the record the United States and the European Union have unemployment rates hovering over 9%, so when compared to the rest of our G7 and G20 colleagues we are doing quite well. We have a manageable debt, solid employment, and a strong banking system. To call this a crisis is absurd. Of course there is a threat of a global economic slowdown that will have a negative effect on Canada's economy, but we will enter that slowdown in a stronger economic position that most industrialized nations.

The only nice thing that I can say about Bob Rae today is that his public speaking skills are so much more advanced than Nycole Turmel that I'm not sure the Dippers amateur hour will be able to keep the Liberals at bay.

Economic Crisis; What Would Bob Rae Do?

As the western world teeters on the brink of another major recession, Liberal leader Bob Rae has started dispatching economic advice to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Keep spending and take it easy on the cuts. Thanks Bob. While it is true that Rae has previous experience dealing with financial turmoil (his entire term as Premier of Ontario was one big economic crisis), he sure as Hell ain't my go to guy for solving fiscal problems. The Tories have signalled that there will be spending cuts, and already you can see the Liberals and NDP lining up to attack every single one of them. It will give the opposition a rallying point to join forces against the government. They'll fight to defend global warming jobs at Environment Canada.

At this point it is still questionable whether or not we should have done the first stimulus, but Ignatieff demanded it as a condition of supporting the 2009 budget. Plus the Americans were doing a stimulus, so it seemed like the popular thing to do at the time. Canada's economic recovery in the last recession was among the fastest and most efficient in the western world, but that likely has more to do than with the strength and stability of our economic system rather than tax money pumped into the economy. We did not have a recession because our economy is broken, it happened to us because we are so closely tied to America and Europe who are broken.

When all is said and done, I'm going to willfully disregard economic advice from Bob Rae, and you should too.

The End Of A Liberal Era?

At the Calgary Stampede this weekend Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a speech declaring the end of a Liberal era in Canada. "As with disco balls and bell bottoms, Canadians have moved on." While I agree with our fearless leader than the "era" of the Liberals allegedly being Canada's "natural governing party" is at an end, I do believe the Liberal Party itself will survive. There are too many crazies in the NDP to hold that house of cards together, and unless the Liberals fold into the NDP, all they need to do is bunker down while the orange wave dissipates.

In the near future Liberal leaders won't be chosen on electability, but rather their ability to raise money (though the two are likely correlated to some degree). Will the few remaining and many former Liberal boosters open up their wallets for Bob Rae? Only time will tell, but that may be the greatest measure of his value (or lack thereof) to the Liberals that will determine whether he leads the Party into the next election. How much money he can raise will be more important than poll numbers. The Liberal era might be over, but I don't think the Party is dead just yet.

The Purpose Of Liberal Summer Tours?

Today's poll question; what do you think is the purpose of these frequent Liberal cross country tours? They claim the purpose is to connect with the "grassroots" and collect feedback from "regular people", when in fact they meet mostly party boosters. Is the true purpose to beg boosters for more money? I haven't seen the balance sheets so I don't if they cost more than they bring in. Is this about quelling a rebellion? Is it all just a dog an pony show to give the illusion that they are making an effort so that the foot soldiers don't start complaining about lack of effort? Or do they just make no sense at all? The song says "I've been trying to make some sense of it all, but I can see it makes no sense at all."

Ignatieff did 1-3 of these tours every year of his leadership. He even did them while Parliament was sitting and he was missing votes, where Bob is sticking to the summer with Parliament in recess. It shows Bobby is more shrewd than his predecessor, but I guess that ain't saying much...

Bobapalooza: Rae's Summer Tour

Bob Rae is wasting no time getting out for his own summer tour, and we all know how well touring the Canadian BBQ circuit worked out for his predecessors. Bob says he's doing this to help rebuild the Liberal Party and I'm sure it has nothing to do with raising his own national profile. He's only in this for the interim and has no intention of taking this party into the next election, right Bobby? Either that or he can take the opportunity to starting warming people to the idea of a Liberal-NDP merger.

The question is, how will Bob's summer tour be different from Iggy's multiple tours? Where Ignatieff was more the aristocrat, Rae is more the communist scholar. Do we call this the "Iron Curtain Tour" or maybe the "Long March", as he goes coast to coast laying down his plan to turn Canada into the Soviet Union. The Utopia Now Tour?

In Bob We Trust?

The latest polling done by Nanos has both good news and bad news for the Liberal Party. On the trustworthy scale, a whole 8% of Canadians cited Bob Rae as the political leader they trust the most, which has to be near or beneath Ignatieff's worst rating (Iggy was at 13% a month before the election). Do you trust Bob Rae? That is today's poll question. Despite the poor trust numbers, the Liberals had fallen below 15% in the last poll done before Bob Rae became the leader and now find themselves at 22% support (gains coming at the expense of the NDP). The Tories meanwhile are polling at 42%, which is above their May 2nd election performance. Boy, that whole appointing Senators controversy is really hammering Conservative support...

Those trust numbers are a really bad start if Bob intends to seek permanent leadership. It isn't like Bobby just came back to Canada after a lifetime abroad, many Canadians (especially in Ontario) already know who he is and what he purports to stand for. Yet the gap between the Liberals and NDP was 18% on May 30th, and is just under 6% on June 21st. Warning to Jack Layton, objects in rear view mirror may be closer than they appear.