Angry in the Great White North

Stephane Dion himself has cast doubts over the future of the separatist coalition, suggesting that the Conservatives could stay on as the government.  I suppose since it is now unlikely that Stephane Dion will ever be prime minister -- this last gasp as leader of the separatist coalition being his last, and entirely unexpected, chance -- he has lost interest in the future of the separatist coalition.

But while Stephane Dion is all past but no future, Bob Rae is has an abundance of both, and Bob Rae is not putting up with that sort of talk:

In a remarkable intervention during a raucous closed-door caucus meeting Thursday, Mr. Rae interrupted Mr. Dion, taking him on for being too conciliatory toward Mr. Harper.

Mr. Dion appeared to be open to changing his mind about defeating Mr. Harper's government, saying that a “monumental change” on Mr. Harper's part would alter that.

That phrase angered some Liberals, who began shouting at Mr. Dion, accusing him of not going far enough, according to a caucus insider. That is when Mr. Rae approached the microphone, telling Mr. Dion that even “monumental change” was not acceptable.

Mr. Dion appeared shocked, the insider said.

When you think about this, it makes sense.  As a Liberal, even a left-wing Liberal, Stephane Dion can imagine coming to some sort of accommodation with the Conservatives.  Historically, with the old Progressive Conservatives, that was often the case.  But today's Conservatives are not the old Progressive Conservatives.

And Bob Rae is clearly not a Liberal.  His strident rejection of the Conservatives, under any and all circumstances, is pure Jack Layton.

So it's no surprise that Bob Rae is insistent that the coalition between the Liberal Party,the Bloc Quebecois, and the NDP persists:

Bob Rae is preparing a coast-to-coast campaign to sell Canadians on the concept of a coalition government, taking over as chief salesman and manoeuvring around Stéphane Dion, whose leadership is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Mr. Rae, the Toronto Centre MP and Liberal leadership candidate, began staking out his territory Thursday as the champion of a coalition government aimed at taking down Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“He's going to carry the can,” said one of his chief strategists. “He's going to stand up and let his voice be heard and encourage Liberals to hang in and we can take down Harper and put in a good government that will do the right thing.”

All this leads to an interesting question.  What is Bob Rae's end game?  The simple answer is that this is part of a plan to beat Michael Ignatieff in the race to be Liberal Party leader.  Already Michael Ignatieff is plotting a different course:

Michael Ignatieff, Mr. Rae's main rival for the leadership and his former best friend, was not as aggressive in his approach, telling reporters that Liberals will be “thinking hard” and “responsibly” until the Harper Conservatives deliver their budget on Jan. 27.

Many of his supporters are uncomfortable with the idea of a coalition government with the NDP supported by the Bloc Québécois. They have advised him to stay out of a coalition cabinet if one is ever formed. On Thursday, there was a hint of Mr. Ignatieff's hesitancy after it became known he was the very last Liberal to sign a letter endorsing the coalition, which was sent to the Governor-General before her meeting with Mr. Harper.

The Liberal whip had asked caucus members to come to his office at 11 p.m. Wednesday or 7:30 a.m. Thursday to sign the letter; Mr. Ignatieff finally put pen to paper around 10 a.m.

So Michael Ignatieff is promising to lead the Liberal Party back to the centre, as a distinct party from the NDP and the Green Party.  This will appeal to Liberals concerned that the Liberal brand is being diluted, or even destroyed, by Stephane Dion's alliances with those parties and with the Bloc Quebecois.

Bob Rae, on the other hand, wants to commit the Liberal Party to a left-wing separatist coalition for the long term.  Liberals who are on the left wing of the party, or who care little for politics and only for power, will like that.

For Bob Rae, this is a natural direction to take.  To go back towards the NDP.  To go back to those policies that Bob Rae has indirectly rejected in an attempt to appeal to Liberals.

But is this really Bob Rae's ultimate goal?  I can't help but wonder if it won't be long before Bob Rae as leader of the Liberal Party and Jack Layton of the NDP would clash.  Bob Rae has to know this too.

So is the coalition doomed?

Or is Bob Rae's plan to push out Jack Layton and take over the NDP, or at least some major portion of it?

Many in the NDP harbour a deep dislike of Bob Rae for having abandoned the party, but if he brings the Liberals over and offers a path to power through the coalition, but headed by a him instead of the bumbler Stephane Dion, all might be forgiven.

Jack Layton can't give them power.  Bob Rae can.

Add Elizabeth May into the mix.  As leader of the Green Party, she is furious with Jack Layton for not handing her a riding and votes the way Stephane Dion and the Liberals did.  Bob Rae could count on her support in a fight against Jack Layton, and she could help swing NDP environmentalists.

Jack Layton ought to be very careful about his allies.