Post by Cranky on Nov 21, 2008 3:01:13 GMT -5
For me, Rae has to be the perfect candidate if the Liberals want to get wiped out of political existence. Anyone who has been through Rae Days knows what I am talking about. In fact, that he even exists on anybodies leadership list is amazing.
What do you think?
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OTTAWA — Bob Rae tried to turn his biggest liability — his record as NDP premier of a recession-ravaged Ontario — into an asset Thursday as he formally launched his second bid for the federal Liberal leadership.
Brandishing the slogan that he’s “ready to roll,” Rae cast himself as the only one of three declared contenders with the experience to rebuild the battered Liberal party, take on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and manage the fallout from the global economic crisis.
“I’m running because I believe I have the judgment, the character, the values and the experience to lead at a very difficult time in the life of our country,” said Rae, who won a Toronto seat for the Liberals in a byelection last March and was re-elected last month.
Only two others are in the race — New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc and Rae’s longtime friend and fellow Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff. Neither has any experience in government.
“We’re in a very serious time right now. It’s not a time for theoretical solutions. It’s not a time for academic discussion,” Rae said in an apparent shot at Ignatieff, a Harvard academic until he returned to Canada to run for office in 2006.
“It’s a time for practical, intelligent, thoughtful ways of working through this crisis to a better Canada . . . and I have a tonne of experience in helping us get there.”
Ignatieff and Rae were the frontrunners in the 2006 leadership contest but so polarized the race that Stephane Dion was able to slip up the middle to a surprise victory.
Most pundits have already proclaimed Ignatieff to be the frontrunner in the current contest, which culminates May 2 in Vancouver. And they’ve predicted that Rae — burdened with his legacy of soaring deficits and labour unrest during his 1990-95 term as Ontario premier — will be hardpressed to catch up.
But a chippy Rae said it’s much too early to make such predictions and insisted he won’t be dissuaded by them.
“Hey, look, you run and you win or you run and you lose. But, damn it all, at least you run. This is not a business for the faint of heart. This is not a business for people who frankly listen to the punditocracy,” he said.
Rae acknowledged that conventional wisdom suggests his record as premier is “a huge problem.”
But taken together with the lessons he’s learned from that period plus the trouble-shooting missions he’s spearheaded at home and abroad since then, he argued: “I think my whole life experience is a huge asset.”
Before returning to the political arena in 2006, Rae headed up inquiries into the Air India tragedy and post-secondary education in Ontario and helped reorganize the Red Cross after the tainted blood scandal. He’s also been involved in efforts to end conflicts in places like Sri Lanka.
Many Liberals fear Rae’s record as premier would give Harper’s Conservatives an easy target that would render Rae unelectable, especially in Ontario.
A rival camp stoked those fears on the eve of Rae’s leadership launch, leaking a poll that suggests Canadians consider Rae to be the worst-suited leadership contender to steer the country through the economic crisis.
But Rae maintained he’s “very popular” in Ontario and vowed not to run away from his record.
“It’s a simple fact that I can’t hide my record, even if I wanted to. And I don’t, because it’s part of my life, something I’m proud of, and it’s not something that I would run from — the very valuable lessons that I learned from the experience of governing Ontario during very tough times.”
Rae is to expand on the economic lessons he’s learned and his prescription for the current storm during a major speech Friday in Toronto.
Rae also zeroed in Thursday on the lamentable state of the Liberal party after the Oct. 14 electoral drubbing.
“Our seats are down, our vote is down, our membership is down, our bank account is down. I could go on.”
As leader, Rae said he’d “grow” the party by engaging Canadians in all parts of the country, including Liberal-free zones in the West and rural areas. And he said he’d start by making membership in the party free
www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/11/20/7474936.html
