Me first

I've spent plenty of time pointing out how the Libs' decision to prop up the Harper government looks to be a strategic train wreck. But it's worth noting that the Libs' decision to keep the Cons in power is based on a misguided attempt at self-interest in the first place:

"By him [Mr. Ignatieff] throwing out the three different timelines, what he's ensuring is that by holding those press conferences, he looks prime ministerial, he's the government-in-waiting and it's a Liberal government-in-waiting as opposed to a coalition government," said one Liberal who added that if the Liberals had defeated the government and gone ahead with coalition, the NDP would have stolen their "thunder" and used it as their own record in the next election.

"Within the [Liberal] caucus, some of the people would say, 'You can't go into a coalition government with the NDP because they would take some of our thunder and use it as their own record. They would say, 'We need another minority, lend us your vote again and again and again. Coalitions work better than majority governments.' The fear would be that somehow all of that Liberal support would vanish in some parts of the country with this."

Or in shorter form:

What's the point in doing any good for Canadians if another party might share in the credit?