Michael Ignatieff's latest attempt to distance himself from the idea of a progressive coalition has been met with rightful concern in the Libs' camp and derision from the NDP's. But it's worth asking the question of why Ignatieff would want to bring up the topic again.
It would seem likely that Ignatieff was looking to change the channel from the Cons' nonstop shrieking that he'd raise taxes. But one has to wonder why his first choice of subjects was one which tends to thoroughly enrage plenty of Lib supporters and progressives even as it won him temporary cynical acclaim from most of the corporate media.
After all, most of the voices who supported the decision the first time around because it served to help the Cons have little reason to show any generosity to Ignatieff now. As a result, raising the coalition issue again may serve only to raise the ire of those who have been unhappy with Ignatieff from the start, while doing little to inspire any real defences.
Which is a serious problem for Ignatieff, since that means that his message will stand or fall on its own rather than actually replicating the effect it received the first time. And the more Canadians ask what it actually means when a politician thinks the best thing he can say about himself is that he's kept the keys in the hands of the party which he spends most of his time criticizing, the more Ignatieff figures to regret having made the wrong choice in the first place.
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