Angry in the Great White North

If Stephane Dion announces his intention not to remain as Liberal Party leader, conventional wisdom has it that Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff are lined up to battle it out once again.

Indeed we are told that both have already begun their leadership races, but behind the scenes, so as not to appear too eager, at least not until Stephane Dion is properly disposed of.

But I wonder if there is a very public element of the Liberal leadersip race unfolding right in front of everyone:

CTV News reported on Saturday that senior Liberal officials have chosen [John] McCallum to take the reins of the party until the next leadership convention, but the finance critic has refused to confirm whether he has been chosen.

"I have far too much respect for my leader and sympathy for the character assassination he suffered under the Conservatives, to speculate in any way whatsoever about being the interim leader," McCallum said Sunday on CTV's Question Period.

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale is also a contender for the job.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Sunday that Goodale is pushing hard behind the scenes to line up caucus support to become interim leader if Dion steps down, party insiders say.

Sources say the unilingual Goodale appears to have substantial caucus backing but his team understands it needs a francophone MP as a deputy leader.

McCallum, who is bilingual, supported Michael Ignatieff in the leadership race while Goodale back Bob Rae.

Now the fact that McCallum and Goodale were not neutral in the last leadership race is being reported as a liability for each of them, since the interim leader is supposed to be neutral.

But look how it played out.  Stephane Dion leads the Liberal Party into a spectacular crash on election night.  Before the week is out, Michael Ignatieff's man, John McCallum is being declared the interim leader by CTV via well-informed insiders getting the news out.

Remember the role CTV played in eliminating whatever vestiges of hope were left in the Stephane Dion campaign when the ATV interview was aired.  These well-informed insiders are clearly not entertaining the idea that Stephane Dion could stay on in any capacity, suggesting that these well-informed insiders are connected to one of the main leadership camps.

Within 24 hours, though, the race for interim leader heats up.  Which is bizarre, by the way, because who races to be interim leader, and in such a public way?  We learn, again through well-informed insiders talking to CTV, that Bob Rae's man, Ralph Goodale, has started making calls and pulling caucus members together to support his bid to be interim leader.

OK, did we all miss it?  Are Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae each trying to put their man into the spot of interim leader?  if so, why?  The interim leader is supposed to be neutral.