Who was the right man last year?

Bob? Iggy? Ken?

While poor Stephane is not without his faults, it is inapt, IMHO, to say that the "the wrong guy was picked" [uh oh, have I just veered into the dreaded territory of fisking?]. None of the other guys/gals on offer were close to being a better candidate for the job. It would be fairer to say he was the best of a bad lot, but I think its more that Dion's timing is off. The Libs are at a natural low point in their history (after a considerable and lengthy high) and would be low regardless of who is leader.

Iggy or Bob would have been way better. I never understood Dion during the campaign, never will. He lacks all leadership skill and carries baggage of his role in the previous incarnations of the Liberal government. He has flipped on the party's Afghan policy. What could be worse about him?

This is true re foreign policy -- we could have had the Liberals and the Conservatives standing shoulder-to-shoulder behind the mission, with another leader. (That bitter quote from Bill Graham after the spring '06 vote -- "Some of those guys voted for this in cabinet." -- is a reminder.)

But is Dion that bad? Aren't some of these troubles in QC just elements that have been present since 1984, that had been submerged under the Manichean Bloc-Liberal battles of the 1990s?

What would Iggy or Bob have done differently? What could they have done?

Blazed a new unseen path.

Bob Rae is, intrinsically and also by virtue of socialization, incapable at his core and in his heart of hearts of blazing a new unseen path. A new unseen path is antithetical to the person, the persona, the idea, of Bob Rae. Bob Rae may be a helluva nice guy; he may be gifted strategically, analytically, academically but he absolutely trapped in his role in the Canadian Establishment. He is not even a pawn of the Elites as he is so very much one of them that he can't even comprehend how ridiculous his membership in the NDP was and how unseemly flipping from NDPer to Liberal.

Iggy is just pompous.

Any Joe Blow off the street could blaze a new unseen trail.

And by that logic, Dion may yet.....

<i>...Any Joe Blow off the street could blaze a new unseen trail...</i>

I find the above untenable. Simply and straight-forwardly untenable. Therefore: CHALLENGE!!!

[Ed.: <i>Please pronounce the word "CHALLENGE!!!" in the volume appropriate for the work setting you find yourself in but do so in an outrageous Maltese accent.</i>]

What if I put emphasis on the word "could" so that it read: "Any Joe Blow off the street COULD blaze a new unseen trail" and then added the rhetorical question "...and Dion has not shown he is incapable of doing so yet, so that one must conclude he may yet blaze said trail, and he is at least as capable of doing so as the other candidates mentioned.

Challenge averted? Or shall we draw pistols at dawn?

I agree with Hans: the party was due for a crawl in the dirt and not even Trudeau could save them. Although, he'd dress snappily while he did it. This is especially evident given the revelations of another Chretien-Martin type rift in the party. I guess that's what happens when you attempt to combine two groups of "true believers" into a team.

The herrings are still in the mustard, sir, if you get my meaning.

Well, does this mean I get to officiate said event? I work cheap. ;)

Interim
2. (adj) holding temporary office: serving temporarily until a permanent replacement can be elected or appointed.

Intervening time:
a period of time between two occurrences or periods.

-- Encarta Dictionary

The kind of dismissal administered by Canadians to the Liberal Party of Canada takes time to recover from, and that means sacrifices need to be made to protect the people who could, eventually, bring the LPC back to respectability. Dion is, has been, and will continue to be an Interim Patsy* for Iggy and/or Bob. Meanwhile the LPC PR Machine (Denis Coderre) will keep up the BS about how everything is just fine... the LPC, having just walked across the water with Dion, will now turn water into wine for what will end up being the National Election Victory & Eventual Regrouping (Again) of the Liberals... or, in short, NEVER Again Liberals.

*Patsy
(noun) Easy victim
an easily victimized, cheated, or manipulated person.

...Sorry, were we supposed to meet somewhere? I was kinda sleepy this morning...Did I miss something....

I was too distracted by the comment above yours, trying to figure out what it means, to attend. <p>Yet still the herrings marinate, if you get my drift.

Perhaps I distract you from the distraction?

It was late and the acronym just came to me... the bit about Denis Coderre was pretty good though.