High stakes

The Disaffected Lib raises a good point about just how much Michael Ignatieff might be putting at risk if he goes along with the Cons' budget:

Come Tuesday, somebody's going to flinch. If it's Ignatieff he risks being seen as just another feckless leader like Dion whose caucus was known to steer clear of Parliament on confidence votes they couldn't support. Iggy is still just interim leader. How he handles the budget on Tuesday could impact on his expected coronation. He too has issues with his base, both existing supporters and those voters he needs to attract to the party.

Now, I haven't yet heard much public discussion about a serious Lib leadership race. And particularly if Ignatieff is busy actually governing the country before May, there wouldn't seem to be much risk of a viable challenge being raised.

But that could easily change if Ignatieff were to decide to prop up Harper, and thus begin to get tarred with the Cons' actions. With many within the party already having had enough of ducking confidence votes under Dion, it wouldn't be at all surprising if somebody else perceived an opening to make a serious run at the Libs' top job. Which means that the political stakes riding on Ignatieff's budget vote may involve his own leadership in addition to his party's claim to be a viable opposition to the Cons.