Unity North

Following up on last night's post, it's worth noting that while the Dithers wing obviously remains in charge of the Libs, the Lieberman faction looks to be filling in part of the party's message in the absence of any decisions from the top. From the CP's article:

Toronto-area MP Maurizio Bevilacqua agrees economic uncertainty has raised the stakes on the budget vote.

"If the budget is like so far out, if the budget is in no way a reflection of Canadians' priorities, then we have no choice but to pull the plug," he says.

Nevertheless, he would ideally like to see the Liberals try to work in a spirit of "bipartisanship" with the Tories to produce a budget that meets the economic challenges ahead. If Prime Minister Stephen Harper would go along with the idea, Bevilacqua says Dion could promise no election until 2009, giving the country "a sense of stability."

Note that Bevilacqua doesn't seem to have much idea what kind of measures actually would "meet the economic challenges ahead". Instead, one of the Libs' recent leadership contenders seems to be of the view that bipartisanship is an end goal in and of itself, even if the result is to leave the Harper patronage machine in power longer than can be avoided. (And Bevilacqua's apparent theory that the Libs could then draw a contrast between "Lib times" and "Tory times" after fully supporting the latter only makes the whole idea seem all the more sad.)

Of course, it's doubtful that the Cons would have any interest in going along with Bevilacqua's suggestion. Instead, they'd be more likely to use the Libs' stated points of agreement to try to pressure Dion into backing an even more right-wing budget than they might have presented otherwise. And there's little indication that the Libs have thought through their own strategy well enough to counter that kind of move other than by giving in yet again.

It remains to be seen whether the Libs' musings about finding ways to keep propping up Harper are only trial balloons. But the Libs' obvious reluctance to present any meaningful resistance to the Cons' hard-right agenda has to raise serious questions about them even if they finally are pushed to start opposing again.