Room on the left

Stephane Dion presents an interesting twist in the battle for Quebec votes in the contrast he draws between the Libs and the Cons:

The Bloc Quebecois is losing its relevance as Quebecers grow increasingly tired of protest politics, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Wednesday.

"Quebecers now have the taste for an action vote rather than a protest vote," Dion said after a meeting with local party organizers in Levis, Que., just south of Quebec City.

"In the next election, we'll ask who can form the better government," Dion said. "In this debate, between the right-wing politics of Mr. Harper and the centrist politics that we propose, the Bloc will no longer be relevant."

The corollary to Dion's attempt to claim a "centrist" mantle would seem to be that neither the Libs nor the Cons can plausibly speak for the left in Quebec. And while that may be entirely true, it's not an admission that I'd have expected to hear from the Libs anytime soon.

While Dion of course doesn't mention the main federalist option for Quebec's left, it's worth noting that based on the recent SES leaders poll, Bloc voters already favour Jack Layton as a possible Prime Minister by a three-to-one margin over Dion. Which means that while now is likely an entirely promising time for the three major federal parties to put the squeeze on the Bloc, it also appears possible that both the preferences of Bloc voters and the Libs' own strategy will ensure that the NDP gets a strong share of any votes freed up by a Bloc decline.