The really scary part about Michael Ignatieff is that he doesn't get the difference between stuff that looks good on paper and real life. Now that the economy is on the mend it looks like most Canadians have come to their senses and see the danger posed by having an academic for a Prime Minister.
The latest polls show that he stands to do worse than Stephan Dion. Just goes to show you that idealism is still better than a lack of street smarts.
What most people have stopped talking about is that Canada was not in as bad shape as many other countries that succumbed to the global economic crisis. There were many measures put in place to ensure that this was the case. Really, Harper didn't have to do anything but wait, and he might have if he'd had a majority.
For the most part, this was a good thing. That's the beauty of living in a multi-party democracy. Every once in a while Harper's right wing notions do have to be reigned in. For a while there, he was running scared. He prostituted himself at every turn. At one point he even tried to talk to Layton.
But, his crimes of treason against his own ideals are nothing compared to Jack and Bob. Thank goodness that Bob Rae didn't get the chance to do to the country what he did to Ontario and God help us if Layton ever actually figured out just how much greed kills and learned to reign himself in. He got so close to power last December that he could taste the blood on his lips. It is no secret that he was the one pulling the strings of the Coalition.
Layton's rise to power was truly impressive. His biggest personal problem is that he started off truly believing that he could do some good and then realized that he'd love to be the top dog in Parliament. It isn't even clear just how much he still believes in his party's position. The more he loses focus, the louder he bangs the NDP drum. You know what they say about absolute power.
The most frightening, and as seen in recent history, not unrealistic potential is that Layton will try to walk across the floor and take over from Ignatieff. There is no honor in politics and no matter what he has said in the past he might just do it. If that were to happen, there are not too many people that would be strong enough to beat him out. Not bad for an ex-Ryerson professor.
Well, he hasn't properly set the ground work just yet. If he tried to do it before the next election he'd basically spell the end of his own carrier. He would need time to prepare to transpose his credibility to a more tempered approach. He has gone too far down the the Union path to be able to survive and elastic lurch toward the center.
In the mean time Harper is finally within site of a majority. Under his leadership Canada did not come anywhere close to the devastation experienced in the United States. So, the proof is in the pudding. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he can do justice to a Beetles classic.
The past year must have taught Harper quite a bit. He has come a long way from sending his son off to school with a firm handshake. His calm nature and do-what-it-takes-to-ride-out-the-storm approach has worked and now the country is ready for the very thing that just a week or two ago he was the first to say was against popular inclination.
