Goodale throws his hat into the ring

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale has thrown his hat into the ring to become the interim party leader when Stephane Dion makes it official tomorrow at 2pm.

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale is pushing hard behind the scenes to line up caucus support to become interim leader if Stephane Dion steps down Monday, party insiders say.

I don't quite understand why anyone would lobby hard to become interim party leader of the fractured, demoralized, and bankrupt Liberal Party of Canada. Your entire mandate is to be a placeholder leader, you can't make policy, you can't really make tough decisions, and you will be constantly attacked by the Government and other opposition parties as being a weak leader as you whip your caucus repeatedly to not vote and bring down the government.

Mr. Goodale is not interim leader material, he is a uni-lingual anglophone, and very partisan. The interim leader should be general seen by all opposition parties as an accomplished MP, and respected for your impeccable qualities, and credentials. The interim party leader must general been seen as impartial to all leadership contenders, and not overly belligerent with the other opposition parties or the government as when the new leader is chosen, the party may have been boxed into certian policies based on the actions of the interim leader. The interim leader cannot create new radical policies, and cannot do anything to cause the party to be boxed in and attached to a certain set of policies that maybe overridden by the new leader.

Bill Graham was an effective interim because he was generally regarded by everyone in the house as a moderate, effective MP.

Both McCallum and Goodale backed different contenders in the last leadership race, both of these contenders will run in the next one, they are considered the front runners. Having an interim leader that supported one of the contenders in the past is a recipe for another civil war.

Wait, what am I thinking? Yes, go ahead and appoint either of these MPs. Neither are good enough to be actual leadership contenders, both arguably have hidden agendas, and both apparently have an incredible desire to move into, and then move out of Stornoway. Appoint of either of these could cause an interesting civil war in the party and allow the Conservatives to continue to implement their agenda.

We live in interesting times indeed.